What Clothing Colors Make Me Look Good?
Have you ever had someone say “that really looks good on you”? Chances are it’s not only stylish, but the color also complements your skin tone. Wearing clothing that makes you look good can make a big difference in how you’re perceived as well as how you feel, your attitude, and confidence. So how do we know which colors complement our skin tones?
First determine your skin undertone color. The easiest way to do this is to look at the veins on your wrist. If your veins appear blue or purple, you have a COOL skin tone. If your veins appear green or olive, you have a WARM skin tone. Also if you tan easily in the sun chances are you have a warm tone. If you burn easily or are fair skinned, you probably have a cool tone. If it’s difficult to tell, you may have a NEUTRAL skin tone.
For WARM skin tones, complimentary colors are deep or bright colors including Reds, Oranges, Yellows, Creams and Greens.
For COOL skin tones, complementary colors are Pastels, Blues, Pinks, Purples, Whites.
Neutral colors such as black, white, gray, brown, beige tend to work well with most skin tones.
If you’re wearing black or white, COOL tones look good with Pure White whereas WARM tones look best with Ivory or Beige. Black works for both. Just try not to pair a cooler shade of black (blue/black) with a warm skin tone.
The photo below shows an example of Taylor who has a cool tone wearing Pastels. Notice how this makes her skin look soft and creamy, her hair and highlights stand out, and her eyes pop.
Compare this to the image below where Taylor is wearing bold colors of red, gold and green. Notice how the colors distract your eye from the subtle highlights in her hair, appear to make her eyes look deeper and darker, and make the clothing more of the star instead of her face. This may be fine for highlighting fashion in clothing, but not as much for family or maternity portraits.
To complete the outfit the jewelry should also match, that is consider silver with cool tones and yellow gold with warm skin tones. Notice in the photos above Taylor is wearing a silver necklace, bracelet, and a silver watchband.
If you’re a cool toned person but want to wear bold warm colors like this, then simply dress with layers and wear a complementary color next to your skin that provides a transition to your bold colors.
Click the link below to download a handy color reference guide and/or save it to your mobile device.