I received this email a few days of ago from BB&W’s very own, Toni. Here’s what she had to say:
Okay, I’m working on my fall wardrobe and looking ahead to spring for next year and it’s a bit awkward because I have a fear of colors. What I mean is that for the longest time I’ve only warn certain colors. My closet right now is rather sadly lacking in many colors. It’s mostly black, grey browns. The occasional red or purple appears, but I’m aware that the “rainbow” is missing. I feel like I need a bit more UNF and to be more adventurous and get to be comfortable wearing a wider range of colors.
I’m petrified of greens (I only own one olive green top) and oranges, which I know is silly because logically I think that the right color could look good on me. I guess I’m not confident in determining what colors go best with my skin tone.
I’d really appreciate any advice you can offer for someone looking to expand the color range in their wardrobe and figuring out what colors work for you. Sorry if this seems a bit silly, but I’ve been working on this for awhile now and it only JUST occurred to me to ask you. ^^’
After receiving this email and having many requests along the same line from many women of color, I have decided to make this a two part series. I will breaking it up into skin tones and putting together four outfits with cool undertones (yellow) and warm undertones (red) in mind.
Remember the rules I gave to you about makeup? They also apply with your clothing. As Toni has yellow undertones, she is representing the cool family of shades, therefore in order to warm up her skin tones and to compliment her fabulous hue, she must stick to colors in the warm family. This means she can wear any color as long as it is on the warm (read red or orange) spectrum of the color.
Deep teals, red-purples, burnt-oranges, fuchsias and burgundy are a must for this fabulous girl. Here’s what I put together.
Casual wear–Colored Denim:
If you are afraid of wearing color, I would suggest wearing color on the bottom half of your bottom where you can’t see it to close to your face, making you feel more out of place. Often, people who are terrified of color are terrified of seeing it near their face. It feels strange, so I would suggest by adding color on the bottom half of your body and accessories, to get used to seeing yourself in color.
Colored denim is a big staple at the moment and are even more in this Fall. Mixing a colored denim like this electric blue brings a pop of color to your wardrobe and combining it with this cute black and white polkadot top allows you to be in your comfort zone without having the same old same old.
Careerwear-Fuchsia
Spice up your wardrobe with this cute camel colored skirt and blazer. If you have yellow undertones, stay away from beige, however camel is the warmer toned sister of beige and perfect for your skin tones. Combining a pop of fuchsia near the face will your complexion a lovely flush. Teal booties or patterned kitten heels is perfect for spicing up your professional wear.
Add a bit of sex appeal with a garter and stockings and you never know, you may get a raise!
Go Graphic with a little Flair
So you work in a more artistic and creative environment? Try this graphic skirt with this crisp winter white sweater and belted waist and you will make some waves, well at least be the talk of the office, in a good way. Again, we are placing the color on the lower half of the body but the skirt speaks for herself. The warmer blues and greens is a great way to spruce up the white and black in your wardrobe.
Toughen Up–For the Rocker Chic in you
Tangerine is the color of the hour and not that yellowy tangerine either. Instead the vibrant, warm, tangerine almost blond orange color is hot hot hot and goes very well with yellow undertones. This warm color combined with a steel gray and black and is must for the Fall, early Winter. Its a tough but elegant way to make a statement and I am sure you already have some black pants in the closet. Give them an update with this cute top, jacket and platform boots. If you are against high heels there are plenty of flat over-the-knee boots out there that will go perfect. Check out Baker’s Shoes, you’d be amazed at what you will find. Adding purple accessories–the complimentary color of yellow–will truly turns some heads.
Toni, I hope this helps you some. Even if the outfits are not your style, you can take some of the ideas and make them your own. Remember, warm colors only. Stay away from colors with cool (yellow or olive green) tones and I promise you will look more fresh and new this upcoming Fall season.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————-
follow Shulamit on her new site and stay up to date with what she’s up to @ Lattes and Lipstick
Love the idea of a series. I’m not sure what my undertones are; the only colors I hate on myself are orange and khaki (Gag! I wore khaki, my worst color ever, for 22 years as a uniform in the Navy). I bought an orange blouse one time without trying it on. Later, when put it on, I looked like Quasimodo without the hump. I mean I looked sick-nasty! The blouse went back and when questioned about why I was returning it, I held it up to my face. No more questions.
Love the idea of a series. I’m not sure what my undertones are; the only colors I hate on myself are orange and khaki (Gag! I wore khaki, my worst color ever, for 22 years as a uniform in the Navy). I bought an orange blouse one time without trying it on. Later, when I put it on, I looked like Quasimodo without the hump. I mean I looked sick-nasty! The blouse went back and when questioned about why I was returning it, I held it up to my face. No more questions.
@Karla
No one looks good in that baby-poop Khaki the Navy has. I’m sure there’s some great historical reason for it, but no one looks good in it. That’s one reason I’m keeping my hair USMC reg, so I can wear Charlies instead. USMC option FTW!
@Law Wanxi One of my XOs told me we adopted the khaki color from the British Navy because they didn’t show dirt as much when working. Aviators got them first, then sub guys, then the rest of the Navy. Frankly, I don’t care what the reason was, the color sucks! When I was in recruiting, we wore summer whites or SDB; no khakis allowed in case we had to go to a function of some kind and represent the Navy. Even they knew the color sucked. I also heard a rumor that Edith Head designed the women’s SDBs. Not sure if that’s true, though…
I wear a lot of black. About 90% of the clothes in my closet is black though I’ve made an attempt to branch out a bit. My undertones are gold so ideally I look good in most colors, I just have a fear of it.
@CarlaRose LOL, this sounds like me. I was looking at my closet and it was a sea of black and brown. And then I felt sad. XD
Thanks very much for putting this together! 😀 I actually do like some of the clothes, especially the second outfit. I’ll be sure to make a note of these tips.
Thanks again!
I used to stick with what I deemed to be very safe and acceptable clothing colors for my skin tone. But, I love color! And, as I’ve become bolder about using it in my home decor, I’ve also embraced it in my clothing! I still do have a lot of black in my closet. But, I love to add in pops of color with it – either in my accessories, shoes or makeup. I think women with brown skin can wear color like no other, so we shouldn’t shy away from it!
Love them all!!!
So many colors look good on brown skin, my personal favorite is fuchsia and I’ve fallen in love with yellow, green & orange. I’ve recently discovered blue, never really liked blue but I’ve been all over it this summer. Love the outfits.
Can you do a post on what colors don’t look good on brown skin? I know there’s a a lot of colors that look good on us but what colors don’t? I personally think that grey looks a little off on black women or is that just me?
@Pearl Rose I agree. With the exception of very dark gray (almost black) or gray nail polish as an accessory, gray doesn’t work on me.
@CarlaRose I can do a silver sequin color. But a plain old grey I never looked so dull and boring in grey AND my hair was straight I looked so boring and for a girl like me I was shocked! I think I’m just more drawn to color but its nice to know your colors or what ‘season’ you are.
@Pearl Rose I’d like to see that list too. Charcoal gray works for me and that’s the only gray I like.
@Karla Charcoal grey is kind of like a lighter black. Any thing that’s black or almost black I like BUT I can’t have too much black in my closet. I have to check myself sometimes. The first colors I go for are red and black, I can mess around and have too much one day.
@Pearl Rose After retiring from the Navy, I went color mad so I have just about every color in the rainbow in my closet. Wearing khaki for 22 years will do that to a person. Some colors just don’t do it for, though. I’m not much of a neon person unless it’s electric blue. I love colors people don’t wear anymore like periwinkle and chartreuse. I have a chartreuse button down shirt I bought in the 90s that I still wear. I’ve taken good care of it so it looks new. People always ask me where I got it. I replaced the buttons with rhinestone buttons so it looks very mod.
@Karla The worst thing to get in neon is pants and jackets for me. Neon colors are for summer for me when they look the best. It’s so hot I and up cutting my neon pants in the summer and never using the jackets because it feels weird for me. I end up giving the jackets away or selling them. I love taking care of clothes that I don’t wear because I know someone else will want to wear it. And I hate when I get handed down clothes from my cousins and they look as they have been used as dish rags! That is what made take care of clothes and replace button wash them correctly, read the tag. And save money for dry cleaners. I honestly don’t think I’m gonna get any bigger so I save up for things that can last. I’m really getting into that, it feels good to buy something and know its gonna last and you didn’t waste your money!
@Karla I love charcoal grey 🙂
Pastels make me nervous, as does ‘baby pink’. I can do a salmon or coral coloured pastel MAYBE a yellow pastel but other than that, it’s not going to work.
I read on another site that if you are an ‘autumn’ you can wear ‘greiges’ (or warm grays)
@Pearl Rose I think that depends on what shade brown you ate b/c I love charcoal gray myself, it’s beautiful on me. I’m not a fan of most pastels, they look dreary on my skin.
@eugeniaberg So I guess depending on what shade of brown you are the more or less colors you can wear? I think red looks best on darker (chocolate) black women along with orange. Rich colors for rich skin. A rich yellow color also looks good on them.
@Pearl Rose I love yellow, bright yellow I love, bright green, bright pink, I can’t say I’m a huge fan of red. I tell you what looks good on brown skin, white. If only I want afraid to get white dirty.
@eugeniaberg Personality also helps an outfit or colors you wear. Most people that dress in colorful bright clothing are spunky and fun to be around. White is such a pretty color! It makes you watch yourself though, I wish I could just run around free when I wear white, but not gonna happen anytime soon,
@eugeniaberg I don’t wear much white as is unless it is an undershirt or a part of a print. I prefer color. Can’t do neon yet.
@Bren82 Oh I love color, wear it all the time. I have a pair of beautiful white linen pants I love to wear w/ beautiful blouses just always scared about getting it dirty.
@eugeniaberg @Bren82 Speaking of white, I have a white, sleeveless dress from White House Black Market I probably should wear again before the season changes! The first time I wore it, I received lots of compliments. It’s just pretty and simple and fits at the waist. I wear my aprons when I’m at home to protect against spills and messy little hands!
@Pearl Rose Gray is a wonderful flexible choice but you have to pair it with something bold like red or royal blue. Otherwise it will just fade you out. You still could do grey and black but make sure what you’re pairing it with is of a different fabric, something that pops out, maybe satin or somthing. And accessorize.
What I find doesn’t look too good on black women’s skin is the yellow to coral/orange palette. Also the pale pastels. It can sometimes give a washed out,sickly tone to the skin.
Personally what I find works for me are the strong palettes like the reds/fuschias/violets, green-olive greens. Paired with neutrals they always look classic. WIth some of the strong colours you have to lessen the jewellery, opt for silver instead of gold because otherwise everything becomes too heavy.
@KingsDaughter @Pearl Rose Pale Pastels do look amazing on us. I do remember wearing pastels for Easter when I was a kid. Again you have to choose the RIGHT TONE of pastel for your skin tone. I will also do a post on that, gray and browns. Sp get ready. Like I said, its a series. 🙂
@Shulamit I do think they generally look awful but I’ll be happy if you prove me wrong :))
@KingsDaughter @Pearl Rose They’re some pastels that give a wash out tone to my skin too. But I love baby pink, no blue or green though.
If you’ve noticed the posts will be broken up by skin tones. The colors that do not look god on you is because of your skin tone. My next post will be on red undertones. Stay tune
@Shulamit Can you link somewhere to those earlier posts on skin tone? I just still cannot decide which I am… :-§
@oekmama here ya go:
http://www.beyondblackwhite.com/makeup-basics-women-of-color-yellow-bones/
http://www.beyondblackwhite.com/makeup-basics-women-of-color-red-bones/
Love, love the J-Crew heels.
One of the gifts of being a black woman is the ability to wear the brightest of colors without looking sickly. I used to wear black when I was young and shy. Now I have no problems wearing yellow, the brightest white, hot pink, and my very favorite RED!!!
@Joyce345 “One of the gifts of being a black woman is the ability to wear the brightest of colors without looking sickly. ”
I totally agree. I think BW almost always look fantastic in bright colors and yet often I will see a WW in some bright colors and think “ugh” because she does that that sickly look you refer to.
@EarthJeff
Absolutely. I was once shopping for African prints with some WW and the greatest challenge was finding shades that didn’t overpower them.
@EarthJeff
Absolutely. I was once shopping for African prints with some WW and the greatest challenge was finding shades that didn’t overpower them.
@EarthJeff @Joyce345 Actually, I disagree with this statement. Dark canvases and light canvases both take color very well. However, COMMA, white women I have the same issues we have, they have to know what tone of colors go with their skin tone AND hair color! I’ve seen WW rock African prints and look fabulous in them, I have also seen them rock BRIGHT colors. Usually, they know what goes well with their skin so they are able to do it.
We actually innately know what color looks good on us. Our eyes tell us when we try clothes on and look in the mirror. We do not particularly have a super power t wear loud prints and bright colors, the difference is, we are confident enough to do so.
🙂
One suggestion I have for getting used to wearing bright colors is to start out small. For instance, bracelet, earrings, eyeshadow, a scarf, belt, etc.
I’m all for color but colors of the season usually–in the fall, match the trees; in the spring, match the flowers, around Christmas wear reds, greens blues with a little festive look– but wear that look starting the friday after thanksgiving and not sooner–just a little traditional i gusss
in the summer, wear pastels. I’ve heard that dark fabrics attract mosquitos–wear cheery colors or a nautical look–reds and blues
I’m all for BW wearing vibrant colors … particularly in bras, panties and baby-dolls.
So sue me!
@SirLoinDeBeef “I’m all for BW wearing vibrant colors … particularly in bras, panties and baby-dolls.”
Sounds perfectly reasonable to me…..
As someone who constantly wears black daily, I needed this article. It is time for a makeover!
Don’t be afraid of wearing color! Deep and vibrant colors look great with all kinds of chocolate/mocha/caramel hued skin colors.
@Shulamit
Help please:
“As Toni has yellow undertones, she is representing the cool family of shades, therefore in order to warm up her skin tones and to compliment her fabulous hue, she must stick to colors in the warm family.”
I’m not sure I know my undertones but I would describe myself as an autumn, my favourite colour to wear is mustard yellow (or goldenrod?). So if I’m representing warm shades should I look to wear cooler colours?
Thanks!