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Colorimetry in Fashion: Still not getting it right? The Ultimate Guide

Have you ever seen a beautiful color dress on a mannequin but when you tried it on, it didn't fit you well? You looked dull, with little brightness or, simply, you looked bad. It can also happen to you that when you wear jewelry, you notice that warm ones (like gold) or cold ones (like silver) look better on you. If you've ever realized this, it's not an optical illusion. It is because our skin has undertones and depending on it, there are colors that will make us stand out more and others that will turn us off. All this is learned in colorimetry. Keep reading!

What is colorimetry?

Colorimetry is a science that deals with the study of color. Although we know colors, what colorimetry studies are tones, lightness, and saturation. From this study the chromatic circle was developed, with analogous, complementary or triad colors. Let's explain it much simpler: colors are analogous when they are close on the chromatic circle, complementary when they are in opposite places, and they form triads when they complete a triangle with equal sides. Let's see an example:

Orange and blue are complementary colors, as we see that they are at opposite points on the wheel. On the other hand, the tones between greens and blues are analogous to being close. Triads are formed by 3 colors at the same distance, such as green, purple and orange.

This study of color has been used for many years by artists, painters, architects and even in psychology (remember that colors express emotions). Although much of fashion bases its colors on what you want to express with each piece, depending on the tone and color it will suit us better or worse. But how can we understand more about the colors that make us see best?

The Importance of Knowing Your Colorimetry in Fashion

Each of us has unique and unrepeatable traits. Part of those traits have to do with the color of the skin, the undertone, the color of our eyes and hair. Regardless of our tastes, there are people who would look better with a warm blonde more towards honey, while others would look more ash or platinum blonde. This has to do with our skin tone. In the same way that we can adjust the color of our hair, our nails and the makeup that we use, we can apply it to our clothes and accessories. There are multiple options and we will see them below.

People with colorimetry of the “Spring” type

Here we are going to meet people with a rather light skin tone and copper or golden hair. Those tones that are more saturated, luminous and brilliant will favor them. Let's think of colors like light blue, coral, apple green. Very dark tones, on the other hand, will produce too much contrast and probably won't look good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

clear warm spring

They are people who combine lightness with warmth, we will see in them that their features are very clear and that there is little contrast between them. His palette tends to be lighter but colorful forehead Let's think of people with delicate-looking skin, quite sensitive on the face and with some ivory freckles. The dominant feature of light spring is light and the secondary feature is that this light is warm, which means that warm colors suit it better than cooler ones. Light spring eyes hover around light blue, green, hazel, and light brown colors, while hair is usually light blonde, light golden brown, and light reddish.

 

Middle warm spring

Here we are going to meet people with even brighter and warmer skin. We are going to emphasize in these people the warmth, the tones more towards the golden ones or even the honey. Here we begin to see that the features begin to contrast and bring more dimensions to the face and body. Already thinking about the eyes, light brown or topaz stand out. True spring skin is characterized by warm, golden tones. This means that while gold looks very flattering, silver looks very disharmonious. The best palette is one of vibrant and striking colors, saturated and warm.

Deep warm spring

Here we see warm, luminous skins and, above all, with even more contrast. Skin is more of a neutral or has warm and neutral undertones, which means that both gold and silver look good in contrast, where gold looks best. There is high contrast thanks to darker hair and eyes of darker shades (dark browns, for example). Highly saturated colors (yellow, turquoise, fuchsia) are the ideal ones to highlight your features even more.

People with colorimetry of the “Summer” type

Summer people are characterized by having soft features. They generally have a pale to beige skin tone and occasionally have brown freckles. On the other hand, summer people tend to have light blue, green, or a subtle shade of gray around the iris. They can also have light brown, grayish, or aquamarine blue eyes that change hue depending on the light or the clothes they are wearing.

Clear cool summer

In this case we find a soft and dim light and a rather cold undertone, which corresponds to the fact that cold colors suit them better. There is a low contrast between the skin, eyes and hair. In general we will see that all the features are soft and delicate. Soft Summer's eyes can be light gray, light blue, light blue, or light green, just like hair being blonde or light. The colors that best suit them are the light ones, with a low level of contrast of the natural color. The palette includes cool colors of medium saturation, such as dusty pinks and soft teals. There are no strong contrasts between the colors, just nuances.

Mid cool summer

If we think of the mid-cool summer, we are going to perceive even more contrast as cold colors begin to take on more prominence. The palette is kept muted and soft, but cool colors look even better than warm ones. Let's always think of the word freshness for this undertone. Her skin, eyes, and hair have cool, blue, and pink undertones. The eyes orbit more toward blue, gray, green, or light hazel gray. Darker ethnicities will have brown eyes. The colors of the water, blues and greens are ideal for mid-cool summers.

Deep cool summer

Deep Summer people have a very soft and subdued color palette. This means that in other seasons (such as winter) your skin seems to lose its shine. The first thing that stands out about his colorimetry is that his main features such as skin, eyes, and hair blend together. They generally have a smooth appearance. Muted Summer skin is neutral, olive, or cool neutral with rosy tint undertones. This means that both silver and gold look good against the skin, but silver looks better.

People with colorimetry of the “Autumn” type

People with autumn colorimetry have one thing in common: sharp features and golden tones in their faces, hair, and skin. The tan tones of autumn people are similar to ochres, reddish, gold and gold.

Light warm autumn

Here we are going to find a uniform appearance between all the features, a balance and balance. A relevant characteristic of this substation, and which helps a lot at the time of diagnosis, is that the colors of the skin, eyes and hair are combined, giving a uniform appearance. Instead of any one feature standing out, their features all appear to be the same color. The dominant feature of your overall appearance is muted and the secondary feature is warm, so warm colors work much better. Her eyes are hazel, brown, and green, and her hair will have golden highlights even with a brown or blonde base. The best colors for this category are muted, not too cool and not too warm. It then leaves us with colors towards khaki, cream and light pink or pastel light blue.

Mid warm autumn

In people with this undertone, the warmth they radiate will be seen very clearly. The skin, hair, and eyes have rich, golden undertones. Their coloring is soft and dull rather than bright and clear. This means that instead of standing out clearly, the colors of your skin, hair, and eyes complement and blend. The contrast between the features is medium. In this subtone is where we see even more forward the colors of gold, bronze, gold and copper. We will see these traits in the eyes, in the skin, in the hair. When it comes to dressing, the colors warm greens, golden yellows, orange reds and many golden browns are ideal.

Deep warm autumn

In people of this undertone we are much more on the side of dark tones, but still warm. His hair and eyes are dark, towards dark brown, coffee, hazelnut and black. Quite often, the skin is also on the darker side (relative to her ethnicity), but there is always a high contrast between her hair and eyes in front of her skin. His features are mostly warm undertones, either red or brown. We see a lot of depth in her eyes and various shades in her hair, between brown and brown. When dressing, the best way to achieve high contrast is by combining light and dark colors. To increase the contrast of your outfits, go for shades that are opposite each other on the color wheel, such as dark yellow and teal.

People with colorimetry of the “Winter” type

Here the cold colors take more prominence, and the pinks, light blues and blues are ideal. On the other hand, golden colors can make the skin look more yellowed or tired. By having contrasting and defined features, pure and bright colors will look better. Winter season people have black, dark brown, dark brown with reddish tones, gray hair. Sometimes a platinum blonde with bright eyes will be considered a winter profile. The skin is light or pink, and the eyes can be brown, black, dark blue, or gray-green.

Clear cold winter

Natural in appearance, this season's color palette contains cool colors with many contrasts. Screaming scarlet, brilliant white and true black are ideal colors for the play of light, dark and shine. The dominant feature of its overall appearance is cool, and the secondary feature is bright. There is no warm quality to any of your features, and blue undertones dominate your skin, hair, and eyes. The coloring contains blue, dark gray and bluish black pigments. It has very high contrast between features and appears sharp. Because of this you can dress in black, handle many colors and strong contrasts suit you better.

Medium cold winter

People with this undertone are easily identified by their fresh, glowing skin and cool eyes that contrast with their dark hair. This season's color palette contains cool colors with many contrasts. The boldest scarlet, brilliant white and true black: all these colors play on the extremes of light, dark and bright. The dominant characteristic is the brightness of pure colors and the secondary characteristic is cold, which means that cold tints are more suitable than warm ones. The Brilliant Winter color palette comprises light, cool, jewel-like colors such as emerald green, ruby ​​red, amethyst, and sapphire blue.

Deep cold winter

Here the beauty of depth and darkness stands out, with surprisingly high contrast between its features. Pale skin can be combined with black hair, turning up the intensity of this category. Dark eyes, dark hair and pale skin contrast elegantly. Dark winter combines depth with freshness. The color palette includes highly saturated, highly contrasted, and relatively light colors, ranging from pure white over true red and burgundy to brownish black.

How to know if your skin is warm or cold?

Fashion consultants are the key people to help you understand your colorimetry. They can help you understand which season you belong to and especially your undertone. Knowing your colorimetry you will be able to know which palette suits you best, which accessories suit you best and even how to combine according to your mood. Also, not a minor fact, you will be able to know which fabrics are best, both for texture and for drape and structure.

How do I know what my colorimetry is? Step by Step

But it happens that you don't have an image consultant there and you want to do it yourself. So we are going to give you some tricks to make it work perfectly for you:

  • Step 1: Take a look at your overall skin tone. Examine your overall skin tone, whether it is light, medium, or dark. This will give us an idea of ​​which station you belong to.
  • Step 2: Observe the undertones of your skin. Examine your skin undertones, whether they are warm (gold or peach) or cool (pink or bluish). You can do this by looking at areas like the inside of your wrist or the neck area. Look at your veins on the wrist, if they go to blue, you have a cold tone and if they go to green, you have a warm tone.
  • Step 3: Observe how your skin reacts to the sun. Watch how your skin tans under the sun. If you tend to tan easily, you probably have a warm color scheme. If you burn easily, you probably have cold colorimetry.
  • Step 4: Notice the contrast between your hair and your skin. See if there is a strong contrast between your hair color and your skin tone. High contrast may indicate cool colorimetry, while softer contrast may indicate warm colorimetry.
  • Step 5: Test reference colors. Get a variety of fabrics or color swatches in warm tones (yellows, golds, oranges) and cool tones (blues, pinks, silvers). Hold the samples close to your face and see how they look in comparison to your skin. Pay attention to whether your skin seems to lighten or dull with the different colors.

The fabrics that you could use in different shades to do your tests are: organic cotton , linen fabric , viscous , the lyocell fabric , corduroy fabric and vegan leather . To do this, I recommend that you visit the website of Clotsy Brand and look at the garments that, in addition to being made with this type of fabric and will be useful to you, are vegan clothes , which will allow you to have a lifestyle sustainable .

There is a variety of shades that you can choose according to your skin. Go ahead and also be part of sustainable fashion !

As for accessories, jewelery and others, you can try sustainable scarves or sandals that come in different shades, giving you a range of possibilities to choose according to colorimetry.

 

  • Step 6: Seek help from an expert. If you still have doubts or want a more precise evaluation, consider seeking the help of a colorimetry expert or a specialized stylist. They can perform a more detailed analysis and provide you with personalized guidance.

Conclusion

Now you have all the tools to find out which station you belong to and what your undertone is. Always remember that fashion has to adapt to you, and not you to it, but here are some tips to continue promoting your natural beauty. Do not hesitate to leave us in the comments if you have any questions or want to share your experience.

2 comments

Inmaculada

Claro y preciso. Me ha servido para la elaboración de mi primer asesoramiento. Gracias.

Leonor

Súper interesante. Igual quede con duda cual sería mi colorimetria.mi tono es claro y mi subtono es dorado naranja. Ojos ámbar cabello rubio dorado con iluminación. Si me pueden ayudar gracias

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Author: Clotsy Brand Team

Clotsy Brand is made up of a team of committed people with the caring for the planet and ethical fashion production. All Clotsy garments are produced in local workshops in Spain and Portugal, using sustainable materials that take care of both the planet and the skin of their customers. We value the opinion of our community, so we are always close to them and willing to listen to their ideas and opinions through different channels, such as Instagram, Telegram, Email and Tiktok.

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