Accessories can be a great way of adding contrast in your outfit. You can add interest with pops of colour in accessories and create focal points for which to draw attention and encourage the eye to linger. You can raise your colour contrast. You can raise or lower your value contrast. This is why accessories…
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.…
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…
So you’re a bit scared of colour and you tend to wear black and grey and then combinations of black and grey as you’re just not sure how to add colour and you really don’t want to look like a clown. Now neutral outfits in black, white and grey abound on our city streets and…
Your weekly roundup of style and colour Q&A videos – please do email me your pressing colour and style questions to answer in upcoming videos! Your Questions Answered in this video 0.10 How can I create a capsule wardrobe when I have low colour contrast and don’t want to include neutrals? 4.15 As a low…
Reader Question: I have light colouring so light colours work best. So what should you do when you’re overweight and feel that light colours make you look larger. Black is the most slimming colour, isn’t it? Retailers sell lots of black because it’s easy as they’ll tell you “black goes with everything” (it doesn’t, it’s…
The colour red is one of the boldest and most exciting shades that one can wear, which explains its unwavering popularity. No other colour is so rich in symbolism. Red is the colour of extremes. It’s the colour of passionate love, seduction, violence, danger, anger, and adventure. Going into the red means you’re in debt,…
Colour contrast tells you how to put colours together for you to wear in outfits that flatter your natural colouring. Your colour contrast is defined by how many colours you have naturally occurring in your colouring and how different they are from each other. You can discover your colour contrast here. Colour contrast is a…
What are you colour and style questions? I’m here to answer them LIVE on my Inside Out Style Blog Facebook Page – come join me and get your questions answered. Now, sit back and enjoy the answers to these colour and style questions… In this video If you don’t want to match shoes to hair…
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…
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…
Ok, so hopefully you now have some idea of whether you are warm or cool and your undertone vs overtone from these posts. Now it’s time to figure out your intensity – what is intensity? It’s the saturation or brightness or dullness of the colour. Albert Munsell was the man who figured out that 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…
We live in a coloured world, and studies have shown that we remember a ‘coloured experience’ vs a neutral or black and white one 70% more. So how can you bring a little more colour into your world (get out of all that black) and communicate more effectively? In fact, if you want more joy…
Reader Question: How much of each colour should you wear – what are the proportions when putting an outfit together? Balance and Harmony You want to create a balance between the inner you, your personality, and the outer you, your appearance and natural colouring. You want to feel like you when wearing your colours…
Having worked with thousands of wonderful women over the past couple of decades I know (as they have told me repeatedly) that they wear black because they have come to believe it’s the most slimming colour (and they tell me that this is one of their dressing goals), that it also “goes with everything” and…
In this video: How many crossover colours are there between the palettes? Are babies who are born looking very pink cool and with yellow skin warm? How to wear white bottoms such as capris and shorts in summer? Crossover or Universal Colours Universal Colours – How Universal Are They Really? What are Universal Colours? White…
How do you manage moving your wardrobe from one colour palette to another? Why Your Colour Palette May Change Directions (or Seasons) You are growing older year by year and your colouring has softened with age (yes it happens to all of us) and Jill and I have discussed where you may go here. You…
Colour is a subject that fascinates many of you. And I know I’ve written some posts on it before such as this one on understanding colour properties, but here is a picture I’ve put together to help try and explain the basics of tint, tone and shade. Colour Terminology Basics The value of…
Colour is so important to us. One of the reasons humans have evolved into such a successful species is our ability to distinguish lots of different colours. Many animals cannot see red tones, so in a jungle, a tiger doesn’t look orange to it’s prey, it looks browny-green, thus easily blending into the landscape, but…
Wearing black and dark neutrals has been considered sophisticated and chic for some decades. It used to be that black was only worn by the grieving or for a classy night out in your little black dress (first created by Coco Chanel in the 1920s). These days black has become the safest (and honestly, boring)…
