Discover your color palette and your style type.

Should You Dress too Brightly on Purpose?

8/7/2017

Typically, your best colors make your features look clear and defined, right?

And colors that are too saturated can make features look a little blurry, right?

As they age, women sometimes gravitate to brighter colors precisely because of that effect -- the blurring of the features.

It's a bit like one of those soft filters sometimes used in filming older actresses -- like the one used on Sybil Shepherd on Moonlighting. (Here, "old" is relative! She was younger than I am now, I'm sure. But in Hollywood, it seems like "old" for women means "over 25.")

I don't necessarily recommend using brighter colors to create the Moonlighting effect. My aesthetic values authenticity above all

But when we know the effects of different color dimensions on our skin, we can use that knowledge to our advantage, if we like. Knowledge is power.

So if you do want to wash yourself out, for whatever reason, highly saturated colors are the way to go.

10 Comments

Jaybird

8/10/2017 12:30:34 pm

I have really enjoyed reading your blog, but have not come across an answer for my question. I have always considered myself a winter and love wearing those colors.
My dark brown hair has now turned white...silvery in some places and still salt and pepper in others. Does this natural aging change anything in the colors I should/not wear?
Thank you for your time!
Blessings,
J

Rachel

8/11/2017 07:28:56 pm

Hi, J!

Your hair changing won't, by itself, change your season (though having a preexisting big bock of silver right next to your face might change some of the choices you make about how you put your colors together.)

It is true, though, that our skin can change along with our hair, as part of the aging process. If your skin tone changes, it will usually become less saturated in appearance. And if that happens, you may well become a different season.

I hope this helps!

Rosetta

8/11/2017 06:00:48 am

I just had to comment on the "old" in Hollywood being over 25 - I really don't think that's true at all, at least nowadays, as practically all the biggest female stars now are over 40 (e.g. Naomi Watts, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett, Cameron Diaz, Reese Witherspoon), or at least in their mid-30's (Anne Hathaway)! :)

Lena

8/12/2017 07:54:59 am

I think it's great that nowadays older women are appreciated even in Hollywood. Another good thing is that today it is more accepted for a woman to have grey hair.

8/14/2017 10:50:52 pm

I couldn't agree more. <3

8/12/2017 07:19:47 am

Rachel, if you find more than 3 elements in a client when you do a virtual style analysis, do you tell the client she is a 4 blend category or will you narrow it down to a 3 blend style category?
I also wonder : do you let your client know which element is dominant in that person? Isn't that good to know for instance if you are going to dress for your face? And are the guide lines you give for a clients style category general guide lines for all women in that style category or are they specific guide lines for that specific client?

8/14/2017 10:59:06 pm

Hi, Lena!

Occasionally I find that a woman has a dash or a smidge of a fourth essence -- say, 10% or 15%. If that's the case, I include information about how to incorporate the tiny bit of fourth essence if the woman would like to.

I break down my results by percentages -- for example, 40% Romantic, 35% Gamine, 25% Classic.

The guidelines I give will inevitably feel rather specific, because assigning a woman to one of 63 categories is already getting pretty granular! But I hold back from giving hyper-specific advice; knowing a woman for only a brief time, I don't feel I could fairly instruct her about fashion minutiae. My sense, and certainly my sincere hope, is that women combine their quite personal style identity results with their own experience and self-knowledge to arrive at an approach to dressing that is perfect for them. :-)
.

8/15/2017 02:09:02 am

Just FWIW, I have four essences all 25% (as per the style calculator), so it's not always just a dash or smidge, and I know I'm not the only one ;) But yes, I guess we are probably exceptions...

Caressa

8/12/2017 09:52:51 am

This post is so timely for me. I've been experimenting with colors for months, trying to figure out my season (professional draping doesn't fit in my budget right now) and I kept thinking I HAD to be a winter because black "cleared" my rosacea redenned complexion. But winter cosmetic colors didn't look right at all, and the shades in clothing seemed to make me look simultaneously yellow and blotchy red. So I pored over every color related article on your site, and your examples of soft autumn celebrities is where the light went off... black wasn't clearing my complexion, it was sucking the color from it. In my photos I could finally see it, dark mossy green eyes in a bloodless face, topped with dull faded hair. Seriously, it's shaken my world, but in a way I hope will lead me to be a much more confidant woman.

8/14/2017 10:50:33 pm

I'm so glad it was a help to you! I remember so well believing that I might be a Winter because I loved how "clear" my acne-prone skin looked with Winter colors. Of course, it was deathly pale, not healthy. :-)

Truth is Beauty

Should You Dress too Brightly on Purpose?

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