Can you imagine life without colour? 1950s’ TV comes to mind, the monochrome movies, a sea of gray, white, and black. While funeral directors and goths can salivate over monochrome color combinations, a discerning number of us gentlemen like a little bit of colour in our wardrobes. But how can you use colour, or more properly colours, effectively? What is too much, and how much is just right?
Obviously, anything too extravagant is off-putting, such as the orange suits of the 70s and loud colours of the early 80s (electric blue trousers?), but a dash of colour goes a long way to help you stand out and express an emotion and message you’d like to convey. Remember, we should not try to compete with peacocks, but this article could help you in that direction.
Colour shouldn’t be feared, but rather embraced, assuming the right knowledge and a basic understanding of complimentary colours and harmony. The goal, of course, is to know what flatters your tone and complexion. Think of it like salt in food: a little bit is necessary but too much ruins the dish.
The purpose of colour is to direct attention to your face – which is the most important part of what you present to the world.
Here is a general rule: the darker your skin tone (more melanin pigment in your complexion), the more freedom you have in the intensity of the colours available to you; the more vibrant colours you can handle without washing out your face or overpowering it. This doesn’t mean you can meander along the color wheel like it’s a tie-dye shirt festival, but you can use a variety of complimentary colors that enliven your skin tone and thereby direct the attention to your face.
Start by thinking of accessories. To easily know which colors work best for you, look at your face in the mirror and note the colors you see; If your skin undertones are more warm (yellows and reds) than cold (blue or gray undertone), yellows, golds, reds and warm colors would enliven your skin tone and compliment your tone.
If you have a cold undertone then blues, gray and green would compliment you best because they pick up the same elements found in your skin tone and highlight them. If you’re fair- skinned, going with lighter tones of colors such as pastel blue or baby pink can help introduce a little bit of color without being excessive.
Here are a few color combinations to try out and practice adding some color to your outfit.
Navy Suit / trousers and Light Blue shirt
Medium Gray Suit and Light Baby Pink Shirt
Brown Suit and off-white / Ecru shirt
Dark Brown and Pastel Yellow
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