Summer Colors-White

Nothing quite evokes a summery feel than crisp, cool, white.

If you are a Summer, then there is no limit to how and how much you can wear white this summer. This is your time to shine! Tops, bottoms, dresses, swimsuits, whatever you want to do (that isn’t dated and tacky), GO FOR IT!

If you are not a Summer, white can still work in different doses. We all know that white looks great against a summer tan or naturally darker skin for contrast purposes, but that does not necessarily mean you will glow. Just ask me, an Autumn, who looks a bit like Death in white. Mm-hmm. Listen to her. Me.

If you are a Winter, you can wear white much like Summers, but it may be a bit too much contrast to wear as a top for you darker-featured cool beauties. Instead of wearing all white like Summers, mix white with a bold, cool, jewel tone color to give you maximum glow.

If you are a Spring or Autumn, stay away from white as a shirt, blouse, button-down, dress, pattern-background, anything too close to your face. If you simply must wear white, try a white skirt or shorts with a warm, bright top. Yellow or orange work, so does navy and some of the warmer purples. Always warm it up with gold-toned jewelry.

Or, bring white into your home with linens and flowers. So serene.

If you would like me to do a color analysis for you (includes blog feature with pictures and customized color shopping list with your own personal power color) that will bring out your own unique glow, contact me at glowingcolor@gmail.com for rates.

Autumn Colors/Patterns: Leopard Print!

I entered a giveaway for a leopard-print rug and won a couple of weeks ago, which inspired me to do a leopard-print post while it’s still technically autumn.

I love, love, love leopard-print. Some say it’s trendy, but most agree it’s a classic. Sure, there are several ways to tacky it up with leopard, but done right it’s cozy, sensual, sassy, and glamorous.

Leopard-print is perfect for autumns (and even springs). Use this print however you want, just don’t do too much. If you’re wearing a top, temper the bottom with a solid basic color and vice versa. Same if you’re doing a leopard coat. For summers and winters who want in on the leopard action, keep it to an accent piece–a clutch, or pumps or booties. I have seen leopard print work with other patterns, various colors but you have to be confident and have a keen eye to pull it off. I love a bold red lip with leopard but I also love plum or blue with leopard as well.

Leopard-print is also a warm, cozy addition to your home in the colder months. Toss in some pillows, a throw, a rug, etc. Enjoy!

If you would like me to do a color analysis for you (includes blog feature with pictures and customized color shopping list with your own personal power color) that will bring out your own unique glow, contact me at glowingcolor@gmail.com for rates.

Autumn Colors-Orange

Orange is one of my favorite colors to wear. If worn right, it gets you all the right attention and warmer-toned women glow beautifully in all tones of this color. I read somewhere that orange is one of the harder colors to wear, but I guarantee you most of that comes from the paler or cooler-toned women. It does tend to make cooler-toned women look zombified. The good news for cooler-toned women who want to wear orange is that orange pairs beautifully with a lot of cool colors. Try color-blocking but always keep the orange on the bottom, in a skirt for example. For warmer-toned women, just ball out of control with orange; you can do no wrong here.

If you would like me to do a color analysis for you (includes blog feature with pictures and customized color shopping list with your own personal power color) that will bring out your own unique glow, contact me at glowingcolor@gmail.com for rates.

Autumn Colors-Chocolate Brown

Chocolate brown is such a cozy color when done right. When done wrong, it can look blah as hell, but the key is to either get some sheen or some kind of texture going–sequins, iridescence, cable-knit, etc. Autumns look washed out in black, or the black just sits on them but brown gets such a bad rap they hesitate to turn toward it. Start incorporating more brown into your wardrobe and thank me later! It really softens up your look. Another hint would be for Autumns (and Springs!) to try brown eyeliner and/or mascara instead of black. I did this and was amazed at the difference. Black eyeliner always made me look undead, but brown brought out the fiiiiiierce.

If you would like me to do a color analysis for you (includes blog feature with pictures and customized color shopping list with your own personal power color) that will bring out your own unique glow, contact me at glowingcolor@gmail.com for rates.

Autumn Colors-Gold

Gold is just…sexy. Diva type ish. Sparkly. Regal. Etc. Gold is a color that shines in Autumn, and for special events and holidays. Autumn (and Spring) women should snatch this up however they can. It can make a subtle statement or a big impact on your overall look depending on what piece you wear in gold. Indulge.

Autumns and Springs, if you don’t want to wear gold in your clothing, invest in some nice gold eyeshadow. A subtle glimmer or full-on glow is your choice. Or try gold earrings, hoops being the classic here. You’d be surprised how that little touch can warm up your entire look.

If you would like me to do a color analysis for you (includes blog feature with pictures and customized color shopping list with your own personal power color) that will bring out your own unique glow, contact me at glowingcolor@gmail.com for rates.

Color Blocking

Color blocking is one of my favorite trends. My personal style is mainly classic/bohemian but ALWAYS with bold colors. I love throwing a solid top and bottom together that are either completely different colors or shades of the same color.

What I love about color blocking, as it applies to seasons/skin tones, is it allows you to have a bit more fun with your “forbidden” colors. As long as you wear a bold color in your season for the blouse/sweater/tank/tee/top part of dress, etc. you can go wild with the skirt/pants/shorts/bottom part of dress, etc. and shoes. Since the weather is cooling off, you can have more fun with tights as well. You can ground the look by having something nude or neutral–particularly your legs or shoes if you have a lot going on above that.

For example, La is a Winter, and after doing her color consultation, we are both keeping an eye out for a color-blocking outfit for her consisting of a blue top and red pencil skirt.

If I have already done your color analysis, feel free to contact me about how to do a successful color-blocking outfit for you! If you would like me to do a color analysis for you including a blog feature and personalized color-shopping list, e-mail me at glowingcolor@gmail.com. I’m affordable! 😉

Autumn Plaid

Today I will share an example of what to look for in patterns depending on your season. Plaid has always been a hot pattern for fall/winter. Something about it just invokes coziness.

Autumn Plaid by glowingcolor featuring knit tops

Marc by Marc Jacobs green plaid dress
£220 – vanmildert.com

See by chloe dress
£187 – theoutnet.com

SUNO New York knit top
$115 – barneys.com

Burberry Prorsum plaid wool coat
£2,395 – net-a-porter.com

Opening Ceremony wool blend coat
£740 – brownsfashion.com

Cape poncho
$111 – anthropologie.com

By Malene birger
£80 – theoutnet.com

Long Sleeve Aqua Plaid Shirt
$22 – aeropostale.com

Long Sleeve Blue & Purple Plaid Shirt
$22 – aeropostale.com

The 5 plaid items at the top are what Springs and Autumns should look for, color-wise. The main color in these items are either yellow, tan, olive green, or ivory. If you are a Spring or Autumn, you should always make sure that the dominating color (for plaid it’s usually going to be the background color) is warm. Springs look best in the lighter warms like the tans and ivories while Autumns look best in the yellows and olive greens. Also, notice that the coat at the top is yellow and black plaid. Black is not an autumn color. However, the yellow sufficiently overpowers the black in this pattern to where it will read as ‘warm’ when it is worn.

The 5 plaid items at the bottom are what Summers and Winters should look for, color-wise. The main color in these items are either blue, pink, red, or turquoise. If you are a Summer or Winter, you should always make sure that the dominating color (for plaid it’s usually going to be the background color) is cool. Summers look best in the lighter cools like the paler pinks and turquoises while Winters look best in the reds and more vibrant blues (though you can also pull off turquoise effectively).

Cleanin’ Out My Closet

Going through your clothes and keeping only the things you love and the things that flatter you the most is the most successful way to build up a wardrobe that you won’t get sick of.

After figuring out my colors/season (I’m an Autumn) I went through my clothes and picked out the stuff that wasn’t flattering me. That sh** was hard y’all. I am one of those people who will shop for basics, see a sale table of basics in all the colors of the rainbow and be like, GIMME ALL OF THESE NOW! And don’t let them be 2 Tops for $20 or Buy 1 Get 1 Half Off cause chile…..

Me at a 2-for-the-price-of-1 Tshirt sale

But seriously, I’d just be grabbing random colors for the hell of it, grabbing colors I didn’t have. Collecting colors like I was collecting Pokemon. But that is not the answer.

So, I cleared out all the non-Autumn coloring friendly clothes, and now I have a true sense of what I actually have and what I actually want/need, wardrobe-wise.

One of my BFF’s (who will be featured soon) is a Winter and my size, so her wardrobe just got crunk courtesy of me. Take a looksie:

Go through your closet, get rid of stuff that doesn’t flatter you or that you don’t love. That’s the only way to truly tell what you’re working with. Keeping all the crap gives you an inflated sense of what you have. It feels good to dump it all. If you don’t have a friend who is your size and needs those colors, donate!

Some Tips To Remember

When discovering what colors do and don’t look good on you, keep the following tips in mind:

1. When I refer to colors looking good on you; I am mainly referring to cosmetics and tops/shirts/blouses, as they are the closest to your face and the key to you either looking radiant or sickly.

2. Keeping number 1 in mind, if a color you like is not one that flatters you, it doesn’t mean you have to give it up completely. You can wear it as bottoms, in accessories, as nail polish, or even in your home as decor. Also, the wrong color may not necessarily make you look hideous, but the key is that it will not flatter you the same as something in your tone will. For example, Spring and Autumn are often warned to avoid black. Black does not always look bad on these two seasons but it will often just “sit” on you. See number 6 also.

3. Determining your colors depends on your natural state. Apply this advice keeping your natural hair color in mind. Often, artificial hair colors can throw off judging the colors that look best. It is also a good idea, if you color your hair, to let your color-season dictate the range of hair colors to choose from–if you are going for a natural look. If you are going for shock value, disregard this.

4. If you are warm or cool, it doesn’t mean colors who, at their primary core are considered warm or cool, are always for you and it doesn’t mean the opposite-toned colors are completely off-limits. For example, yellow is generally considered to be a warm color. However, some yellows are warmer and some cooler than others. If you are a warm Season, don’t just grab any yellow item and get crunk. If it’s a golden yellow, it will work. If it is one of those electric neon acid yellows, it won’t work. That particular kind of yellow however, can look good on Summers, a cool Season.

Similarly, Spring and Autumns don’t share all of the same colors; neither do Summer and Winter. Spring and Summer can often look better in the lighter colors than Autumn and Winter. Autumn and Winter can often look better in the deeper, more vibrant colors than Spring and Summer. I will show examples of this in future posts.

5. Most black women will be either Autumn or Winter, given that most of us have naturally dark hair. Of course there are black women with naturally lighter hair too, which is where Spring or Summer would come in.

6. Finding the right color can make the difference between “That’s a cute top/dress/blouse!” and “You look gorgeous!” Wearing the right color makes everything flow head-to-toe, while wearing an off color, makes the COLOR or the ITEM stand out, rather than YOU.