Reader Question – How do you wear medium value colours when you have high-value contrast and dark ideal value? Just a quick note if you’re new to Inside Out Style and have never heard of the term “value” with regards to colour, the value of the colour just means how light or dark the colour…
Recently I’ve been having fun playing with my scarf collection. Tying them in different ways (check out these 32 ways to tie your scarves), and using them as outfit colour scheme inspiration. Creating Colour Schemes Here I’m using a scarf (that was my grandmother’s) and have used the colours in it to create my outfit…
How do you select prints and patterns that work well with your personal value contrast? If you’re new to the subject of value contrast, it’s worth reading these posts first, so you can discover your value contrast and see how it’s important when putting outfits together. Value is the technical colour word that means how…
When it comes to choosing patterns for your clothes, it’s not just about the style or design of the fabric. Another important factor to consider is the value contrast. This refers to the difference in lightness or darkness between the different colors or and neutrals within a pattern. Choosing patterns with the right value contrast…
What’s a low-value contrast outfit anyway? It’s one where the value (that is the technical word for the lightness to darkness of a colour) is similar, and so is an outfit where there isn’t much value contrast. Many feel that low-value contrast outfits can be dull (and difficult) to put together with style. This is…
Low Value Contrast means colours that are only 1-3 shades away from each other (on a grey scale such as this): It doesn’t matter where on the grey scale the items sit, just they need to be close to each other in depth of colour. What it doesn’t mean is that the colours have to…
A Guide to Mastering Value Contrast Have you ever been drawn to a stunning pattern, only to find that it somehow overwhelms your look, rather than enhancing it? What I’ve learned over the past 20 years working with clients doing personal colour analysis and finding the best ways of putting each individual client’s colours together,…
Contrast is a hot topic amongst my 7 Steps to Style and Evolve Your Style program members, because once you see its impact, you can’t go back to ignoring it. It’s an important part of any personal colour analysis – discovering how to wear your ideal colours (not just what they are). Colour contrast =…
Contrast seems to be a topic that many find kind of tricky so I wanted to post more pictures to give you examples of different kinds of contrast. Here I’ll be showing you examples of Medium-High Contrast which sits in between Medium Contrast (that is a medium depth colour with either a very light or…
Value Contrast is a concept that most people have never thought about, heard about or considered, and this is because until recently it was only ever looked at in a way about what it communicated, rather than using it as one more tool to create harmony and balance with your own colouring. In my 7…
Given the cash that is splashed around in Hollywood, and how many professional stylists are employed to help celebrities choose the clothes they wear both on and off the red carpet. It always amazes me just how much bad advice they are given and how many outfits they wear are not quite right. Doing the…
Dear Imogen, I am a big fan of your contrast series. I had never known about this concept before, and often kept myself wondering why some particular outfit felt off to me – but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. It all really boiled down to contrast levels! I am amazed that so few…
One of the things I’ve discovered tends to confuse people is that they think that they can only wear colours that are the same value as them, so if they are overall lighter in value they can only wear light colours, and if they are deep/dark, they have to wear dark colours only. Ideally we…
Since I’ve dyed my hair blonde, I’ve lost some of my contrast. I used to have a high contrast, but now I’m just medium in contrast. I’m learning to not automatically reach for my high contrast outfits of the past, but instead I have to rethink everything I wear (and I can tell you it’s…
So when we think about our value contrast – it is the contrast between our lightest and darkest values. So taking the scales pictured here what is the most similar lightness and/or darkness to your hair, eyes and skin colours? If they are 3 or less apart – you are low value contrast If they…
Would you consider doing an article on spring and summer looks for high value contrasts? I can’t wrap my head around how to get a summery look with dark colors. Especially if I don’t want to wear navy all the time. I’d love some photos to help me see how to make it work. I…
Contrast – both colour contrast and value contrast can be quite tricky concepts to grasp. Once you see it you can’t go back, but learning to see what is and isn’t working and understanding why can sometimes take a little time. I’ve explained how to figure out your contrast levels in this post – with…
Colour and value contrast are two concepts that readers ask me a lot of questions about and are hot topics in my 7 Steps to Style program (where I give my professional opinion on members colour and value contrasts as part of the program). To demonstrate just how much of a difference wearing the right…
12345678910111 1. High Value Contrast, Low Colour Contrast Brown eyes, brown hair, neutral but fair skin, you are most likely to fall into this category. So what should Michelle wear? You want to put together a high value contrast – so light and dark colours together, then a low colour contrast – so either all…
I’ve been asked to show you some examples of using contrast – what is high medium and low contrast, so here are examples and the 7 essential elements you need to know about using contrast. You need to understand your personal contrast levels to then choose the clothing/garments and create outfits using a similar contrast…
When you think about the value of someone with a darker skin tone, usually they have also darker hair which makes their overall value down the deeper darker end of the value scale. But what is their value contrast and colour contrast? Frequently their colour contrast is monochromatic – one colour – dark brown eyes, skin…
