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…
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…
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…
Hi, Imogen, I think you introduced for me a fundamental change in thinking when you talked about being primarily light medium or dark value. That was rather an aha moment. I always knew that I was summer and then cool muted and light but I was for example than trying to make that palette fit…
When choosing prints and patterns for your outfits – what’s the easiest way of knowing that a print is going to harmonise with you and your colouring? There are two elements of this – the colour contrast of the print and the value contrast of the print. If you’re new here on Inside Out Style…
Would you like to have more joy in your life? I’m not sure anyone would answer “no” to this question. So how do you bring more joy in? And what’s it got to do with a style blog? Fortunately, there are “joy” researchers in this world and one of them, Ingrid Fetell Lee, has found…
1. You’re Number One You’ll get seen first – you are the star of your story, not your clothing. Colours that flatter you make you the star. They ensure that you are seen, and noticed, rather than your clothing taking centre stage. The right colours will create a harmonious balance between what you wear and…
When you are thinking about putting outfits together, there are lots of things you need to consider to create harmony with your natural appearance. Just to name a few: Body shape Body proportions Body variations Colouring – undertone, intensity and value Contrast – colour and value Scale Texture and Sheen Personality Now, this can start…
How to lighten up a colourful, but medium to dark wardrobe for low/medium contrast value. Help Please! If you have overall lighter colouring but you’ve got an overall darker wardrobe, and realise that to look your best you need to lighten up your outfits – but you only have a medium value contrast – how…
What’s ideal value and how to figure out your ideal value? This is a concept is one that I’ve come to realise as really valuable the longer I’ve been doing personal colour analysis (right now that’s over 14 years, so just a little experienced!). Whatever palette you have (from whatever system it comes from), there…
A while back I created my outfit formula to help you think about the different elements you need in an outfit. There is no single formula that works for everyone (such as a dark , a light, colour and a print which I’ve seen claimed as the ultimate outfit formula that works for everyone) as…
Have you had a personal colour analysis and don’t like some of the colours that are in your palette? This is something that can happen to any of us for a number of reasons. The colours are different to what you’re used to (or have been wearing the rest of your life) There are colours…
So you’ve had a personal colour analysis and you just don’t like some of the colours in your palette – what to do? How to adjust to them? Can you learn to love them? Find out more on the accompanying podcast episode blog post here: What to Do When You Don’t Like Some of the…
How can you help others hear your message and be taken seriously in the workplace when the traditional business colours (dark cool neutrals in a high contrast with a light top) don’t suit you, either because your overall ideal value is light and dark colours look heavy, or you are high colour contrast and you…
