🦓 Do You Have High or Low Contrast? | CONTRAST THEORY
🦓 Do You Have High or Low Contrast? | CONTRAST THEORY
Is it true that the most important part of your outfit is colour... or is it contrast? I break down contrast theory to help you work out whether you should be wearing high or low contrast
In today’s newsletter…
🐼 What is contrast?
🐧 Are you high contrast?
🎙️ Q&A video: are you high or low contrast?
👰♀️ Look book:
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🐧 What is contrast?
The contrast level in your outfit essentially means how separate or different the elements of your outfit are to each other.
A high contrast outfit usually includes two or more colours, bright or clear colours, very light and very dark colours as well as highly separated or “staccato” pattern such as polka dots, stripes or chevron.
A low contrast outfit would include a low number of colours which are soft (infused with grey/brown), and either plain or ‘muddy’ pattern such as small florals, watercolours or patterns which blur together.
Medium contrast falls somewhere in the middle. For example, perhaps an outfit has two colours which are dark and medium creating a slight contrast
🐼 Are you high contrast?
In today’s newsletter I am focusing on colour, but make sure to check out this week’s YouTube video to learn about other ways you might be high contrast
Contrast in your colours is the difference between your hair, skin and eyes. A trick you might use is to take a picture of yourself in black and white to see how dark the blacks and the whites are. If your skin, hair and eyes aren't very different you probably have low contrast, if your features seem to blend together you might be more low contrast.
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HIGH CONTRAST
You might be high contrast if you have…
very dark hair + very light skin + very light eyes + bright lips
very dark hair + very light skin + very dark eyes + bright lips
MAYBE very dark eyes + very light skin + very light hair - but is uncommon
You might also suit high contrast if you are bright, for example…
bright red hair + clear green eyes + very light skin
very dark hair + very dark skin + very dark eyes
very dark hair + very dark skin + very light whites of the eyes/teeth
The colour seasons who are typically high contrast are…
true winter
bright winter
bright spring
true spring
you can find dark autumns and dark winters who are high contrast
LOW CONTRAST
You might be low contrast if you have…
very light hair + very light skin + very light eyes
medium hair + medium skin + medium eyes
light hair + medium skin + light eyes
You might also suit low contrast if you are soft, for example…
ashy hair + greyish skin + pink-nude lips
medium brown hair + tan skin + nude brown lips
The colour seasons who are typically low contrast are…
light spring
light summer
soft summer
soft autumn
you can find true autumns and true summers who are low contrast
MEDIUM CONTRAST
You might be medium contrast if you have…
medium-dark hair + light skin + medium-dark eyes
medium hair + light skin + light eyes
dark hair + medium skin + dark eyes
medium hair + light skin + medium eyes
light hair + medium skin + dark eyes
The colour seasons who are typically medium contrast are…
dark winter
dark autumn
true summer
true autumn
true spring
Is contrast more important than colour?
Personally, I feel that wearing the right colours for you near your face is going to be a more important factor for harmony than wearing the right contrast. I believe that wearing warm tones when you are cool toned, even with your right contrast, is likely to look off on you whereas wearing your right tones with high contrast when you are low contrast won’t have the same jarring effect. With that said, if you want to take your personal style to the next level, paying attention to the contrast in your outfits is a great way to look more put together and elevated.
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Thank you for reading the free style scholars newsletter. In this week’s paid segment below:
high or low contrast: Q&A video
the most incredible makeovers I have ever seen on the internet
how to combine dress theatrical when you are low contrast
outfit challenge of the week
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