[nfbmi-talk] Colors Question

Tue Jan 3 04:17:33 UTC 2012

Just guess and hope they don't laugh at you!  Sometimes they do me!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Elizabeth" <lizmohnke at hotmail.com>
To: "NFB Michigan" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, January 02, 2012 10:44 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] Colors Question

Hello Terri and List,

Since I was not born blind, and still have just enough sight to get me into 
trouble, I am not quite sure how to explain color to someone who was born 
blind. My organizational skills are also less than desirable, so I am not 
the one who should be dispensing advice on how to keep your closet organized 
as well. However, I do have some resources that might be able to help you.

First, if I recall correctly, this subject gets brought up on the student 
email list from time to time, so perhaps you might want to check the 
archives for some helpful tips. I might still have a few of these emails on 
my computer at home, and if I find any that I believe would be helpful, I 
will be sure to pass them along.

In addition, you might want to check out the book Color me beautiful by 
Carole Jackson which can be downloaded on the BARD website. The description 
of the book reads as follows:

A professional color consultant uses the four seasons of the year to 
describe women's complexions and their most complimentary colors. She tells 
how to discover your season and use the colors in your seasonal palette to 
choose the perfect wardrobe, hair color, makeup, and accessories. Bestseller 
1980.

Finally, if you do not feel like reading through an entire book to learn 
about color as a blind person, perhaps you might want to check out an 
article in the January 2010 issue of the Braille Monitor entitled “Looking 
Good without Looking” by Linda Zani. It is a rather long article with lots 
of advice on finding your personal style as a blind person. Below is what 
the article says about color.
What styles say about you:
Before you attend your next meeting, go to a job interview, or head out with 
friends or a date, take a moment to consider what you want the outcome to 
be. How do you want to be perceived? How do you want to be remembered? Then 
dress accordingly. My own tip is that, if the thought even enters your mind 
while you are getting ready that maybe you should wear something else, 
listen to the thought. Change your outfit.
Control the message
When you feel confident and dressed right for the occasion, you control your 
message even before you open your mouth to speak. There is much truth in the 
old saying that you only have one chance to make a good first impression. 
The sighted make a judgment call on vision alone right from the get-go. The 
fact that a visually impaired person can nail that first perception with 
excellent wardrobe choices will be impressive!
Your choice of color can also bolster your image: experts suggest wearing 
charcoal gray or dark blue for a job interview, red to stand out when taking 
a leadership role or speaking in public, baby pink to be irresistible on a 
date, and ivory to project a feeling of serenity when hosting an event. For 
expert fashion advice read The Look by designer Randolph Duke.

Finding Your Best Color Palette

Choosing the right colors to wear is as important as finding the right 
silhouettes for your figure. You can’t have one without the other to look 
your best. Color choices say a lot about the wearer, and, just like clothing 
silhouettes and styles, they telegraph to anyone with sight a lot about who 
you are. Seeing colors creates a different emotional reaction and 
assumptions in the viewer. It’s important not only to wear the colors that 
are most flattering but also to wear colors appropriate to the message you 
want to convey about yourself. Here is a list of colors and the emotions 
they elicit:
Red—excitement, confidence. Red draws attention to itself and stands out. If 
red were a scent, it would be a blooming rose or cinnamon. If it were a 
sound, it would be Pavarotti holding the final note of “Nessun Dorma.”
Yellow—happy, bright. Yellow also draws attention to itself. If yellow were 
a scent, it would be a lemon. If it were a sound, it would be Mariah Carey 
singing her highest note. Light yellow is a soft color and would taste like 
lemon custard.
Blue—serene, fresh, peaceful, spiritual. In its warmer tones, blue can be 
calming, and invigorating in its cooler tones. If blue were a scent, it 
would be the ocean. If blue were a sound, it would be rushing water.
Green—friendly, welcoming, relaxing, natural. If green were a scent, it 
would smell like mint or freshly mown grass. If you stand still in the woods 
in the summer and listen, that is the sound of green.
Purple—regal, sophisticated. If purple were a scent, it would be fragrant 
lilac. If purple were a sound, it would be a saxophone.
Orange—happy, welcoming. If orange were a scent, it would smell like an 
orange or an apricot. Orange feels like sunshine on your skin.
Light pink—gentle, feminine, soft. If light pink were a scent, it would be 
baby powder. It feels like a feather on your skin. Bright pink or rose is 
happy and feminine. It would taste like strawberry jam.
White—pure, heavenly, angelic, honest. If white were a scent, it would smell 
like clean sheets when they come out of the dryer. If white were a sound, it 
would be a breeze.
Ivory—warm, sophisticated. If ivory were a scent, it would be vanilla. If it 
were a flavor, it would be vanilla custard or dulce de leche.
Brown—warm, earthy, sophisticated. If brown were a scent or flavor, it would 
be warm chocolate cake. Brown sounds like James Earle Jones’s voice.
Black—serious, mysterious, intense. If black were a scent, it would be 
incense. Black feels like the night.
Gray—a sophisticated, elegant neutral. It conveys quiet confidence. Gray 
feels like a cashmere pillow or a fine mist on your skin.

Determining Which Shades Look Best on You
Each color has both warm and cooler versions or shades. Warm colors have a 
bit of yellow to them and work best on women with warmer skin tones. Cool 
colors have a bit of blue in them. To determine which ones look best on you, 
it is helpful to determine which category you are in, warm or cool.
Step 1: Hold two necklaces, one gold tone and the other silver tone against 
your face. If you cannot see your image in a mirror well enough to be sure, 
ask someone you trust which color is more flattering. If you look better in 
gold, your skin has a warm tone; if silver, your skin has a cool tone.
Step 2: Let’s break it down further. According to a great book called Life 
in Color by Jesse Garza and Joe Lupo, those with warm coloring can be 
divided into sun or earth groups; those with cool coloring are divided into 
moon and star groups. You can determine which of these groups you belong to 
by holding up two different colors to your face in natural light and 
choosing (or having someone whose taste and judgment you trust choose) which 
looks best. These colors correspond to Benjamin Moore paint swatch colors 
2020-30 Sparkling Sun and 2169-30 Oriole for those with warm coloring, and 
2061-60 Little Boy Blue and 2062-30 Blue Danube for those with cool 
coloring. You can get paint chips at any Benjamin Moore store to do this 
exercise. The book, Color Me Beautiful calls these groups winter, spring, 
summer and fall. Some salespeople may be familiar with those terms, so I 
have listed them below as well.
2020-30 Sparkling Sun: Sun/Summer
Suns look best in clear tropical colors with a yellow base such as saffron, 
coral, and apple green.
2169-30 Oriole: Earth/Fall
Earths look best in rich, deep hues with a yellow base like berry, moss, 
chocolate, and deep teal.
2061-60 Little Boy Blue: Moon/Spring
Moons look best in light, clear blue-based colors such as strawberry, sky 
blue, lavender, and pink.
2062-30 Blue Danube: Star/Winter
Stars look best in rich jewel tones with a blue base like ice blue, true 
red, and ultraviolet. Black looks best on Stars.
Once you’ve determined your color group, your best bet is to choose colors 
with either warm or cool tones that are in your color palette. Another thing 
I like about Life in Color is that the authors have removable color chips by 
group in the back of the book. For those without access to that book, don’t 
despair. You can hold scarves or pieces of material of different colors up 
to your face to determine which colors look best on you. Once you have a 
pile of color swatches or scarves that look great on you, you can bring 
those items in to the paint store and have the manager scan them into the 
computer to determine which paint colors correspond to them. Here’s where 
your stylebook comes in handy again. Tape your paint color chips or swatches 
into your stylebook to guide salespeople at your favorite clothing stores. 
If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can take a snapshot of any item and 
use the ColorCapture application from Benjamin Moore or the ColorSnap 
application from Sherwin Williams to translate them to paint chip colors.

Streamline Your Wardrobe with Your Personal Signature and Basic Colors

The best way to build a wardrobe is to choose one or two basic colors, 
called “neutrals,” to showcase your silhouette and form the building blocks 
of your outfits. Neutrals are grounding and calming; certain neutral shades 
will work best for your color palette:
Sun/Summer
Suns look best in medium, warm brown; chocolate brown; and ivory. Grays are 
probably not ideal for you.
Earth/Fall
Earths look best in brown hues with a yellow base like chocolate or camel or 
medium light khaki. Medium or light gray and olive green are probably not a 
good idea.
Moon/Winter
Moons look best in cool grays and dark navy blue. Beige and brown colors are 
not good for Moons.
Star/Spring
Stars look best in cool medium to dark gray or bright white. Beige, mustard 
and olive green will probably not work for you.
Suits, skirts, and pants in your basic colors will form a base for you to 
pop your tops and accessories with your signature colors. This is the fun 
part. Your signature color is whichever shade in your color palette (Sun, 
Earth, Moon, or Star), not a neutral, that gives you the most joy and makes 
you feel just right. It will be the color or colors that make you look the 
best when held up to your face and that fit your personality. Do let me know 
which is yours.

At any rate, I hope you find some of this advice to be helpful. In my 
opinion, I think keeping things organized on hangers sounds like a really 
easy way to get dressed in the morning, and I would imagine others may use 
this technique as well. It is a bit too organized for me to use at home, but 
I generally use this technique when unpacking my suitcase for national 
convention or Washington Seminar.

Hope this helps,
Elizabeth

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