8 good reasons why I stopped wearing black at 60.

I know black’s had a pretty good wrap since Coco Chanel made it chic, stylish and mandatory in the early 1900’s.

Among her now-classic innovations were the Chanel suit, the quilted purse, costume jewelry, and the “little black dress.”

And then we’ve made a spectacular statement of the LBD ever since.  

Many stylists begin and end with black.

Black dress, pants coats, shoes, bags are our staple and basic must haves, but does black always serve us well?

 I don’t think so. Black is not our best choice when we’re aging.

8 really good reasons why I stopped wearing black at 60.

Black is often the go to colour (non colour) many women are drawn to  when they want to look, professional, well groomed, chic, stylish, younger, contempary, to name a few, but may I point you to some reasons why as a mature colour consultant, I will never wear black again?

1. Black is heavy-it makes us look heavier.

Because black absorbs all light it creates a feeling of “heaviness”.

Most mature women I know would rather have a much lighter appearance. Many of us a carrying excess weight anyway and looking heavier is not ideal.

 We have been led to believe black is slimming but could this be a misconception?

 

2. Black creates shadow. Shadow around our face, especially ,accentuates lines and wrinkles.

 

Grab a black garment and place it under your chin. See the shadow under the chin and how much more noticeable lines, wrinkles, dark circles, sagging skin is?

It’s a sure way of adding years.

3. Black doesn’t go with everything.

 

We’ve been told black is a universal colour and can go with everything?

Actually black is a dominant cool colour and it mixes with other strong or dominant colours like pure white, primary red, green, yellow, blue, green and purple.

Black is strong and therefore goes well with other strong colours. So it doesn’t go with everything, and trying to mix it with everything creates drab outfits.

4.  Black limits your colour choices

If you are a black lover and have a wardrobe full of black, I can almost guarantee there isn’t much else in your wardrobe as far as variety in colours.

Black is very limiting, for the reasons I spoke about in no 3.

Black only goes with a very limited number of colours.

5. Black is boring.

I make this point by saying. Go into a room with 60 other people that are wearing predominately black.

How different or not do they look? You have a sea of dull uninteresting looking people.

How interesting can a black dress look? How different do your 15 pairs of black pants look in your wardrobe?

How often do you buy more black pants when you already have so many?

6. Black is a durge.

Colours create atmosphere.

What atmosphere is created at a funeral, where everyone is traditionally wearing black?

The mood is sombre, sad, serious and depressing.

That’s why I prefer to wear colour to a funeral unless it is traditional or required to wear black.. So unless you’re compelled to wear black, why not wear colour for a brighter mood?

7. Black is harsh.

How many mature women say “I don’t want to look like mutton dressed up as lamb?

Well wearing black is one sure fire way of that being the case because black is a very “hard” colour.

In all my years as a stylist, none of my clients have said they would love to look more harsh or hard.

8. Black is not stylish

Contrary to popular belief, I've seen multiple examples of women looking far less than stylish in black.

In fact sometimes we can actually look quiet sloppy wearing black.

So give it a go. Look at all your black outfits and then try your coloured outfits (in the right colours of course) and see which outfits look more stylish.

There are just 8 of the reasons why I will never wear black again. Oh and yes another reason why, is I have thousands of other colours to wear, that look bright and beautiful. 

When you don’t wear black your colour choices explode.

I promise you it’s more fun, attractive, stylish and beautiful wearing colour instead of black.

If you would like to learn more about your colours, contact Your Colours and Style.

 

YOUR SHOPPING EXPERIENCE

When was the last time you went shopping? In store or online. How did you go?

Are you one of those frustrated shoppers that come home empty, or worse still return with a bunch of clothes you never wear?

No wonder you hate shopping. No one loves doing something they ‘re not good at.

The good news is you can be a saavy and stylish shopper. So here are a few simple tips to guide you to success. Read the blog to the end to grab a few DIY steps to your style success.

WHY YOUR COLOURS?

Personal stylists with a very good understanding of colour theory will help you to shop for success.

Colour advice is first and foremost to good fashion choices.

Colours are the key to your Image success. You can roam around the shops aimlessly for hours if you have no idea of the colours that suit you. Or you can grab lots of interesting and lovely items and bargains as well.

How would you feel if after 3 hours of shopping you could find 30 items you love?

It’s all about colour.

COLOURS EXPAND YOUR CHOICES.

There’s a misunderstanding that shopping for your colours only limits your shopping choices.

Actually the opposite is true.

Whilst those that don’t know their colours , search for anything in any colour, a colour specialist can guide you to all your colour choices.

That way you can eliminate all the bad choices and only go for the right choices.  This makes shopping, targeted, fun and exhilarating.

You will be more qualified once you know your colours.

AN ACCURATE COLOUR ANALYSIS

Exploring the world of colour is a wonderful experience. With over 16million colours available you can see how colours and colour theory can be a little confusing.

It’s important to have an accurate analysis as there are countless colour systems on the market.

Your colours and style comes with 15 years colour experience and many thousands of testimonials to the advantages of knowing your colours.

THE IMPORTANCE OF COLOUR AS WE AGE.

We’ve all heard the expression “mutton dressed up as lamb”

Wearing the wrong colours gives this result. Younger women don’t look as bad in the wrong colours as more mature women do.

 The wrong colours are very aging for a number of reasons.

Some colours are too bright or too dull or just too powerful. In this case a less than attractive look is achieved. The wrong colours make us look bigger and frumpier also.

HOW TO KNOW YOUR COLOURS.

My personal advice as a colour consultant is to make having a colour analysis your first style choice.

So many women tell this changes everything and they wished they’d done it a long time ago.

It’s not easy to see for yourself what does and doesn’t suit you.

It’s a 15 minute experience that changes everything.

You can also do this online in the comfort of your own home and gain professional help with your style after that.

DIY TIPS FOR YOUR COLOURS

If you haven’t had this experience of having your colours done as yet, here are a few little tips to help yourself.

Take a few pictures of yourself wearing colour.

Ask yourself the following questions

Do I look bigger in that colour?

Does that colour reflect on my face?

What colour is reflecting on my face?

Do I appear to have more pigmentation in this colour?

Do my eyes look brighter in this colour?

Does my hair shine?

Are my teeth white or yellow?

Does this colour make me look red?

Does this colour cast shadow and give me more lines?

Do I look yellow in that colour?

Is the colour too bright?

Is the colour too strong?

Is the colour dull on me?

These are the things a professional colour stylist will look at to guide you to your perfect colour choices

For more information about colour and style please send an email ros@yourcoloursandstyle.com.au

How to dress for success everytime

Want to know the keys to successful styling every time?

Here are the 4 top elements I have discovered work wonders. By adopting these easy principles you'll be looking 10 years younger and top to toe chic instantly.

Lets use the C A P S principal. C Dress your Colour. A Dress your age. P Dress your personality and S Dress your style or shape.

C-Dress your colour

As a colour consultant, I can't get away from the powerful influence of colour. Not just any colour, but your colours.

Simply put, wearing your colours makes you look your best. Always when you're wearing the colours that suit you, you look younger, more attractive and more vibrant.

Why don't women wear the right colours if this is the case?

Because  there are over 2.6 million colours or indeed an infinite number, the only way to determine the right colours, is to have an accurate analysis.

A-Dress your age

We've all heard that expression, "mutton dressed up as lamb" .

Here's a good example of wearing inappropriate colours and style in the before shot and although I would still make changes to the after shot with hair colour and hair style, you have to agree that the after shot is a great improvement.

To avoid that look the best thing to do is to make an assessment every decade.

We can't look like our 35 year old daughters no matter how hard we try.

As we mature, things change. Our body is different, our skin is different and our hair isn't as glossy and luxurious as a young woman's.

The best thing to do is to cover up more and to avoid things that highlight our less than perfect features. Be more subtle in our choices draws the right sort of attention.

Things like shimmers and shines draw attention to our flaws. 

Avoid too much detail and buckles and bling. And certainly look at the length of skirts and the depth of necklines.

P-Dress your personality

Chic and very stylish

I could be styling 2 women of exactly the same age and shape and colours but I would dress them completely differently according to their personality type.

Some women have bolder personalities and some have a more shy demeanor. Obviously I am not going to style the shy lady in bold styles, she just wouldn't be comfortable making such a bold announcement.

Even though there are many style genres, classic, chic, elegant, bold, boho, soft and feminine etc. you don't have to stick to one style. You will find there are many style types you can very comfortably wear. All this can be discussed at the time of your consultation to explore the style personalities that you feel very happy wearing. 

S-Dress your shape

Here's another classic example of what not to wear. Unflattering shapes are just that, very unflattering.

So how do we dress for success and how do we know what shapes or styles suit us?

I find this is the easiest way to determine the shapes that suit you.

Imagine yourself as a rectangle. You may be a triangle with broad shoulders and smaller hips or you may be an inverted triangle with small shoulders and wider hips like the image above. How are you going to balance out this look?

Think of broadening the narrow parts of your body and narrowing the broader parts.

So to broaden shoulders go for wider collars and padded shoulders. Draw attention to the top half of the body with featured jewellery and colourful scarves, or patterned tops as long as they're in your colour palette

Slim down hips by wearing sleek close fitting tops with no detail and pants with no features on the hips. Slimline skirts are flattering.

For more details on colour and style tips contact your colours and style.