if you’re warm, but there will be a certain hue that suits you more. Maybe you wrote off yellow as ‘not for you’ after trying on a dress and really not feeling it; hopefully this will help you find your yellow.
Warm/Cool Colour Examples—Cool Is on the Bottom, Warm Is on the Top
If you don’t feel that you fit into either category, then there’s a good chance you’re neutral and the next step will be your jumping-off point.
Are You Bright, Deep, or Soft?
So now that you know your ‘temperature’, it’s time to think about the vibrancy of your colour palette. You know you should be wearing warmer pinks, but should that be a bright pink or a more muted tone? This can be tricky, and it’s incredibly subjective, but the aim of the game is to choose colours that enhance your natural colouring rather than wash you out.
A great test for this is lipstick. Aside from the fact that it can be a little jarring to see yourself in a bright colour if you’re usually a clear gloss person, does a bright lip make you glow, or is it too much? Remember, if you determined that you are warm, then that brightness needs to be a warm and bright. Put me in a cool, pastel pink and I will look ill, but a deep raspberry can really light up my face.
If lipstick isn’t your thing (or you’d rather take the traditional route), pull out some clothes, towels, blankets—whatever fabric you have in different colours—and hold them up to your face in natural light. It should be obvious which colours flatter you the most, but if you’re struggling, take some pictures and send them to your most honest friend. Their opinion may not always be welcome, but today you want the truth.
Warm—Bright—Deep—Soft
Cool—Bright—Deep—Soft
Are you sitting down? This is going to be tough to take in, but…even black isn’t universally flattering. I tell you this not to upset you but to reach those of you wearing a uniform of black thinking they can skip this chapter because they’re ‘set’. You might think you’re all good in the colour department, but everyone can use some colour in their lives. It’s a never-ending evolution, and if you’re closed off to any change at all, you’re not going to like what comes next! Don’t you want to find that one colour that you know makes you sparkle whenever you wear it? Even if it’s just a scarf, dip your toe!
You can dive deeper into colour theory if you’re really interested. There’s so much information out there about ‘finding your season’ if you want to invest some time, but it can be overwhelming and a little restrictive (especially when it can all change with the wave of a tinting brush or another candle on your birthday cake). As we get older, we lose some warmth, and if you’re anything like me, chances are you haven’t had the same hair colour for your entire adult life, so you may need to revisit this exercise from time to time.
I recently discussed colour theory with a friend who wasn’t familiar with the concept. I told her which category I thought she fit into, and she disagreed. The next day we went shopping, and after trying on items in colours that previously worked for her as a blonde, she conceded that as a brunette, they didn’t flatter her in the same way. Now deep, warm neutrals and rich jewel tones make her pop, whereas previously a bright blue was her go-to shade.
Ultimately, if your calculations tell you fuchsia is off the table but you feel great in fuchsia, then wear it! The purpose of the exercise is to identify what flatters you and give a jumping-off point, not to make you feel worse. There might be a dress you love, but when you’re going to wear it, you know you have to put in some time for industrial light and magic (a little extra bronzer and such) to make it pop. If it makes you feel good, who cares?
Body Shape
This is one of my favourite topics because it’s so misunderstood. One of my best friends, Emma, is a plus-size blogger, and we realised pretty early on that although our sizes are very different, our body shapes are actually very similar. We hold weight around our middles and more generally on our upper bodies, so although the sizes of our clothes may be different, the silhouettes and styles we choose to dress our shapes with are the same.
There are some very basic guides out there to help you figure out your ‘shape’ that I’ve found useful. I realise that not everyone will feel that they tick a certain box, but it should help you (even vaguely) find a starting point for what styles will suit your body.
It’s possible that you’re never going to love your body completely every single day, but most of us can at least try and love a good portion of it at all times. We all talk about our ‘problem areas,’ but what about the ‘solution areas’? I, for example, am an ‘apple.’ I carry my weight up top and have described myself on more than one occasion as the equivalent of two stolen cars that have been welded together. I have wallowed in the summer that I don’t want to have my tummy out in a bikini, and I’ve had meltdowns in fitting rooms over every sweatshirt being so cropped it can’t cover my muffin top…but my legs, my legs are good. By focusing on my frustrations with my midsection, I am effectively feeding my own mental trolls. In the same way you’d do for a friend, look for the good and accentuate that, not just in clothes, but in your mind. If you’re a pear, chances are you have a fabulous waist and a Beyoncé booty that many of us envy. Athletic and petite ladies may long for curves while those with them wish they had a straighter figure. It’s natural to want what you don’t have, but hopefully learning to dress the shape with which you’ve been blessed will go a long way to helping you learn to love it.
Also, while we’re talking about shape (and Beyoncé) do you remember when we thought she had a huge bum? Scratch that, do you remember when we thought JLO was bootylicious? Just as fashion follows trends, so do body types. It’s currently cool to be curvy but thin—which is not what was in when I was at school. I’d like to say it’s just another mental hurdle we have to cross, but it is out there in the world. Stores preferring a certain shape makes it difficult to shop for what suits the remaining 90 percent of us, and it just sucks. Thankfully, the plethora of online stores allowing us to search by style (thank you, ASOS) and length do help…but we’ll get to shopping later.
Right now, we all think we know what shape we are, but it’s difficult to be objective about your own physique. If you have a tape measure handy, I would suggest you take your measurements to make this step simple. Measure the fullest part of your bust, the slimmest part of your waist and the widest part of your hips.
Here are some very basic rules for dressing according to the traditional body shapes. Take them as a guide if you’ve yet to find styles that suit your body. I’m using the names we’re (probably) all familiar with so that you can Google accordingly for inspiration.
Triangle/Pear
If you’re widest at your hips, you’re a triangle/pear. You likely have a small waist which you want to accentuate. These tips are aimed to balance your shape, but if you want to go full on body-con, go for it!
Celebrities Who Share Your Shape
•Beyoncé
•Jennifer Lopez
•Kim
