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May 2011 Newsletter - Color in Design
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Conselle Fashion & Image Newsletter
From Image Expert, Judith Rasband, AICI CIM |
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| Greetings! | |
Oh my, what a time we had! I met our International Professionals from India in Los Angeles with Diana Jennings, AICI CIP, local host and ICSI board member (Image Consulting Society International). Following a presentation on how she customizes the client experience, Diana showed us around the beautiful ACCESS image consulting service facilities developed at South Coast Plaza. The wide variety of retailers at the Plaza made us all more aware of the wide variety of fashions and price points available to clients. We played for a half-day at Disneyland before flying on to Salt Lake City.
 | | Enjoying some R&R at Disneyland. L to R: Judith, Suman, Diana, Devanshi, Deepti, Sabina |
 | | At the Conselle Learning Center |
During our time at Conselle's Learning Center in Orem we focused on fashion styling work. It was an advanced hands-on experience in creating harmony and unity in outfits and clusters of clothes intended to meet client personal/professional needs and goals. Sight-seeing excursions took us to Salt Lake City and Park City.
 | | Judith Rasband, Deepti, and Judith Graham in NYC |
Then it was on to New York City where Judith Graham, AICI CIP, image consultant and local host, showed us around the garment districts old and new; took us to the Fashion Institute of Technology for a fashion history presentation and Museum exhibit; then walked us through the entire fashion production process with a local designer. Our ten days with good friends were peppered with good food and good fun along with finding a few good bargains at selected shopping sites. We look forward to hosting our next group of International image professionals from India.
In the meantime, we are hosting a Fashion Styling Retreat in July that you can take advantage of (details below). Enjoy May's Newsletter topic dealing with Conselle's Wardrobe Strategy # 5, all about Color in Clothing Selection and Coordination.
For those new to our newsletter, at Conselle we work with a complete set of 12 wardrobe strategies. Each wardrobe strategy is independent, yet each strategy builds on the others, much like the pieces of a puzzle working toward the whole. Each month I'll focus on a specific wardrobe strategy within the Featured Article. Other Newsletter sections will dip into timely topics with applied meaning for you. With limited space, I'll try to choose my words carefully to suggest a range of options available to meet your individual needs.
Sincerely,
Judith
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Ask Judi | |
If you have an image issue that is getting in the way of accomplishing your goals, email me about it at judith@conselle.com. I'll do my best to get back to you with a solution that will help move you forward. Please include a contact phone number in case the answer is a bit long, so we can really talk it through. |
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| Featured Article - Color in Design | |
 Color is the most emotional and controversial of all the elements of design. No one comes up to you and says, "Oh, you can't wear that fabric! This is not your fabric!" But people do take license to come up to you and say, "Oh, you can't wear that color. That is not your color!" Don't let their narrow perception or mindset influence your response. Increase your own knowledge about color so you are more able to make wise decisions for yourself.
I had a young woman pushing a baby stroller come by my booth at a women's conference. Looking without hope, she asked me, "Can you help me? They told me to get rid of all my clothes because the colors make me look old and wrinkled." Insecure and unknowledgeable about color, she was vulnerable to this type of bad advice.
Know this. You are NOT a Season, a Color Key, a Color Clock or anything of the sort. You are a person, and a person has a brain, and a knowledgeable person is able to make wise choices about what colors to wear without being limited by an invalid and unreliable system of color selection. Again, increase your own knowledge about color so you are more able to make wise decisions for yourself.
Most commercial systems of color analysis base their advice on the erroneous idea that you have either "warm or cool undertones." This is inaccurate information passed all around without anyone thinking to question it. In case you haven't already read Conselle's Mythbuster #1, let's get to the truth on the matter.
 Every body has warm orange overtones in the skin, due to the body pigment melanin present in the surface layers of our skin. There is no such thing as warm undertones. - Every body has cool blue undertones, present in the oxygen-poor blue blood-flow in the veins beneath. Every body has blue undertones.
- The apparent warmness or coolness of our skin depends on how much melanin is present in the surface layers of our skin. The blue undertone is always there. When the skin is thicker or more heavily pigmented with melanin, the blue undertone just doesn't show through as much.
- You can expect the orange overtone to increase with exposure to ultra-violet rays, a tanning process that stimulates the production of more melanin in our skin. Generally, as our skin becomes darker orange to brown, less blue blood-flow shows through. Individuals with little melanin in their skin seldom get a tan, but burn more easily.
- The term "skin tone" is exactly right, because orange is dulled or muted by its complementary color blue, which "tones" down the apparent intensity of our skin.
 I did spend time with the young woman with the baby stroller, who you can guess did not have a lot of money to replace her whole wardrobe. We talked through her own personal coloring, a beautiful mix of both warm and cool coloring. We talked about wardrobe neutrals and how to repeat her own personal coloring in an outfit. We played with a little bit of blush to enhance her coloring and allow her to wear a wider range of colors in her closet. She left a lot more knowledgeable and confident, with ways to work with the clothes she already owns and direction for the future. She left with a smile.
Read further for more points about personal clothing color selection and if you'd like the whole discussion of Color in Clothing Selection and Coordination strategies, order Conselle's Wardrobe Strategy Book #5 Color at $27.97.
Order Color through Conselle's Store or call 801-224-1207 and order directly through Kathy or Sarah.
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| Timeless Truth |
 Repeat your personal coloring - your hair, eye, skin, and blush coloration -- in your outfit and you're going to look terrific! You will become part of the color scheme with your clothes. You can wear virtually any color you'd like if you'll simply repeat your personal coloring in the color scheme of your clothes. Your best colors? Your hair color, eye color, skin color, and blush color.
For example, a golden blonde with blue-green eyes can count on camel, coral, and teal in an outfit or a cluster wardrobe. Camel is very much like the color of her hair and pairs beautifully with navy blue, burgundy, black, gray and more. Her hair color is repeated in her clothes and is in complementary contrast with her eyes. Her blue-green eyes however, are beautifully repeated wearing teal, teal is complementary contrast to her hair and skin, and goes marvelously with camel in the clothes. Coral repeats her blush color adding a lot of life to her look. She has options! A lot of blonde individuals are told they can't wear black. Nonsense. Camel and black look terrific. Add in a bit of burgundy or red for more variety in the clothes. (More on this idea next month in relation to fabric textures.)
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Consumer's Corner
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 | | Wardrobe Neutrals by Cabi Canary |
Rely on what I call wardrobe neutrals -- any color on the color wheel that has been muted, dulled to some degree and called a tone. Consider, for example, wearing wardrobe neutrals like navy blue, brown, Cinnamon rust, hunter green, burgundy, olive, teal, brick red, coral, shrimp, sage green, taupe, crème, and of course black, white, and gray. Not extremely bright, every body can wear them. You've got options.
Wardrobe neutral colors are also called the "dress rich" colors including the rich jewel tones. Use solid wardrobe neutral colors for basic, classic core clothes in your wardrobe -- a toned down jacket, skirt and/or pants to wear as a matched suit or as separates to coordinate well with virtually all cluster pieces. This concept applies to men as well as women. Teach children while young, and wardrobing will be easier throughout their life.
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| Consultant's Corner | |
 It's tricky working with the color taupe. Teach your clients that taupe is a greyed brown -- a muted wardrobe neutral yes, but for clothes to go with light to medium taupe colored hair, the degree of cool grayness in the taupe clothes must be the same as in the hair or they will fight. Taupe colored clothes and hair must repeat or match perfectly. This concept also applies to eye and skin coloration. Beyond direct repetition of a personal body color, you can wear warmer or cooler versions of nearly all other hues.
For personal color evaluation, Conselle offers a boxed set of 300 personal colors in fabric tags for matching your clients' personal body colors. To produce a full color fan, Conselle has a 1300 fabric tag set available. Call 801-224-1207 or email judith@conselle.com for more information.
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Tips for a Fabulous Fit -- Dress Slim
| | Wear black to dress slim and look thinner, right? Not necessarily. Black is a very dark color, which visually recedes -- in theory allowing your body to look a little bit slimmer. At the same time however, black makes your body look more compact, more solid, and weighty, especially if standing in front of a light colored background.
I remember well, watching an image program presenter standing on stage in stereotypical fashion. She wore a navy blue suit, navy blue stockings, and navy blue shoes. Wear all one color to look slimmer, right? Not necessarily. Standing in front of a light colored curtain, she looked like a thick, weighty, navy blue column. Simply removing the navy blue stockings would have done wonders to lighten her look -- contrasting flesh color legs, in harmony with flesh color face and hands would have allowed her to appear less weighty. It's not only what you wear, but how you wear it!
 | | What NOT to Wear |
With black tights or leggings coming back into popularity a couple years ago, we've now got literally "tons" of women wearing black tights with nearly everything not knowing it's not working. Black stockings don't work well with light colored clothes. They're too strong, too low on the body, too distracting. Black stockings don't work with light-colored shoes at all! Legs look too weighty in white or light colored shoes. The look is out of balance. This is one time where nude is nicer.
And while I am talking about shoes, let me remind all that the current trend dictating tan, beige, or camel colored shoes with everything is a fad not to be followed. Tan colored shoes do not necessarily make your legs look longer but they will certainly signal you don't know how to dress for success if you wear a dark colored outfit with tan shoes. The lighter color distracts attention to your feet, which may not be where you want all attention to go. In business and leadership, you need attention to go to your face for improved communication.
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In Closing
Coral and teal are colors everyone can wear. Why? They lie in the middle on the color wheel, between very warm and very cool, and tend to be slightly muted. They don't fight or clash with personal body colors. Don't get stuck in a color selection system that limits a wonderful range of wardrobe neutral colors. Be open to rich, inviting, wardrobe neutral colors. Be willing to try - and have fun with fashion!
Sincerely,
Judith Rasband
Conselle Institute of Image Management
801-224-1207
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| Fashion Styling Retreat | |
Since the turn of the century, the job title "stylist" has shot
from behind the scenes to front and center.
Do you know how to capitalize on the trend?
Learn the art and science of Fashion Styling to
benefit yourself, your family, or clients.
Next Fashion Styling Retreat
July 27 - 30, 2011
Experience hands-on practice and feedback from the Image Expert,
enabling you to style the right outfit or cluster of clothes,
the right way, for the right occasions.
Invest in 4 days for only $437!
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Conselle Educational-Training for Image Consultants
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Attend Conselle's 15-Day Educational-Training to become a certified image consultant.
Receive comprehensive image education and materials to
launch a full-service image business.
A great image education is an investment you can never lose!
The Next Educational-Training is
June 4 - 18, 2011
 | | Conselle Affiliates at Sundance Resort in Utah |
Seats are filling up quickly, reserve yours today!
Rave Reviews for Conselle:
"Your ability to present a large quantity of information in an appealing and interesting manner is impressive. Your knowledge, creativity, enthusiasm, energy and graciousness are inspiring and appreciated in a challenging opportunity......."
Ann Johnson, Orem, UT
"AICI Convention certainly confirmed that I made the wise choice. An excellent, comprehensive overview of the image industry, with complete academic background knowledge! Be prepared to be exposed to truthful and time-trusted theories behind all that we do. The portfolios inspire us to the same excellence. Consider this your jump-start to learning-you have a gold mine handed to you in one file box!"
Bev Dwane, Durham, NC
Click here for detailed information or call 801-224-1207 and talk to Kathy or Sarah
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Conselle "Fabulous Fit" Retreat
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Women whose passion is fashion sewing to achieve a custom and fabulous fit are invited to an exceptional 6-Day hands-on retreat. Spend high value, personalized time with our Master Fitters! Each brings her own unique sphere of interest and expertise to the fitting and fashion makeover experience. Learn revolutionary new methods in fitting and alteration, taking home custom-fitted bodice, shirt, and pant patterns that fit!
The next "Fabulous Fit" Retreat is July 11 - 16, 2011.
For detailed information and testimonials go to Fit Retreat Information or call 801-224-1207 and talk to Kathy.
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