Fashion talk with Swarnali
Personal style comes from within. It is about expressing yourself through what you wear and is a way of showing the world who you are on the inside by using the tools of fashion. When we express ourselves through our visual appearance in a way that is congruent with our true identity, it has a positive effect on our self-confidence.
Styling mainly comprises of three things—Defining personal style; Dressing correctly for body shape; Choosing colours that suit the complexion.
Our appearance is the first impression someone will take of us and that impression is generally developed within the first 30 seconds upon meeting someone. In order to take advantage of this, it is important to know how to choose the right colour for your skin tone.
There are six characteristics of colour
- Warm and Cool
- Bright and Soft /muted
- Light and Dark
As a stylist, we define an individual’s colour characteristics by assessing their hair, skin and eye colour and the interaction between them.
If a person is more warm than cool, then it’s wise to choose warm colours and vice versa. If they do not appear to have a warm or dominate characteristics e.g. someone that has cool eyes, warm skin and mousey hair could possibly wear both warm and cool but strong cool and warm colours may dominate them. The same goes for light and dark and also soft or muted colours.
Look for harmony if a colour stands out. If a person’s own colour characteristics dominate the colours in the clothes then this is an indication that there is no harmony with characteristics.
Black for example is deep and cool in its characteristics and can drain some people. On the contrary it can be worn successfully provided it’s away from the face or broken up by adding colours that harmonise between the black and the face. This can easily be achieved with the use of scarves and accessories.
While blue generally represents a restful and peaceful harmony, it can also portray lazy or cold. Purple is seen as a meditative, sensual, creative and artistic colour. Violet light is known to generate the highest energy. Bright colours can be seen as young and fun.
Do dress up and look gorgeous.
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