The great wordsmith Oscar Wilde once wrote: One should either be a work of art or wear a work of art Why does art matter? Every culture from ancient times onwards has created art. From the unknown artists of cave paintings and all the other artists who have come afterwards, every culture enjoys art in…
This is a loaded question, as taste, is very personal. One person’s beautiful is someone else’s ugly. That said, there are some overarching design principles that have been shown to aid in more people finding an outfit or garment aesthetically pleasing, and that’s what we’ll be looking at here. Did you know that something that…
There are some colours and neutrals we label as “universal”, in that they can be worn by all. That said, the version of each of these colours varies depending on the colour properties of the colour direction. For example, the colour may be brighter or more muted and smoky. It may be a lighter or…
The Colour Properties of Black Every colour has three properties. Value, undertone and intensity. Every colour palette also has these three properties as well. The colours that harmonise with your own colouring are the ones in your colour palette (if you’re not sure of your palette you can find out with my 7 Steps to…
Hi Imogen, What do you wear to work when your colouring doesn’t suit the traditional light/dark and neutrals of corporate classic dressing. Especially for people with light colouring and low value contrast that still need to be “in charge” and taken seriously. I’m working on this now and find it hard to find the sweet…
Ideally, choosing prints and patterns that are within your ideal colour contrast level is the best solution to looking in harmony with your outfit. But should you choose to go outside of those levels, how to pull off the look so you wear the pattern rather than the pattern wearing you? We all have favourite…
There are two sorts of contrast – value contrast (how light and dark the colours you put together should be in your outfit – watch the video on that here) and colour contrast – how similar or different the colours that you’re putting together in your outfit need to be. How about your colour contrast?…
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…
What is the easiest and best way to choose prints and patterns? Match them to your colour palette! If you’ve had a personal colour analysis you should have a colour palette, a fabulous tool that will assist you in finding the colours in both solid fabrics as well as patterned ones. When you think about…
By Bernadette Lis Thinking about overdying your clothes to make them into a more flattering colour for you? It’s such a great way of bringing new life into clothing, and even masking stains you may have gotten on a favourite item. As we get lots of overdying questions, I’ve asked Ms MakeItOver Bernadette to answer…
In interior decorating, there is a concept of the 60/30/10 rule – that is percentages of different colours to use in a decorating scheme. 60% + 30% + 10 % proportion formula is considered to be a timeless decorating rule that can be used to mix different colours in a balanced way in a room.…
Dear Imogen, I would appreciate advice of some sort, if possible 🙂 I have a dramatic personality, I love striking colours – but I have a soft, muted, low contrast, slightly warm colouring (“Intriguing”). Is there a way how to express my inner me in spite of this antagonism? Thank you very much, you are…
I have found at 52 I no longer like the way prints look on me. Printed tops were once a significant part of my wardrobe, but as my hair and colouring have cooled they now overwhelm me. Can you explore the types of style changes one may need to make? What are the changed I…
Have you wanted to become a colour and image consultant (often described as a personal stylist)? Would you like to spend 4 days with me learning all I can teach you about the art and science of colour and style? You’re invited to join me as I share my wealth of knowledge with you in…
It’s been announced that Living Coral is the colour of 2019. It’s interesting that this colour has been in fashion for a number of years here in Australia – maybe the rest of the world is just catching on? So what are Pantone’s colour trend forecasters telling us we’ll be seeing in stores? Here they…
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…
Jill Chivers of 16 Style Types and I have been asked about how often should you be re-evaluating and updating your style recipe and your colour palette? So we sat down and had a chat about these topics in this video. Reassessing Your Style Recipe The options are up to you – but here are…
I’m asked quite frequently on how to find a flattering lipstick colour. This can be tricky as so often buying lipstick is not a “try before you buy” experience, in fact, you don’t try til you get home and then you are sadly disappointed with the result. Try Before You Buy Take a tissue and…
When you’re thinking about how to flatter your body and enhance it in a way that makes you happy, there are a few ‘tricks of the trade’ that make it easier to decide what to wear (and what to avoid when you’re shopping so you don’t keep making expensive mistakes). How does the magician create…
Colour is a passion of mine, and helping people find the colours that truly make them shine is something I’ve been doing for the past 14 years (or so) and I know just how much wearing colours that harmonise with your natural colouring really makes a massive difference to how you look and feel. The…
SPORTSWEAR/ HIKING WEAR etc: how to assemble small capsules of technical clothing for sporting activities, when shapes and colours are often very limited. What are the few things to do to adapt such clothes to ones own personality and needs? Long gone are the days when you wore a baggy old men’s (or promotional) tee…
