Using Your Colors to Look Better in Your Clothes
I think we all know that colors are very powerful for our moods and home decor. But do you consider your colors when you’re getting dressed?
Quote of the day: “Failure is a detour, not a dead-end street.” Zig Ziglar
I chose this quote to remind myself that even when I don’t pick out clothing that is great for my complexion, it’s not the end of the world. And the reason I say that, is because we are working with Pamela for this post.
Pamela is a style consultant and reached out to me last year asking if she could use this photo on her Instagram account. I definitely think there are many times we are drawn to certain clothing pieces because the color is wonderful on our complexion. And possibly that’s why I love the coat that I wore when we changed up an item on the blog.
Now maybe you’ve had your colors done in the past. I know I’ve had them done once when I was in high school, and another time about 10 years ago. So the results from Pamela weren’t too surprising. Yet Pamela’s description has been extremely helpful along with her explanations of why these colors work for me. She is also offering a discount on her color analysis for my readers if you’re interested. The details are also at the end of the post.
I admit that I did feel a little overwhelmed when I went to try to style an outfit for this post. I was afraid that maybe I wouldn’t choose the right colors, because there are so many variations. Thus, the quote above…LOL!
Jodie’s (50+) Outfit: So here I am in the Spring Season for my color family.
What I really love about Pamela’s color analysis, is she doesn’t limit it to only the seasons. As you’ll see below with my mom and Nancy, she also incorporated the tonal varieties for what is best for you individually.
You can see in my colors above, there is no black, and I’ve really been trying to limit the number of black pieces in my closet. I think what is frustrating is that retailers almost always have black as their go-to color for every piece imaginable. That could be another reason why I’ve been loving the thrift stores more and more lately. You can find the colors you want, instead of just what’s “popular.”
For my outfit, I picked out pieces in the primary colors. In Pamela’s analysis, she described my colors as warm, light, and bright. This is where I feel like I need more practice with looking at different colors. I wasn’t 100% sure that this red was a good red for me. But I’m sure the more I study the differences between warm and cool colors, the better I’ll get at it.
Because I wasn’t so sure that this red was a good one for me, I added in the choker necklace.
I think that Pamela does a great job in her description to help you even if some of your clothing items aren’t your colors per se. A scarf, or choker necklace, or even a regular necklace could all be elements that help make the colors work.
Personally, I think the sunglasses are a good color for me. I know when I first purchased them online, I wasn’t sure when I got them delivered if I really liked them. But especially now, comparing them to the colors in my analysis, I’m happy!
Since my outfit was colorful in a primary way, I opted for neutral shoes and a purse. I recently tried out a new system of shopping to get this purse. It’s called Wikibuy, which is an extension to find you the best deal on the items you’re trying to buy. I have a feeling there are going to be a lot of these kinds of extensions in the future since online shopping has gained so much momentum.
I did have to laugh that all 3 of us in this post matched our footwear to our purse. While it’s definitely one of those rules that aren’t important to follow anymore, it certainly works. And since it was chilly this day, I added my arm warmers under this shirt. I actually DIYed these arm warmers after seeing my mom’s pair a couple of years ago.
I’ve had this skirt in my closet for almost 2 years, yet have worn it only once. I tried to wear it for our velvet post last year; however, it didn’t work at all. So my goal is to find some other ways to style it. When I first bought it, I thought it’d be great for print mixing, so I decided to try that. And I think it worked. What do you think?
The Sunday outfit in this post is another example of this skirt with more polka dots on a bigger scale.
As a lover of every color out there, I know it will be hard for me to limit myself to only the colors that look the best on me.
Yet I’m trying to rationalize that I can always have those other colors in my pants, skirts, shoes, and purses. We will see how it goes….
Skirt: LuLaRoe ~~Top: hand me down from a friend-Boston Proper ~~Boots: Christian Siriano for Payless ~~Necklace: Charlotte Russe ~~Purse: from Wikibuy c/o~~Sunglasses: 39dollars ~~Arm Warmers: I DIYed them
Nancy’s (60+) Colors: Nancy is a member of the cool family for her best colors.
I’ve always realized that Nancy can wear black and it looks good on her, so it doesn’t come as any surprise that she’s in a different category than my mom and me.
Nancy picked up her burgundy turtleneck to pair with her snakeskin grey blouse for our color experiment. Nancy has had this snakeskin blouse for quite a few years. We bought it when we were shopping together at Express.
To me, it was one of those moments, when I realized that I shouldn’t judge a store anymore. I used to think of Express as a young kid’s store, but in reality, there were many items that worked for Nancy. So I would suggest to you that you don’t pooh pooh any store. There could be a treasure waiting for you.
Since Nancy’s colors are cool, her analysis recommends silver jewelry is better for her. Or if she chooses gold, it’s better to have some silver with it too. So this necklace works wonderfully since it’s both silver and gold. This could be the easiest way when buying new jewelry. Make sure there are both metals in your necklace and then you can’t go wrong.
Nancy used the burgundy from her turtleneck to finish her outfit with her booties and purse.
These ankle boots are the Jambu ones we were gifted last fall.
Since it’s the end of the season, this is the perfect time to add to your ankle boot collection.
One of the aspects that Pamela suggests in her analysis, is that you don’t have to match the colors perfectly from your swatch to your clothing. She recommends that your swatch of “your colors” should blend harmoniously with the outfit you are wearing. This can be used when you go shopping for new items too, so you don’t have to stress about a perfect match.
Jeans: ~~Top: Express~~Turtleneck: ~~Boots: Jambu c/o ~~Necklace: ~~Purse: Laga Handbags ~~Sunglasses:
Charlotte’s (80+) Colors: I was actually surprised that my mother and myself weren’t categorized in the same color category.
Yet, my mom’s tonal version of warm has many of the same colors as my spring, but with some of the colors of autumn also.
My mom probably has every color imaginable in her closet, so it was just a matter of pulling out the pieces that were part of her color family for her look.
This print jacket is really perfect for her coloring and the best part? It’s reversible. I always think that if you travel quite a bit, a reversible jacket is a way to go. If I had my druthers, I’d pick one that is solid on one side, and print on the other. But I have seen some that are different prints on both sides like my mom’s. Or the other version of the jacket being solid colors for both sides.
I know many women will say that they can’t wear “yellow” or another color for example. And I’ve always said that there is a shade of every color that will work for any woman. The fact that Pamela emphasizes this also, made me feel good since she studies this and is a professional.
It was very interesting because as I was studying our photos while writing this post, I realized that my mom’s black sunglasses were overpowering on her. I know she usually only wears them while driving, but since we’ve been taking photos with them too, I suggested either a brown or blue pair for the future.
I have to point out these ombre tights that my mom is wearing.
These are the ones that she bought when we went out to Seattle for a blogger meet-up and explored the city. It’s very unlike my mom to buy items that aren’t on sale, and the funny thing is she remembers the price on almost everything.
So when we were taking these photos, she kept telling us that the tights cost more than every other piece she was wearing (they were $40). However, the tights certainly are unique and fun! We could probably appreciate them more with a shorter skirt and pumps so you could see how they change from dark burgundy to a beige.
My mom did make and create her own skirt that she’s wearing. If you have ever sewed your garments in the past, then you’ll know that skirts are one of the easier pieces to make. In addition, they are easier to fit when purchasing them from retail stores. There are much fewer fit points with a skirt than with pants or jeans. So if you shy away from wearing skirts, let me just point out that advantage.
And I was happy to see my mom wearing ankle boots with the skirt. Many times this practice gets a bad rap, although we’ve shown it a couple of times on the blog in the past. Once was to transition our summer skirts for the fall, but it can work for the transition to springtime too.
Skirt: Mom made it ~~Jacket: ~~Top: ~~Boots: Hillard & Hanson )~~Tights: from Sassafras in Seattle ~~Necklace: ~~Purse: ~~Sunglasses:
I have discussed the pros and cons of online color analysis here. It can be such a helpful tool, yet I also challenge going too far with it in this article.
Thanks to one and all of you for your support. It means more than you know!
The Facts
Pamela did our online color analysis free of charge for each of us, but I was not paid to write this post. In fact, when Pamela and I first talked about collaborating for this post, I didn’t realize she would include such an extensive analysis for us. I thought she’d just tell us a couple of colors that would look good for each of us. So let me be honest, and tell you how impressed I was with this entire process.
If you would like to take advantage of an Online Color Analysis, this is what you would get.
1 A detailed explanation about their coloring and how it translates to a color palette
2 A full-color profile 30 pages – all you want to know about your Color Family
3 A digital color swatch that you print on paper (fabric swatch is an optional extra)
4. 6 or 7 personalized images to explain your color palette, with your colors, examples of outfits etc.
Keeping in Touch
Are you registered for my email reminders to let you know when a post goes live? I’d certainly love it if you take the time to sign up and make sure all your friends sign up too!!
Do you ever wonder why you should connect with me on other social media sites? Well, let me explain what I’ve been doing lately.
Sure you can find my posts on Facebook but I also love to share other people’s posts that I think you may like. Or my Pinterest page has all of our outfits in a nutshell along with fun inspiration from other women!
Right now, most of my time is spent on Instagram. Here’s where you’ll find many other of my outfits and plenty of musings about life and such. Sure, you may not feel like you want to add another social media site to your list. But I spend lots of time and effort to make sure there is something for everyone!
And if you’re new to the party, you can always see our outfits organized by categories, here. Don’t forget to check out the deals & discounts too, on this page.
Also, feel free to Shop My Instagram items.
For shopping today, I wanted to find the colors that would work for each and every one of you. So I found some print shirts that are colorful and should include your colors in a couple of options.
