What Colors to Wear

One of the hardest parts of owning a wardrobe is deciding which pieces to wear and in what combination. Females tend to pay far more attention to the "fine lines" of color coordination than do males, which is why we often get hassled by our male counterparts for "taking too long" in our preparation. But there is, boys, a method to our madness. Sometimes, albeit, it is haphazard and potentially misguided, but we females usually know what we're after, whether that be a comfortable chic, refined elegance, or a simple yet stunning look.

One of the defining moments in my never-ending quest of looking great was when I discovered that I look AWESOME in deep purple. Soon after, I forget how exactly I stumbled across it, I found an article that talked about one's personal color palette when it comes to fashion and makeup. When considering your hair and eye color as well as your skin tone, the combination your genetics have created lend themselves quite nicely to certain colors. You already know this! This premise is why you never wear the color (fill in that putrid shade here). Therefore, those colors that you look great in and those others that are wearable but may not be quite as smashing would fall under your personal color palette. You have a primary and secondary set (so I'm told).

One of the ways people look at personal color palettes coincides with the seasons of the year-spring, summer, autumn, and winter. I fall under the autumn spectrum with my brown hair, brown eyes, and peachy complexion. One website pegs me as having a "warm autumn" palette, which features these colors:

There's that deep purple! And when considering the other colors in this repertoire, I do tend to look rather nice in those shades as well! Success! Once I came to the realization that I do not need to try to look great in every color and that certain colors are more well suited for me than others, the doors to the world of fashion were flung wide open. Such a simple notion of coordinating your wardrobe to your genetically determined color preferences offers great freedom and opportunity. Now, when searching for a specific clothing item or fashion trend, you know it will go better for you if you look at pieces that fall under your personal color palette. Shopping can be stressful and frustrating enough as it is. Any "tricks of the trade" that make it go easier for me, I am all for!

For those interested, I found a quiz that helps identify what your personal seasonal color palette is. It takes all of a minute to do. Then, I found this website that breaks things down a little further as well as and includes examples of the different palettes. The same website offers a second standard by which to analyze yourself, called the gold or silver test. This test uses jewelry color, gold or silver, as the guideline. Either it will serve to enhance or wash out the wearer. From this simple determination, a set of colors can then be suggested that will compliment him/her. Easy peasy!

Like I said before, most of you have probably already figured out what your color palette is. You just may not have known that there is a science behind it. I hope this post has served to shed a little light on the subject.