What The Colors You Wear Say About You
We all know the basic colours of the rainbow. Colors are used intentionally by brands in commercials and advertising to catch our attention. Colors are the fundamentals of corporate identity and branding in visual communication. Colors are everywhere, but there’s more to them than meets the eye. A good theory of color can explain what colors go well together and I guarantee you that you care about colours more than you think, especially when it comes to piecing your outfit together.
Even if you don’t care about fashion at all, you surely want to look good. It's useful to know what the colors you wear say about you without even noticing it. You can wear colors on certain occasions to make certain statements in certain situations as you want to be perceived.
Keep on reading to find out about color psychology, how colors affect your mood, what feelings and associations are attached to colors, the impression you make on others and how to use that knowledge in your outfits to make the best impact.
Color Theory
Before we look at outfits, here’s a quick crash course on colors. All that we see comes from light. Although pure light appears white, it is in fact a collection of all colors that we can imagine. All fabrics reflect a part of light’s spectrum, and the reflected light reaches our eyes which we perceive as a certain color. For example, if I see a blue sweater, that sweater reflects only the blue part of the light while the other colors are absorbed by the fabric.
Now you might wonder, how many colors are there really? Is it just 7 as on the rainbow. To answer that question let’s categorise the colors.
There’s primary, secondary and tertiary colors. Primary colors are red, yellow and blue, RYB in short. That’s the traditional color wheel. Red, yellow and blue cannot be created when mixing any other 2 colors. That’s why they are called primary.
However, if you combine these 3 colors in various ways, you get secondary colors. Secondary colors are orange, green and purple (violet). You create them if you combine the primary colors in this way.
Now, you don’t have to be a genius to notice that if you combine primary and secondary colors, you will get tertiary colors. They are just mixes of all the colors described before.
Color Wheels
All the 3 color systems (primary, secondary and tertiary) can be put together into a color wheel where every color possible is available there. You might know the color picker in Photoshop. It is basically like a color wheel.
There’s much more to say about colors. I haven’t even started with hues, tints, shades, tones, color harmonies and other color wheels for screen and print, but I’ll leave that for another time. The very basics should be enough. Now let’s explore the question: what do all the colors have to do with clothing?
Wardrobe Colors
Colors influence us. The color of a fruit affects how it tastes. The color of a room affects how you feel. The color of your outfit sends a message and makes a certain impression on people. Let’s look at the color psychology and begin with the primary colors.
Red
Red is charged with an emotion. It’s always the first color to be perceived by the human eye. It just stands out! Its dominance, strength and vibrancy cannot be denied. Red if full of energy. It conveys love, but also danger. It makes you irresistible and attractive, so you can wear it on your first date to make a romantic statement. I recommend darker hues for that, e.g. maroon. Pure red is too aggressive. Tone it down in your outfits. Red is sexually charged. It also conveys courage, excitement, aggression and pain. Red is love, but also blood. The associations of lust and pain force become obvious for this vivid color.
Yellow
Yellow represents sunshine and happiness. It also grabs your attention. It is the color of smileys, bananas and creativity. Yellow increases serotonin levels, it furnishes concentration and attention. That’s why it’s often used in advertising. Wear yellow to convey good vibes and positive attitude among people.
Blue
Blue is the people's most favourite color. It also requires less effort from the eye' anatomy to be processed. Blue conveys reliability, serenity, peace and trust. Blue is the color of uniforms because it exudes competence, intelligence and confidence. The sky, sea and ocean are blue. It is the color of mindfulness, spirituality and intellectual activity. Wear blue to convey competence and seriousness. Many women love blue on men. Navy blue is a perfect color to wear to appear reliable and trustworthy.
Now let’s get to the SECONDARY COLORS.
Orange
Orange is energetic. It is the vibe of partying. Its optimism will draw people towards you like a magnet. Orange pops, it just stands out. Orange conveys emotional warmth. If you want to spread cheerfulness, wear orange.
Green
Green is a tranquil color. All nature is green. It is the color of harmony, balance and self-renewal. Wear green if you want to convey a feeling of eco-friendliness. I recommend wearing mint-green. It conveys freshness. Green is also the symbol of rest and stagnation, as if nothing was happening. You won’t stand out with this color, but with the right tone it’s perfect to spread pleasantness and tranquility.
Purple (Violet)
Purple, or sometimes called violet, means royalty. It’s a regal color that is popular among many females. Purple conveys spirituality, wisdom creativity and quality. That’s why use it very sparingly in what you wear.
We’re covered the primary and secondary colors. Tertiary colors are just mixes of these two systems. At this point I’d like to mention two more very special colors: pink and brown.
Pink
Pink communicates happiness and comfort, and let’s be honest, even if you insist on breaking stereotypes, pink is a very female color. However, it can be used in a gender-neutral way too, but you have to be careful with this color as it’s visually very overwhelming. Wear it sparingly or to highlight certain pieces of your wardrobe.
Brown
Brown is earthiness. In combination with green it communicates naturalness and renewal. Brown is stable and reliable, but it should only complement your outfit. The shade of brown you wear should be just right, otherwise it will appear dirty or even ugly and filthy. There’s some heaviness that's attached to this color and there's no wonder that brown is the least or second least favourite color among men and women.
There’s three more “colors” that I'd like to mention. They are technically no colors: black, white and grey.
Black
Black symbolises prestige, power and seriousness. You cannot do anything wrong with black. If you wear it, you convey respect, elegance and sometimes formality, depending on the situation. Black is the color of wealth, glamour and sophisticated maturity. Black also has negative connotations of death. With regard to clothing it is really a safe choice.
Black is hot, not cool, and I mean literally. Technically black is the absence of color. The blackness, the black void absorbs light. That’s why black space is the lack of color. For your outfit it means that black absorbs all light without reflecting anything. On a hot sunny day your black fabric will get very warm, a bad choice if you want to stay cooled down. Don’t wear black if you know you’re going to be exposed to scourging sun.
White
If you go for simplicity, clarity and cleanliness, wear a white piece of clothing. White conveys simplicity and minimalism. It is also the color of purity and innocence. The bride wears white, and you should easily imagine why. You might also have heard about the concept of white space. White is added emptiness that helps us clean up a structure. You can easily notice that concept in architecture and design where white space is utilised to space out things and make the overall arrangement of elements breathe.
White is the opposite of black, which means that white is the collection of all light and thus all colors. This in turn means that white reflects all colors at the same time. White and light colors keep you cooled down on a hot, sunny day.
Grey
Grey make you blend in with the crowd. It lies between black and white. It’s not too light and not too dark. It just that: in between the extremes, plain and unnoticeable. Wear grey if you doesn’t want attention. Grey might appear monotonous and boring and it’s the most neutral color you might ever wear. However, it definitely conveys maturity and balance.
Cultural Differences
There we have it! We’ve covered all the primary and secondary colors and how they have an impact on the outfit you wear. Last but not least, it’s important to mention that colors are perceived based on both biological facts as well as cultural norms.
Red might be a vibrant color and blue a calming one, because that’s how our eyes process these colors. However, a color can also have a symbolical meaning that varies from culture to culture.
I can give you a few examples: in old Japan white was considered the symbol of spiritual and physical purity. However, white attributes have also been used for the ritual samurai suicide called seppuku. One color, two meanings even within the same culture! Geishas used to blacken their teeth as a sign of beauty.
Different social classes in historical times had their own colors that they were allowed to wear. Yellow was associated with royalty and could be worn only by the Chinese emperor. Purple has always been a royal color in antiquity, as it was prized for its bold hues and was very expensive to produce. Colors determined ranks and social status and in the modern world we invented new uses of utilising color to create brand identity and recognition effects.
It’s important to bear in mind that’s there’s definitely a cultural aspect to colors. However, we are extremely interconnected nowadays and mass media, especially the internet, made it possible for us to share a basic set of cultural understanding across the the globe, which also has an impact on how we commonly perceive colors worldwide.
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