I’m often asked if there is such a thing as Universal Colours – the colours that suit everyone. People ask me if black is one – sadly it is not as it’s colour properties are – cool, deep and bright – so if you are warm, light or muted in your colouring, black is really unflattering.
Here in this short video Jill Chivers of Shop Your Wardrobe and I discuss universal colours.
I wasn’t surprised by the turquoise, teal or soft white mentioned, but very much by the other colors you named. It’ll be interesting to notice them being worn on others now and how they work. Really been enjoying your video series on colors.
Have you ever talked about changing hair color and how that changes what you can wear? When I have my colorist tweak the shade of my hair from time to time, it’s always fun to notice how things in my wardrobe work differently on me. Just this week, I noticed a brown top I was thinking of getting rid of suddenly worked on me when more brown was added to my hair color.
I am just fascinated by ‘colour’ and Imogen really does seem to be an expert. After reading all her posts – this fascinating video has still managed to tell me something new.
A couple of questions if I may:
1. Kate Middleton – wouldn’t she be cool and deep? (is she muted or bright though?)
But isn’t burgundy warm:
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/01/11/article-2260655-16E016CA000005DC-830_306x516.jpg
and what about these, they are not deep/cool:
http://whatkatewore.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Kate-Order-Thistle-Yellow-Emilia-Wickstead-James-Whatling-Splash-700x-400-July-5-2012-.jpg
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/cm/harpersbazaar/images/WJ/hbz-kate-middleton-canada-yellow-dress-070811-mdn.jpg
2. regarding bright or muted- I look at any photo of me and I’d say that I’m muted, but then bright colours suit me so much better I always thought (I may be wrong). is there a failsafe way to determine whether one is muted or bright?
3. finally, is it that blonde people can never wear black? Emilia Fox is warm I am sure, but does she not suit black still:
http://cdni.condenast.co.uk/592×888/d_f/efox_gl_28feb11_PA_592x888.jpg
or is it that she has dark eyes? can someone with pale skin, blond hair and blue eyes never wear black?
And sorry, that wasn’t a reply to Julie’s post, but should have been a new comment.
Susie – Kate Middleton has a hazel green (olive) eye colour which means she’s more likely to be warm than cool. Plus when I look at her pics, she seems to suit warmer and softer colours rather than cooler or brighter colours.
Burgundy comes in both cool and warm versions. The cool burgundies are more raspberry, the warm ones more burnt.
Emilia Fox is warm and light and that black really doesn’t suit her. She is a high contrast light (because of the dark eyes) so looks great in the contrast of light and dark together – but would be much better in a dark brown than pure black.
Thanks so much, how intriguing! When looking at a photo, which can be deceptive of course, I guess it mostly comes down to – do you see the person or the colour first? And you are so right, bright colours don’t suit Kate Middleton, whereas something soft just blends into her transforming her into a magical princess. (except too thin a princess imo)
http://wf-blogs.sharecdn.com/images/gossip/2012/12/kate-middleton-pregnant.jpg
vs
http://cdn02.cdn.socialitelife.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Duke-And-Duchess-Cambridge-Canada-Day-Day-Two-Celebrations-07012011-Lead01.jpg
http://cdn1.diyfashion.com/sites/diyfashion.com/files/imagecache/story_header/images/kate-middleton-bangs-112712sp.jpg
I merely thought that she was cool as bright white on her wedding day really seemed to suit her, and I thought she looked better in silver than gold:
http://www.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/2012630/reg_634.katemiddleton.mh.073012.jpg
vs
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/771547/thumbs/o-KATE-MIDDLETON-MALAYSIA-570.jpg?6
besides, I thought this scarf (which is cool?) looked v nice on her:
http://cdn01.cdn.justjared.com/wp-content/uploads/headlines/2012/12/pregnant-kate-middleton-leaves-hospital-with-prince-william.jpg
sometimes I am a bit confused what is cool/warm though:
http://www.graziadaily.co.uk/pub/21publish/f/fashion/Kate-Middleton-Jane-Corbett-hat.jpg
When you think about Warm and cool – don’t think of them as complete opposites, think of them as a spectrum:
warm < <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>cool
This is why when you’re untrained it is often hard to figure out.
It could be the brightness of the gold on that dress that you didn’t like, rather than the gold itself.
Her wedding dress wasn’t a bright cool white, it was more a soft white (which anyone can wear, warm or cool).
With your last pic – the blue on the left is cool, the pink on the right is warm – and notice how the blue grabs your attention and takes it away from her face, whilst the pink blends with her so she is the feature not the colour.
Hope this helps.
Julie I did make a video on hair colour some time ago – and have noticed myself when I got some blonde streaks some years back that the colours that suited me changed as I lost some of my depth – so would wear lower contrast colours. Going lighter or darker will affect how you put together colours – the contrast levels – more than the colours themselves.
Yes, I do find it alters the contrast levels that are best more than the colors themselves. I will see if I can find your video that you mentioned.
I have never had the pleasure, but an old friend was at the Royal Wedding, and has apparently known them for quite a number of years — he claims that she has blue eyes, not bright blue like her mother-in-law but blue nonetheless.
So confusing!
Very interesting! I’d agree with all of it except the charcoal. I’m a very fair, green-eyed brunette (I was ginger-haired as a child) and charcoal seems about as draining as black for me.
Also, what about a warm/cool deep purple, something like aubergine? Can’t most people pull off that colour, as well?