Tuesday 2 February 2010

Can Women Wear Black?

What is it with all this talk of wearing black? Spring is supposed to be around the corner and we should all be reaching for that jaunty nautical sailor look soon (er - not actually). Maybe it's because the catwalk shows are upon us again....who knows.......but real life women don't tend to respond well to being repeatedly told what they 'can't' do. I keep opening the paper to articles screaming 'Don't wear black past the age of 40!' For goodness sake. What nonsense.

When it comes to colour; we can have emotional as well as physcial reactions to it and one of the most common questions I'm asked by my clients is: can I wear black?

Given that I work with women of all ages; leading busy, challenging lives let me offer the short answer: 'YES'.
  • Any woman can wear black on the lower half of her body - skirts, trousers, shoes, boots, hosiery, knits. Knock yourself out and have fun with it.
  • Black is a 'receding' colour. This means it appears 'further away' when we look at it and it's why we reach for black when we're having an 'I feel fat' day. We feel slimmer and we look slimmer. Fact.

But here's the slightly longer answer to the question 'can I wear black?'. 'YES - WITH SOME CONSIDERATION'. Read on if you want to know how to wear black (and ESPECIALLY if you thought that you couldn't).

  • Go see a professional who has been trained in colour analysis and get your colours analysed. It will give you lots of ideas for hair, glasses, make-up and clothing colours. (Oh come on - of course I'll recommend that). Your colouring changes as you get older. Get over it. When you can see that wearing colours that compliment your natural colouring make you look younger, more refreshed, less haggard and with a more defined jawline - with not a hint of Botox or surgery in sight - you'll think, "what's not to love about that?"
  • Back to black again - it all depends on if you want to wear black near your face (in jewellery; hair colour; glasses; tops; knits; shirts; jackets; dresses; coats etc.) Because if you do - your skin/hair and eye colour are important.
  • If you have high contrast colour between your hair and skin (e.g. dark hair; pale skin) - you can wear black with gusto. You can also wear black if you have very bright colouring or as a woman of colour - black will look gorgeous on you.
  • But what about red heads? Grey hair? Blondes? If you know you don't look your perky best wearing black usually - then the chances are you need to 'lift' the impact of wearing black. What do I mean? You need to offset the downside of the black. You can do that by:
  • Well applied make-up with colours that suit you
  • Wearing the collar of a shirt of blouse outside of a black jacket or coat
  • Wearing a scarf which matches your eye colour
  • Gorgeous jewellery (necklaces, ear-rings) which matches your eye or hair colour (or one of the other colours which a fabulous colour consultant will advise you to wear as a 'basic'.
  • Breaking up the black by having it in a pattern - with a colour that works for you. It's less overwhelming that way

Let's go back to black. Wear it when you want; with pride and with a twist if you know you need to 'lift' it.

Black is back. Enjoy it.

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