If I’m The Main Character of This Film Called ‘Life’, Here is How I’m Color-Grading It.
Bye-bye black everything closet.
You don’t actually flatter everybody.
My sister took me along for a color analysis in Manhattan the other day, and I swear it was like watching a magic trick.
Now, as someone who loves fashion and has had the excellent fortune to be styled by so many brilliant people on all kinds of sets for different looks, I have never actually sat down in the same lighting and compared different colors back to back. It was quite an experience. I am a warm spring, by the way. (If that’s you, too, shop my closet here.)
Watching the videos online is definitely not the way to find out what colors suit you best. The phone camera will always automatically adjust with changes in lighting and color, so you’re never getting the real shades. While I was watching my sister get her color analysis done, it was genuinely stunning to see how her face changed as a bright red was swatched out for a deeper shade. It was also alarming how drab I looked with that exact same shade of rich red. Even as sisters with warm undertones, we ended up having our own seasons.
The timing could not have been any better. I am at a particular point of my life where I am shaking off the opinions of others, whether spoken explicitly to my face (exhibit A: You have a weird sense of style. As this is coming from someone who has never given me a good gift in my life, I don’t find this opinion especially worth listening to) or what I’ve absorbed from society around me (exhibit B: the way fads take over Korea and make you want to hop on the trend train immediately), so seeing the way certain colors suddenly bring me to life has made me further determined to do what it takes to get me to
PEAK MAGNETISM. Stop and stare, boys. Stop and stare.
I love fashion. I really do. I love the way it talks about you. I love the way it can open doors, change how people treat you, or boost your confidence. I went to see the Devil Wears Prada 2, and the collective groan in the theater when B.J. Novak charged in with his polyester Wall Street vest and athleisure pants was extremely gratifying. Ill-fitting sweats and boring synthetics are the fashion world version of AI slop. There is such a wonderful artistry to dressing well - it should be celebrated.
So I’m on my way to rebuilding my wardrobe, and a color palette to draw from is a marvelously helpful thing to have. Subconsciously, most of us already know when something suits you or not. Case in point: I used to have this bright green shirt I could never get to look right on me, so I gave it to my friend. Months later, having forgotten about that shirt entirely, I saw her looking vibrant and fresh in this stunning shirt and asked where she got it.
“From you!’ she said.
One girl’s hideous styling impossibility is another girl’s perfect match.
I’ve been collecting my dream pieces to build my wardrobe. It’s going to be a journey, but all good art takes time. It’s a good thing women become more beautiful over time. In fact, the mathematic formula for Beauty = Woman x Time x Experiences.
This is an algebraic truth, you can believe me.
Colors are all around us. They make things beautiful and interesting. They draw our attention, shock us, point out important details. Color theory in films is especially riveting, if the person making the film knows what they are doing. My whole life is a movie in which I am the main character. Let me dress that way, too.
Be the director and color grader of your own life!
Here are some pieces that are going straight into my dream closet. If you are a warm spring, shop away. These colors are yours.