All about Color…Color Theory

Color Defined

Color theory is something that is not only good for art students to know but also very important for us to know when building our dream closet!

Looking up color in the dictionary you will find it to be defined as the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eye(found on wikipedia)

When talking about color theory there are some terms that we need to be familiar with

Color theory terms

The 3 Aspects of color

1. Hue and temperature
   1. Hue is the color family
   2. temperature is warm, cool, neutral
2. Depth of color also known as color value
   1. light or dark
      1. Tint- adding white to any color
      2. shade- adding black to any color
      3. Tone- adding grey to any color
   2. Chroma/ clarity
      1. chroma defines saturation
         1. how bright a color is
            1. a clear bright color is highly saturated
         2. how muted a color is
            1. taking saturation away makes the color go grey or muted

Everyone has a color personality

I Love color, everything about color excites me the brighter and bolder the better, I notice colors in everything whether it be in God’s creation, fashion, home décor, cars, architecture I love color!

We often ask little kids what their favorite color is, my answer has always been a resounding Pink I love pink all shades of pink but the brightest pinks are my favorite(not sure you could tell when reading this blog… insert laughing face emoji)

Some may find it hard to believe

we not only have a favorite color but we have an entire color palette that was made for us, or we were made for it!

When researching for this blog series I found a lot of different blog posts talking about color and then I found a book called “Color Me Beautiful” by Carole Jackson. I quickly ordered and anxiously awaited its arrival. The day the book arrived I ripped the box open and immediately dove in reading it word for word and learning everything I could about color so I can share these helpful tips with you!

I do not typically do book reviews on this blog but if I did I would highly recommend this book for any stylist or fashion blogger. Keeping in mind this book is very dated and could definitely use an update but I would say 95% of the information inside the book is super helpful!

Blog series- seasons of color

I am so excited to announce the next blog series called “Seasons of Color- finding your perfect color palette!”

In this blog series we will discuss color theory, all the color palettes, determine how you figure out what season you are, then learn what colors look best and what colors don’t look so good on you! Using this information will be helpful in building your capsule wardrobe!

• Winter- Icy Hues
• Spring- Fresh tints
• Summer- gentle tones
• autumn- earthy shades

Variables in Personal Color

1. Undertone of skin- hair color, eye color, skin color
2. How light or dark your overall color is particularly your hair color(natural color)
3. Chroma- how bright or muted your color is
   1. high- clear and bright
   2. low- muted and soft
4. seasonal chroma
   1. spring and winter- clear and bright
   2. autumn and summer- muted and soft
5. Seasonal temps
   1. warm- based on yellow and gold
   2. cool- based on blue and silver

Put it together for the season

1. Spring- bright and warm
2. summer- light and cool
3. autumn- light and warm
4. winter- bright and cool

The universal colors for wardrobes

Even though each season has a specific color palette that is designed for the season and a color palette to avoid there is a universal color palette that any season can and should have in her closet!

• True black
• soft white
• teal
• turquoise
• pastel pink
• periwinkle
• taupe
• navy
• red
• eggplant

3 types of colors for people

1. Fabulous- the color for you this color enhance your skin eyes and hair, you look your best in this color. The fabulous color palette reduces skin imperfections, minimizes dark circles, finelines, and discolorations. The fabulous color brings out your healthy complexion. This is typically your go to color when getting dressed in the morning, your slay color!
2. Good colors- this color is not fabulous but not bad. The color can highlight and create false impressions of dark circles and blemishes. These colors are neutral and looks alright wont look overall great but wont look too bad either.
3. Bad or wrong colors- These colors look aweful, your hair will look drab, your face gaunt and you will look tired and sickly.

Skin tone plays a big role

Skin tone is defined as the surface color of the skin- it is important to note that this will change throughout our lifetime.

Groups of skin tones

• Fair- very pale will most likely burn and not tan at all
• light- more beige than fair and may tan slightly or freckle naturally
• medium- some pigment to skin tans very easily
• tan- olive complexion light brown naturally tan and will tan deeper
• rich- natural brown tone- dark olive to medium brown tan just deepens
• dark- dark rich complexion tanning doesn’t affect the look of the skin

Skin Undertone

Undertone this color doesn’t change and is crucial to determine your seasonal color palette

Different undertones

• warm, cool
• olive, cool
• neutral, warm

It is important to note that a skin undertone has nothing to do with race

Steps to figure out your undertone

1. Metal test- in natural sunlight put gold a silver jewelry on or next to your skin, ask which one looks better. It is possible that both look alright but one will look better
   1. If the answer is gold- you have a warm undertone
   2. if the answer is silver- you have a cool undertone
2. Paper test- in natural light hold a true white piece of paper next to your face with no makeup on
   1. Cool- if your skin looks bluish, red, or pink
   2. warm- if your skin looks peach, golden, or yellow
3. Vein test- in natural light look at the veins inside your wrist
   1. cool- if the veins look purple to blue
   2. warm- if the veins look green
   3. neutral- if the veins look blue green

Blog Series

I am so excited to be talking about colors and hope you stick with me and learn your seasonal color palette so we can create your dream closet!

• Winter
• Spring
• Summer
• Autumn