By Meher Castelino
Life in the corporate world may not be very colourful for the male but for the female executive it is definitely bright. To make the right corporate decisions one doesn’t have to wear sombre colours like black, white or brown but choosing the right colour is not magical nor is it an art. It is a matter of rules, which are quite definite.
To get colour wise what is needed is knowledge of your skin type. A high powered lady executive has to be as particular about the colours she wears as a socialite is. To get the right colours to complement your skin check on your skin colour because nothing makes the right impact more than an outfit that suits the complexion.
SKIN TONES
Let us check on the skin tone of an Indian woman. It is yellow, pink or wheat based. These three colours fall into three more categories like fair, medium or dark. The important thing to remember as far as the skin is concerned that the tone is difficult to change. There are several whitening or tanning creams in the market but they will make only a marginal difference to the skin tone. But by wearing the right colours you can enhance the natural beauty of the skin and even create a positive illusion for the figure.
As far as colours are concerned there are the primary and secondary colours. What does that mean? The primary colours are hues that cannot be achieved by mixing colours but are individuals. They are red, blue and yellow. Secondary colours are combinations of these three colours. Black and white, however, are neutrals.
Secondary colours are green obtained by mixing yellow and blue, purple obtained by mixing red and blue, orange by mixing yellow and red.
Points to keep in mind are that dark colours will give the illusion of slimness while light colours will add width from this you can select the correct colours but we also have to check on the skin tones which match and enhance each other. Therefore the following guidelines will be helpful.
YELLOW BASE: this skin tone should go in for colours that are dark and with tones of yellow like brown, grey, orange, gold, mustard, green, etc.
PINK BASE: should go in for pastels and pink tones of colours like pale pink, magenta, fuschia, purple, lilac, or white.
WHEAT BASE: medium tones of the above two colour groups are ideal.
DARK: this skin tone should not opt for very dark colours as this will not liven the skin. Instead it should select medium tones of all the colours both yellow and pink.
FAIR TO MEDIUM: this is a skin tone that can carry off most shades quite well.
Here are some colour combinations to give an idea of the general blends which can be tried. Of course there are always shades and grading in each colour, which one can select.
An example would be a purple and pink combination for pink, wheat, medium or fair skin tone while the same would be all wrong for a yellow or dark tone. One the other hand a green and orange combination would be fine for the dark and yellow tones and not for the other group.
Today fortunately it very easy to mix and match colours. There are no hard and fast rules that prevent your from mixing a way out combination. In the past if one mixed purple with green or blue with green there would be frowns but the avant garde wearer can mix unconventional shades but at the same time keeping in mind the skin tone for maximum impact.
