What about this earth, fire, ice, air?

[kayehall]

I just went to a brunch and the speaker was Bobbi Thomas, the style editor for NBC's Today Show. She had a color wheel and was saying the exact same thing about warm colors and cool colors. Very interesting. I think I will read up on it furthur.

[DivasDare]

Yes, that's my avatar. When I say it "sallows me out", I mean that wearing orange and yellow brings out the yellower tones in my skin. I look actually YELLOW. The guy in the pic looks dusky and kind of ashen, but not quite sallow. I didn't think that the green looked olive, and actually that soft butter yellow looks okay on me. I used to have a sun dress that color that I loved.

 

I understand this, and guess that is why when I had my make-up colors done by Prescriptives years and years ago that they mentioned that I had yellow undertones, and when I tan the orange/gold comes out. I try to wear olive near my face, and :eek: but maybe its just a color that I don't care for. I almost feel that should I find out that the colors that I'm "supposed" to wear, I will hate. I plan to read more. Thanks

[GORDONCHICK]

What some of the posters here are saying is that when you find out the best colors for you to wear make you look your best, you begin to see those colors as your friends. They will give you confidence that you look your best - the right colors can actually make you look more alive and healthy as much as the wrong colors can make you look tired or even sickly.

 

This doesn't mean you change your favorite color - but maybe just the tone. Techinically, we can all wear yellow - just not the same tone of yellow. Mine should be icy cool, whereas someone else's should be a pastel or even a warm golden yellow. All shades of yellow. There are even different tones of purple. Me? I love them all, but the best ones for me to wear are royal purples, deep jeweled purples, etc.

 

And yes, ice/winter is the easiest one to determine. Among our strongest colors are black and pure white. If you see someone who glows in white or black, chances are they are ice/winter. My guess is that Mark Harmon is a winter - but that man glows in anything, but I digress...

[laurspag]

Gordonchick, you are right on the money. I feel so much better about what I wear now. Autumn colors (Earth) are exactly what I need. My body had changed dramatically over the past 5-6 years partly due to underactive thyroid, and I was really beginning to hate to look in the mirror.

 

I'm slowly working on the weight, but I feel so much more confident and attractive when I wear colors that I know are right for me.

[cooki801]

Now I am really confused!

I tried to determine my "colors" by the tests of each website at the beginning of the thread and one says that I am an Earth and the second says I am a clear spring!????

I did some draping of fabrics (I am a quilter and have quite a range of solid colors to use), natural light all-be-it indoors not outside and a mirror with no make up and when I did the clear opposed to muted I looked much better in the clears and most especially with the blues the turquoise looked much better than the sort of muted teal LOL

I guess I am just not getting an accurate picture of myself and need to do some photos to show what I mean.

[indigosails]

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to go shopping!

[Anita Latte]

Now I am really confused!

I tried to determine my "colors" by the tests of each website at the beginning of the thread and one says that I am an Earth and the second says I am a clear spring!????

I did some draping of fabrics (I am a quilter and have quite a range of solid colors to use), natural light all-be-it indoors not outside and a mirror with no make up and when I did the clear opposed to muted I looked much better in the clears and most especially with the blues the turquoise looked much better than the sort of muted teal LOL

I guess I am just not getting an accurate picture of myself and need to do some photos to show what I mean.

 

You are confused because you are reading two different theories regarding color theory.

 

I can tell you from experience and knowledge that some of the information on the Pretty Your World site is accurate but presented in a confusing way. The Pretty Your World site is talking about how someone can be more than one season...the site talks about how someone who is a "Soft Summer" can where an olive color...which is traditionally an Autumn color. It talks about "the flow of color" and how their color system explains this phenomenon. It leads you to believe that someone with cool skin can sometimes wear warm colors...and vice versa.

 

Color Intervention is very clear...you are either warm or cool...you wear warm or cool colors...there is no mixing.

 

But some people have a hard time grasping certain concepts regarding color. Can red seriously be a COOL color? Blue can be a WARM color?

 

In my son's art class in elementary school, they were taught the color wheel. They teach that red, yellow, and blue are the primary colors. (Even though there are debates about yellow v. green being a primary color...as we all recognize the term RGB (red/green/blue) color regarding screens and how these colors mix together to form all colors...but I digress). The secondary colors are orange, green, and violet, which result from mixing two of the primary colors together. The red, orange, and yellow side of the color wheel are the warm colors...and the green, blue, and purple side are the cool colors.

 

No-one questions how two primary colors are warm and one is cool...or why...or the results of mixing warm and cool primary colors. No one talks about the difference between an orange/red and a blue/red...and how one is warm and one is cool...yet they are both called red. Nor does anyone teach about how every color in the color wheel can have a warm or cool version of the color.

 

For the Soft Summer wearing olive green...The real explanation is that even olive green can be warm or cool. As an EARTH (Autumn), I know that I cannot wear every olive green out there. I recently purchased a color from Athleta called "Safari" and it is an army/olive green that is COOL...it didn't go with any of my clothing and I had to send it back. It was an AIR (Summer) color because it was a COOL olive green.

 

And a Winter that looks good in brown? Well that's because BROWN can be warm or cool. Ask any of the EARTHs or FIREs on those two threads and we can all tell you that we learned the hard way that you have to pay attention to your brown because just like any other color...it may or may not be the right temperature. You can't assume that brown is warm.

 

But some color theory is still stuck in elementary school saying that certain colors are warm and certain colors are cool...and they come up with some way of trying to explain why and how a warm skinned person can wear a traditionally cool color and vice versa. Hence, the Pretty Your World 12 season color theory. Whereas instead of talking about how olive green can be warm or cool depending on its undertones...it talks about how a cool skinned person can wear a traditionally warm color.

 

Good grief.

 

The Color Intervention theory is much simpler...it recognizes that every color exists in a range of temperature and a range of clarity. And in it's simplicity, it can be more complicated because you have to train your eye to recognize whether or not a color is warm or cool and clear or muted...or at least, you have to learn a control system that will help you make that identification (like using color cards).

 

Please understand that I'm not completely discrediting the Pretty Your World site...like I said earlier...there is truth behind what they are saying, but the way that they get you there...it doesn't seem like a cut and dried theory...there are too many exceptions and understandings...how could you ever really learn how to identify good colors beyond the swatches that they sell?

 

All that said...

 

Cooki...you MUST take photos. It is amazing what you can see in a photo that you can't discern with your naked eye. Also, when you see how different you look in different colors in photographs, you will understand more and more how great an impact color makes on your appearance. Granted, some of it may be hard to see until you have trained your eye as to what you are really looking for...but that's the classic...you don't notice something until you are told about it...and then that's all you can see. I think this is the reason why so many people generally don't care about what colors they wear...they have never taken the time to really study the idea, especially at a personal level.

[tizzylizz]

Okay, still can't figure out what I am...LOL. Thinking I was fire, but, not sure.

 

Asked hubby a few nights ago after holding up my arm to a white peice of paper if my skin under tone was yellow or blue...he thought yellow. Asked some girlfriends I walked with yesterday afternoon the same question and they all thought blue.

 

My hair used to be (long. long ago) a brown with dk. blond highlights, the highlights turned redish in my late 20's/early 30's....while my hair remained a brown.

 

My eyes are a deep, clear blue.

 

Took pictures in black vs. brown top (Thanks for the suggestion Anita), and white vs. cream. Although I think I waited too long...I did it about 7pm with sun setting in the room--even though there was still day light. I will try again tomorrow afternoon, if time allows.

 

Stupid question: How do you get good pictures of your self if you are the only one taking them?!

[tizzylizz]

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to go shopping!

 

haha...that's what I was thinking too! :)

[Anita Latte]

Okay, still can't figure out what I am...LOL. Thinking I was fire, but, not sure.

 

Asked hubby a few nights ago after holding up my arm to a white peice of paper if my skin under tone was yellow or blue...he thought yellow. Asked some girlfriends I walked with yesterday afternoon the same question and they all thought blue.

 

My hair used to be (long. long ago) a brown with dk. blond highlights, the highlights turned redish in my late 20's/early 30's....while my hair remained a brown.

 

My eyes are a deep, clear blue.

 

Took pictures in black vs. brown top (Thanks for the suggestion Anita), and white vs. cream. Although I think I waited too long...I did it about 7pm with sun setting in the room--even though there was still day light. I will try again tomorrow afternoon, if time allows.

 

Stupid question: How do you get good pictures of your self if you are the only one taking them?!

 

Believe it or not, brown, blond and red can ALL still be cool hair colors. I remember one of the AIR ladies with red highlights in her hair...her hairdresser gave her a warm red hair color that totally conflicted with her coloring and caused serious problems. Curt was able to help her get her hair back to a cool tone...he called the cool red more of a hazel color. But having red doesn't immediately signal warm...that can be hard to differentiate though...

 

Would you call your blonde more golden or more ash? Golden is warm; ash is cool. Same with the brown.

 

I personally was never able to tell with any whiteness test...I even red about how you can try to interpret the color of your veins to try to tell...I think they were saying that more green toned veins was more indicative of warm...but I couldn't really say definitely that my veins were any one color or not.

 

Pictures really are the best tool.

 

Taking pictures of yourself can be a challenge. The good news is that all you really need to see is your face. You can hold up the camera using both hands to raise it up in front of you at arms length. When you see your face reflected in the lens of the camera, you have a pretty good chance of having your face be the focus of the picture. Experiment with your camera for the best results.

 

Generally, you end up finding a space that works best for you. I've been standing directly in front of a window with the window coverings fully pulled away and the light shining directly on my face. I've been in dappled shade outside. Standing in an exterior doorway that was open. Whatever makes there be good lighting on your face such that the flash does not flash and you can see the effect of the color.

 

If all you are going to do is take a photo of brown and black; cream and white...I highly recommend picking out a color that you have felt is a good color on you...and maybe the opposite of that color in either temperature or clarity. We have all raided everything under the roof to find different colors to drape over ourselves...I've used DH's clothing, sheets, towels, fabric, tablecloths, anything that was necessary to be able to test certain colors. The key is that whatever you are using is big enough to drape over yourself in the manner of high school senior photographs so that there is enough color to have an effect. Also, be sure to have all your changes of color ready and easy to do so that you have the most consistent lighting possible for the entire series. You are aiming to have the color of your shirt be the only variable in the photos.

 

I wish you well. Like I said before...it isn't the easiest thing in the world to do.

[lotusbogardi]

Hi All,

 

Just was reading a few threads regarding this and find it quite interesting.

 

Even though I'm not sure what I am. :)

 

If you are familiar with this...does it work for you? Do you tend to only buy your "colors"?

 

Also, if you have any good links to share with me to help me understand this better...I'd appreciate it. Thanks, Lizz

 

Thank you so much for asking this, Lizz. The answers to your questions helped me learn quite a bit, and now I am looking at clothing in a whole different way.

[cooki801]

thanks for the long but helpful reply! LOL It was long in a good way, really.

I know that I need to do the picture thing so that I can get a good idea and not be influenced by what I "think" looks best at the moment.

I could also suggest a tripod and the timer function on a camera. I have taken many a picture doing just that and the hardest part is getting the shot in the right range and in focus the first time.

I will try the brown/black, cream/ white and a few colors that I think I look good in as a test.

Funny thing happened when I opened my newest issue of Real Simple mag on the second page was an add for Clarisonic with just eyes showing and they could have been MY eyes! LOL mine have slightly less brown and a little more teal-ish green on the outside of the colored parts but is was quite startling.:eek:

[MJC]

Although I think I waited too long...I did it about 7pm with sun setting in the room--even though there was still day light. I will try again tomorrow afternoon, if time allows.

 

Stupid question: How do you get good pictures of your self if you are the only one taking them?!

 

 

As you can see from some of the (bad) pictures in my previous posts, I have been learning to take better pictures along the way but it takes some practice. Here are some tips that have helped me.

 

7pm is not a good time for pictures, a lower sun's light is traveling through more atmosphere and the light has more yellow in it than daytime, which will affect how your camera "sees" and it will adjust accordingly. You can see the effect of all that golden light in that beautiful picture of Laursparg. Try to photograph as close as possible to the middle of the day.

 

I use a small tripod and set the camera on the windowsill, with the blinds up and the curtains open to get as much natural light as possible. I use the landscape setting on the camera, so it doesn't have to focus on my face, just the room in general. On my camera the screen flips around so I can see what I'm framing. Then I use the timer and jump into the picture. Sometimes I take several pics and choose the best one.

 

Try not to use a background with a lot of color unless it has an equal balance of red, blue, and yellow, because your camera is always trying to find those colors in an equal balance on auto settings. For example, if you are trying to take a picture of a blue shirt against a blue background, the camera will think "too much blue" and adjust the blue setting down, and then your colors won't be true. It is the same thing an underwater camera does to filter out the blue in the water so your fish are colorful and don't come out all gray.

 

Also, on auto settings your camera will read a light color as white and adjust accordingly, so if you can find a white background the colors will be truer with less adjusting required on your part. My walls are gold or yellow so I've learned to set my camera to balance that out.

 

In theory all these things should help, but you can see from my photos that I still need lots of practice. It is helping me to learn some of the wonderful features on my camera, though, and hopefully my next vacation photos will be super as a result.

[Alrana Eris]

After doing my research, it makes sense. I'm going to stick what I like wearing, jewel tones and peacock colors. I know what looks good & bad on me. And not worry what season I am. life's too short to do science homework on colors. i use my color wheel for jewelry design.

[DivasDare]

After doing my research, it makes sense. I'm going to stick what I like wearing, jewel tones and peacock colors. I know what looks good & bad on me. And not worry what season I am. life's too short to do science homework on colors. i use my color wheel for jewelry design.

 

That's exactly the same conclusion that I have. I think that I already am familiar with what colors and tones look good on me, and I know I feel good when I am dressed well. Except on Friday's when I'm tired from a hard weeks work. I just want to be in my jammies. :eek: Then my coordination skills have to be put into overdrive.:D

 

I'm in no way knocking those of you who only wear, or shop for those colors, it's working for you!

[Laurie S.]

I totally agree!

[cooki801]

OK, did the photos this morning and not sure that the lighting worked as I am in full sun and it seems that the left side of my face in the pics is washed out and the right is kind of shadowed.

Anyway here they are.

[cooki801]

And one more

[Anita Latte]

@Cooki...IMO you are either a FIRE or an EARTH. The brown is definitely better than the black; the cream is better than the white. Do try to determine between these two...I would find classic colors for each. EARTH would be army green, mustard yellow, rust. Think about the colors of Autumn...any of these would be a good test. For FIRE, try to find bright and clear orange red, sunshine yellow, aqua...think of tropical colors...some of the blues can be more difficult to identify...for these photos, the most important thing is that you know that what your are picking is a clear warm color.

 

@Alrana, Diva, and Laurie...many don't find value in color theory dressing. There is not right or wrong, better or worse. What is homework to some is great fun for others. C'est la vie! ;)

 

@Jeannie...I've really started looking at clothing in a whole new way over the past 2+ years. Color theory is just one aspect of the whole business for me. When I started my efforts toward health and fitness, I had so many different sizes in my closet. I determined that I would not buy ANYTHING new until I had shrunk out of the clothing in my closet. (It was a source of motivation.) I learned how to make do with a severely limited wardrobe...and knowing that I would continue to pass through sizes (even newly purchased clothing) and would eventually have to replace my wardrobe many times over before I reached my health and fitness goal, I determined to do what I could to make smart decisions so that what I DID buy was as functional while making me feel as good as possible. I have to work in a budget and so I really needed to have a plan when it came to buying clothing and really think about the concept of building a wardrobe.

 

Color theory, "shop your shape", and trying to figure out "my style" (something a little more defined than "clearance rack specials") became a fun project for me as I continued on the road toward greater health and fitness.

 

If this is a topic that interests you, there is blog that has a perspective that I really enjoyed...it is a finished blog (meaning that the author doesn't add to it anymore, but the info is still out there and very helpful)...It's called "The Very Small Closet" and it's an interesting read, for those interested, of course:

 

http://jenniferskinner.blogspot.com/2008/04/welcome-to-jennifers-new-blog.html

[JennyMominRI]

Cooki ..I vote for Earth,but definitely a warm tone

[laurspag]

Cooki, your coloring seems warm to me too. I'm leaning towards earth, but play with it a bit more.

[GORDONCHICK]

Cooki - you're either an earth or fire, and I'm leaning toward fire. However, I can't seen your eyes in any of the photos. Also, is your hair color natural or is it colored? If it is colored, can you post a photo of you as a child in natural light? That may help.

[Member123]

Cooki....

 

Basically, I think what everyone is saying is that you don't have even skin tone in any of the colors that you posted... which to my eye were all cool toned. So the general consensus is that you must be a warm skin tone... which translates to either FIRE or EARTH. I think even the brown looks like it has a red undertone rather than a golden or yellow undertone... I really "see" that as a cool brown!

 

It seems that most of the EARTH ladies have joined you in a discussion here on this thread. So, I thought I'd add a FIRE voice to the mix! LOL.

 

Did you read through the FIRE closet thread? We haven't been too talkative lately so the thread may have disappeared even from the first page, so I am posting the link for you:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1280510

 

What you might find interesting in that thread are the pictures of the color groups that we've been playing with so far... if I remember correctly, we've posted pictures of "our" blues, aquas, greens... this may give you an idea of the clear, bright color that you can use to analyze for a FIRE skin tone. You'll also be able to "see" what happens to a FIRE's skin tone when she dresses in a muted shade... it's so darn obvious that you can't really miss the graying of the skin tone that occurs... especially for me!

 

Happy researching! Looking at colors and analyzing what you look best in is the start of a wonderful journey toward self expression and lovely closet choices!

 

Hope you're having fun with all this...

[lotusbogardi]

After doing my research, it makes sense. I'm going to stick what I like wearing, jewel tones and peacock colors. I know what looks good & bad on me. And not worry what season I am. life's too short to do science homework on colors. i use my color wheel for jewelry design.

 

You know, you may already have picked up on what looks good on you without having to be tutored on it, especially when you say you actually use a color wheel. My husband has that instinct. I don't, so having it laid out is really helpful to me. Instead of limiting me, it is freeing!

 

I always knew I couldn't wear most yellow, orange, or melony-pink colors, and what those colors did against my skin looked pretty bad. I knew I could wear most burgundies, greens, blues and some shades of red. I didn't know WHY sometimes I would put on a (brick, garnet, ruby, or true) red shirt and look great, but when I put on a different (flame, vermilian) red shirt, I looked like crap. I look okay in teal, but better in emerald or kelly.

 

Now I understand that I should look for shades with a blue undertone (magenta, oh yes!) instead of a yellow undertone (coral, no!). And now that I know that, I can expand beyond the colors I almost always wear (because I knew for sure they looked good on me) into icy yellow or aqua, or fuchsia! When I went shopping the other day I saw clothes that were right out because they were yellow based, and that allowed me to focus on clothes that were better for my skin tone because they were blue based.

[cooki801]

Thanks ladies for your input...the natural color of my hair is there except maybe the bottom 3-4 inches by now as I have been growing it out for about a year with no hair coloring.

I thought the brown was pretty warm but I guess that goes to show that sometimes we don't know the difference. As a quilter I have tried to educate myself on color using the printers color wheel not the artist color wheel which approaches color a bit differently. You can see a bit about it on this link

http://worqx.com/color/color_wheel.htm

I will study a bit more and see if I can find the fire and earth tints and tones in my fabric stash and see where I go.

Even if I don't replace all of my wardrobe with all this for future purcheses it can help