I find this time of year really tricky style-wise. We seem to have been wearing our winter stalwarts for many months. Often the colours that abound in our winter wardrobes consist of dark tones. Admittedly these colours are practical yet as the skies continue to be grey this can, in my opinion, affect our mood. The bright pink coat I am wearing above is from Hobbs last year. It is still available in the sale but only small sizes available. Pink scarf some years old similar.
How to solve this problem
Personally, I find adding a touch of my favourite colour, especially near the face, can lift an outfit from just utilitarian to stylish. Ideally, this will also brighten your mood. When I worked as an image c
The colours that we wear can send strong messages. For example, most uniforms consist of dark colours with high contrast. Think of the police force and the military. Red is often associated with fire, passion and sometimes danger. Whereas pastel tones conjure up softer more compassionate emotions. These signals are not necessarily universal and can vary according to country and culture. If you are interested in further information on colour and how it can affect us there is an interesting article on Wikipedia.
The way that I like to add colour to liven up my outfits is with the use of accessories especially scarves and necklaces. I also love to wear a flattering coloured sweater or add a zingy coloured coat or jacket during the dark days of winter.
Black is probably not my best colour now that my hair is turning grey. However, it is an extremely useful colour and sometimes a stylish item in black is too tempting to pass up. I usually find that I can adapt the look with the addition of colour. In the photo above I have added a touch of my most flattering blue toned red. Red fedora hat some years old similar.
Photo of pink coat and scarf and black jacket with red accessories by Laura Hines. Follow her on Instagram.
Love your pink coat, it’s such a complimentary colour on you.
How fabulous you look in pink! Getting my scarves ready to add some interest to my usual black for our upcoming weeks in sunny Aix 😉
Hi Anne
You are so lucky to be going to Aix. The weather here has been grogeously sunny. Not looking forward to heading home to cold cloudy London.
Pink certainly seems to be your colour, you look fabulous, it doesn’t do anything for my look, so I tend not to wear pastel colours.
Love the fringies! I just bought a pair of teal ones for the new year – wish I’d bought more, since there was a BOGO going on. I said, “Nah, I don’t need any more earrings.”
WHAT was I thinking???
Love all these images. My wardrobe would fit in well in a funeral parlour, according to my husband! I have become lazy and find black, plus white and colour so easy. However I have started adding COLOUR to my wardrobe, thanks to you. Don’t like pastels: I shall go for bright colours: red, jade, bright yellow, bright pink, like yours. I wore a sky blue cardigan the other day and my neighbour actually told me to “go” for that colour always!
Why is it that men don’t like black on women? My husband hates it-so I usually wear a colourful necklace or scarf at my neckline, which is what Josephine is suggesting. But I won’t give up black.
Hi Penelope
Yes it is curious that a lot of men dont like black yet it is supposed to be so chic and sexy. Maybe the associations in the UK with funerals.
Jo, you look absolutely fabulous in the pink as well as all the colors. You look confident, interesting and friendly. I too wear color and lots of scarves…they make me happy!
Hi Judy
Glad to hear it. Anything to cheer us up in the Winter.
I love the 2 shades of pink !!!
That is absolutely the most beautiful picture of you in the pink coat! You look beautiful. You should frame it!
Love that pink! My hair is the same colour as yours and my 2019 style resolution is to include more colour. Guess what I’m going for first!
Really glad to hear that many of you like the pink and the brighter colours for the winter.
Please tell me if we can still wear the same colours now that we are older and ‘fading’ as when we were young.
I had my colours done and am a warm, should I wear the brighter palette of the warm tones – always wonder. Thank you.
Hi Lorraine
It is a difficult question to answer you would be best to find a qualified Image Consultant if you want current advice on what colours now suit you. You don’t say when you last had your colours done. Our colouring definitely fades as we get older. Strangely I used to wear muted colours and now look better in brighter ones.
One way to check is to go to a good makeup store and try on some lipsticks and see if the brighter tones now suit you. Not totally accurate but a guideline.
I say brava to your willingness to wear something other than the ubiquitous, boring black. As you say quite rightly, yellowed blacks near the pink/blue undertones of certain skin colors will make us look like death, and who wants the wrong black to bring out the wrong shades in aging skin? It’s been my experience than men should be listened to about colors that do nothing for you; it’s only a social convention, and a recent one at that, that the myth of black equalling sophistication was invented (was it Oleg Cassini, Karl Lagerfeld, or perhaps Coco Chanel, who first invented the black sheath and sold it to the masses?). Black is not a ‘power’ color, except in the minds of those who won’t adapt their thinking to what *actually* suits them, rather than what they *believe* will suit them. And you look fabulous in those pinks. Thank goodness you had color training; we all need the influence of someone who has had that kind of training, who can see the difference between a ‘blue’ black and a ‘yellow’ black. Which of course, as you know, is why it is so difficult to match blacks, because different dye lots rely on different shades of black. And having said all of that, I can still wear a very saturated ‘blue’ black, but were I to attempt a yellowed black near my skin, I too would look like death. 🙂
I Alison
Thank you for your interesting comment. You are right about the blue and yellow blacks however they are not easy to detect if you do not have a trained eye. The best solution is to add some flattering colour near your face.