Wednesday, March 13, 2013

color me awesome

i've been doing a little thinking… (i know, watch out! right?) Steph of the blog 3 Hours Past did a great series "Conversant in Color" (here's a link to one post) which started to get the wheels spinning, and then Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow did a recent post about colors. so i thought i'd jump in. and i liked her little circles of color, so thanks for the inspiration ladies!

with sewing, i feel like there's a little disconnect (at least for me) when it comes to picking out fabric color and the wearability of the final garment. when shopping at a store for RTW clothes it's easier for me to hone in on colors that i like and will wear. i can hold it up and see what the finished garment will look like on me or try it on right then and there, bingo. at a fabric store, i think i go into color and pattern overload. so much to choose from! i completely forget that the fabric will turn into a garment that i'll be wearing. most of the crazy quilting cottons sure are fun, but really, am i going to wear that, no. i need to take a step back and remember to visualize what the fabric will become, and ask myself, will i wear it?! because i don't want to end up with a bunch of handmade clothes that never get worn.

like the dress i'm working on now - i'm not super in love with the color and pattern anymore. it spoke to me at the store, but did i really know what it would become? no. so i need to do a little more pre-planning before shopping. fabric shopping with a purpose! and the last knit top i made? also a color disappointment. i might never wear it. strike two is the fact that it's a tad shorter than i like my tops. but even if the length was perfect, the color is still a no-go. it's an olive green. i don't wear olive green. what was i thinking?! i liked the pattern and the fabric was soft and had a nice drape, but would i really be excited to wear it? nah.

that's another thing. i want to be Excited to wear the clothes i make/buy. i want to love them. fewer pieces, but pieces i love. doesn't it feel great when you're wearing something you Love? i want that feeling every day.

time for some visuals right? i was looking in my closet at the colors i wear (yes my closet is organized by color), the colors that don't get worn, and the colors that i don't even own:



i love black and white. i have a lot of black and white. and i like wearing black and white together, and black and white patterns. i also love wearing vibrant primary colors. royal blue is a huge chunk of my closet. i also just bought some royal blue shoes and they are amazing. i also love a true red and i get compliments when i wear vibrant yellow. after those, i'm also drawn to coral and teal. love love love. and occasionally an emerald or a violet. those work too.

so i want to take this into consideration when fabric shopping. and i want to avoid the following colors:



anything muddy like a burnt orange, mustard or olive. no good. and this is just me. i have a good friend who looks amazing in mustard, it's one of her favorite colors. she has red hair and mustard looks great with it. i love wearing a vibrant yellow, but a mustard just looks bad on me. i'm blonde and pale. and i've decided that pastels don't look good with my paleness. i need some contrast, and those light colors just don't do it for me.

another lesson learned is that colors i love when separate, can become colors i don't love when combined together into a pattern. so patterns take some careful consideration. think about the scale of the print as well. case in point: the red and white bikini. awhile back i bought a red and white bikini. it was white with tiny adorable red flowers on it. i love red and white. it was seriously cute. until i saw a photo of myself from a little bit of a distance on the beach. red and white make pink. and it looked like a light pink. and my skin looks like a light pink. so you get the idea. not a good look. unless you're on a nude beach.

so i'm going to take more careful consideration of the fabrics i purchase. and remember the colors that work for me and the colors that are "uh, not so much." i know i'd like to think, "oh i can wear any color! i'm brave and open-minded!" but when i'm getting dressed in the morning i grab the colors that make me feel good when i wear them. 

what do you think? what colors work for you? and are there any colors that make you want to run and hide?

13 comments:

  1. I realised I have not one piece of red clothing in my closet..I love the pastel colours, but can never find any fabric in those colours :(

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    1. oh love some red! as i type this, i'm wearing a bright red sweater, ha ha. you'll have to give it a shot? i've been seeing pastels popping up everywhere because it's spring time and they've very popular for easter.

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  2. I love these dot/swatch diagrams that you and Gillian have posted! I'd love to wear more color, but I find myself wearing very neutral things to work so as not to draw any attention to myself. :) I like to be that hidden ninja at work ;)

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    1. hidden like a ninja - that's awesome =) i'll pair a neutral color with a bright color. sometimes i'll just wear black and white or black and grey. but if i wore all black people would ask wear the funeral was. i hear that in some big cities more people wear all black - i know that's a new york stereotype. (i've only been there twice.) i live on the coast and it's hot most of the year, so i think all black also would be too hot!

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  3. I love reading about everyone's colour preferences and reasons for those preferences. One colour that comes up time and time again for many people is teal. I read an article once that said teal is one of the few colours that is flattering to every skin tone.

    I was also told recently that everyone can wear every colour, but not every TONE of every colour. So you look great in vibrant yellow, but don't like mustard. I love sea green/aqua but don't look good in olive for example.

    I think yellow is the one colour that really scares me, but maybe that's just because I haven't found my perfect shade.

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    1. very interesting! now i'm trying to imagine anyone i know that wouldn't look good in teal! but you're right, it has a lot to do with the Tone of the color - how greyed down the color is. something more muted might work for one person, but something more vibrant and saturated would work for someone else. and the other thing to consider is the tint or shade of the color (Tint being lighter, like a pastel, and Shade being darker, deeper colors). this is brining me back to color theory class!! ha ha
      what shades of yellow have you tried? have you tried a mustard color - that might work for you.

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    2. Actually, I've just remembered I've got a mustard yellow coat in my wardrobe and I love it! I'm going to get it out and wear it today now. Thanks for jogging my memory.

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  4. Colour is quite a personal thing. Some colours suit us and some don't. If you find yourself gravitating to certain colours it might be because you know you look good in them. Neutrals form the basis, but colour chosen well will flatter your skin and so that you look good, not the clothes.

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    1. i love pairing a neutral with a bright color. actually i'm doing that right now, come to think of it. i've also read that if there is a color that you don't think you look good in, try wearing it away from your face, like as shoes or pants or a skirt and then pair it with one of your favorite flattering colors on top.

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  5. This is so fun! I might have join in and create my own board! It seems logical that it would be such an easy task to pick fabric out since we are so good at shopping colors for RTW for ourselves, but it is really HARD! :) Thanks for spreading around the inspiration :)

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    1. You should! I'd love to see what colors you pick =) It actually did help me to visualize the colors i like to wear and it will make it easier for me to just think about this when i shop for fabric. I was doing a little online fabric browsing last night, it did help! (i didn't end up buying anything though!)

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  6. I can so relate to this post! Especially the part about grabbing the colours in the morning that make you feel good! I have also definitely bought prints that I absolutely LOVED until I held them up to me and even though they were filled with colours I love to wear they looked disastrous! So odd isn't it!

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    1. I'm super late to see your comment and reply!!! I still find myself being drawn to prints that are pretty and have colors i love but aren't something that would look particularly good on me. i think fabric shops need to have more mirrors! then i could hold the fabric up to myself and get a better perspective. Or at least when i'm looking at a bolt of fabric i just need to visualize it as a top or a dress, rather than just pretty fabric.

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Thanks for reading! I welcome any advice, insights, witty remarks, snarky comebacks, commiserations or just a quick hello. I'd love to check out your blog as well, so let me know where you're posting. Happy sewing!