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Friday, February 4, 2011

Thankful for Color


Mila Kunis

Amidst the sea of white, nude and beige dresses at the SAG awards on January 30, my heart sang when a star walked on stage wearing color. I know that neutrals are really big, and on some people they look exquisite.  Note my use of the word some. After replaying Sunday night's fashion parade in my head, the only neutral wearing standouts I saw were Natalie Portman, Mindy Kaling of the Office and Glee's Heather Morris.  These three women wore dresses that fell somewhere on the color spectrum from white to a touch of grey and a hint of blush.

Assessing whether a certain color looks good, bad or just "there" on someone is tough, especially when you have to make a snap decision. Whenever the camera  panned on these actresses during the show, I looked at their faces, then their dresses and then back to their faces again. I asked myself whether the color they wore enhanced or detracted from their skin, hair and eyes. All three passed the test with flying colors. They carried off those next to nothing colors without appearing washed out or bland. On the contrary, they all looked radiant.

Color isn't everything when shopping for a formal event,  but if you don't get the color right, it won't matter who designed the dress or how well it fits. Oh how I wanted to see readhead Amy Adams in emerald instead of off white or Melissa Leo in gold rather than silver or Rosario Dawson in any other color but that slightly yellowish cream dress that made this beauty look ill. On the other hand, all eyes were on Sofia Vergara of Modern Family in her sapphire blue Roberto Cavalli and Mila Kunis in Alexander McQueen's red print masterpiece. Tina Fey, Juliana Margulies and Sarah Hyland all hit home runs wearing red and Julia Stiles looked stunning in her navy ombre creation.

Last week I attended a color analysis training in Phoenix, Arizona conducted by the Holobi company, using their D.R.E.S. Color Selection System. This amazing system provides a detailed analysis of an individual's coloring and defines their 42 ultimate colors out of 500 possibilities. I have now added color analysis to my list of services and am extremely excited about using this comprehensive system to help individuals discover the colors that make them shine. How important is color? The famous abstract impressionist painter and teacher Hans Hofmann summed it up perfectly.  "It is not the form that dictates the color, but the color that brings out the form". 


Natalie Portman



Heather Morris

Mindy Kaling

Tina Fey 


Sofia Vergara


2 comments:

  1. hey hun! thanx for the comment on my blog! I love love love that scarf with pockets in the previous post! I wish I could adopt it! To answer your question, I am in social services. I did contract work for a while, counseling in-home in the community with teenagers on probation or self referrals with mental health issues but now I'm primarily in residential care, working at a group home part time and at a level six (yep, the worst of the worst, crazy kids lol) children's behavioral health and treatment facility. But I love every minute of it, even the rough times! lol I always said I never wanted to work with children but God always places me in that situation so I figure it's my purpose. lol take care!

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  2. So great to hear from you and I thought that scarf was pretty cool too. I bought the boots and the hat so I did enough damage for one day. Gosh, I think we have a lot in common. I also worked with court referred youth and did educational advocacy. It sounds like you are dealing with the most challenging of situations. What important work you're doing. Take care of yourself and I look forward to seeing more of you on Lookville.

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