Principles for those of African Descent - YouLookFab Forum

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Principles for those of African Descent

JA gal

Hello ladies,

As a--petite--newbie to grasping fashion principles, what principles are there for those of African descent to:

1) translate many of the informative blonde-specific and brunette-specific tips to best suit darker skin color and dark brown/black hair?

2) Is it safe to apply the blue vein/green vein or white shirt/off white shirt rule to determine skin tone?

3) Is there a color palette for those with black hair/dark skin?

4) What's the best way to translate tips that instruct one to match this or that item to the color of their eye, when my eyes are dark brown/black? Is there a better alternative in this situation?

5) Generally speaking, should my hose match my shoe color (black and brown shoes) or should they be skin toned? On what do I base my decision? What clues are there to look for and know that I'm headed in the right direction?

6) When wearing the "bright shoe," what rule is there to know what color hose to wear?

7) When does it look fab to wear white/off white shoes (like pumps)? For me, they always seem like an "awkward" choice. Should I treat a white shoe as a "bright shoe" that is only to make a statement?

Lots of questions, I know; if it would be better to post each one separately, please let me know. If you need more details, let me know.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Happy New Year!

Dressing

26 replies

Latest reply was from JA gal

missvee

Veteran

Sorry I can't really answer your questions other than to say that I love strong colours and white on women with dark skin. I'm thinking about some of the fabulous outfits that Michelle Obama and Jennifer Hudson wear. I think the colour palette that looks best on you will depend on how dark your skin is and how much gold-tone there is as opposed to a deeper almost mahogany tone. I hope some of the other posters have better suggestions than these, but welcome to the forum and enjoy your style journey!

rachylou

Veteran

I say:

- Nylons should match skin tone, but tights can be any color, no matter the shoe.
- White stockings never really look good on anybody.
- No one should wear mid-heeled white pumps unless the shoes are "architectural" or she's a bride.
- Skip matching clothing to eye color.

LOL

As for color palette, definitely an individual thing. I definitely think skin undertone matters, but I've never figured out the whole terminology thing and tend to over-think tests like the white shirt test. To me it's easier to try on different shades of a color and see how good they look.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

Welcome to the forum, JA gal!

I'm actually of African descent (on both sides) but you'd never know it looking at me. I do know that you can still have warm or cool skintone with darker skin, and what colors look good on your will depend on that a bit. I think you can take some of the general guidelines for lighter skin and flip it- like white shoes. It's the juxtaposition in color that makes it work or not- so look at guidelines for pale people with black or dark shoes. I hope that helps a little!

modgrl

(website)

Veteran

Hi JA and welcome! I know how you feel about the white shoes, I always felt like that too with my black hair. I've made peace with this look though. For me, I can wear low contrast shoes that are nude with my skin tone. If I was going to wear bright white shoes, I would bookend them somehow by adding a white or bright color in the top part of my outfit.

Jewell

Veteran

All very good questions, and I wish I could answer them all for you. Yes, there is a color palette for you (maybe even two like me), but that blue vein/green vein stuff is difficult to go by unless you do the tests in natural light. Also it helps to get someone else's opinion. As far as your most flattering colors, I suggest you do a web seach on seasonal color analysis for women of color. There are some websites with thorough information and quizzes to help you determine your most flattering color palette. A lot of the old systems lump all women with darker skin into autumn, but that isn't always accurate or very precise. I don't recall which site I used, but I was able to figure out that I'm a deep autumn flowing into winter and I started experimenting with the suggested colors and all I can say is wow. Give it a try. You won't need to bother trying to match clothes with your hair and eyes if you can identify your color palette.

I agree 100% with rachylou's advice regarding hosiery. Sandals are the only shoe I would consider wearing in white, in which case hose aren't an issue.

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

I'm different coloured than the general tips, but I think my set of colour challenges may be different from yours... but I'll give the questions a whirl.

1) I know certain colours don't work for me - like pastel blues and yellows; so I generally avoid them. I still like to look at colour combinations for things like accessories and small accents.

2) I'm not sure how the vein test works, sorry.

3) I think bright and well-saturated colours work better for me. Paler people can do more pastels, but I think that very dark skin looks nice with pastels too! It's just us people in the middle.

4) I think if you have dark eyes, it means everything goes! Everything matches brown and black, right?

5) Nylons should match, or be darker; tights can be any colour.

6) I try to pick a neutral shoe if I have bright tights.

7) I try to avoid white shoes; except for in the summer with dresses ... I don't think they're very flattering on anyone :p

Anonymous

No advice, but welcome to the forum!

Mochi

Veteran

Hi, JA gal. As I'm not African-American I don't have any authority in which to give you advice (though I am very interested, anyway). I can say that I'm in the middle of reading a style book by fashion consultant Brenda Kinsel, and she's talking about color, referring to our choices of color for clothing, for the most part. If it's at all helpful, she talks about all sorts of women being high- or low-contrast. An example of a high-contrast woman would be me...I'm pale-skinned, with brown eyes and hair (jet-black hair would make for an even stronger contrast). A blonde woman with light skin would be low-contrast, as would be women of color as a rule (and obviously within that descriptor, different degrees of contrast based on skin tone, eyes, hair color, etc.--but comparative to the raven-haired, pale woman, you're low-contrast).

The point Brenda was making was that high-contrast women were more successful at wearing all different colors on the spectrum within one outfit. Like a black and white ensemble. A low-contrast woman would not as successfully be able to wear extremes as well in one grouping. It's interesting.

Also, as I think someone mentioned here, or perhaps not, I find that darker skin tends to look marvelous with bright, saturated color.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

And another welcome from me, JA! Have you seen my gorgeous client, Phoebe?

http://youlookfab.com/2011/07/.....-the-glam/

I used to work as a specialist ladieswear fashion buyer in South Africa, where the majority of the population is obviously African! I can tell you all about the colour preferences of that target market if you like?

Anonymous

Hi JA gal and welcome! Figuring out what colors you look good in is a great place to start. Check out this link for color analysis for women of color.

http://www.thechicfashionista......asons.html

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Welcome! I am no expert by any means, but I do think colour analysis is difficult to do for oneself. Very hard to be objective about ourselves, and also the light needs to be good. Having said that, many of us naturally gravitate towards clothes in colours that flatter us!

Jewell

Veteran

I just checked the link posted by clearlyclaire and that's the site I used for my self-analysis. If you read through the page then scroll to the very bottom and click "Go back to guide to finding your perfect colors" you'll find the link. to "analyze yourself." The test drapes, the gold and silver test , and the objective eyes of my husband and son helped me figure it all out. Having a second and third opinion was helpful because I'd always thought my veins looked one color through my medium brown skin when to others (and in natural light) they look differently. Besides I think we're inclined to feel we look good in colors we're partial to whether they flatter us or not. Anyways good luck!

Lantana

Veteran

Another welcome from me - There's no better place than here to start looking for answers, that's for sure. A helpful question to ask of a colour is: am I wearing the colour or is it wearing me? Eg, I know that if I wear black it dominates and my face and eyes recede. It's a subjective test but it might help a bit.

JA gal

IN RESPONSE
--Mochi: Thanks for posting the info you found in that book on the contrast factor. It gave me another perspective.

--Angie: Thanks for that link to Phoebe; you did a great job with her. I'll take an in-depth look at those pics and see what principles I can glean from them. But in the mean time, yes, I would really appreciate knowing the color preferences you'd mentioned.

--clearlyclaire: Thanks for that link! I could relate to a lot of what I read and look forward to analyzing it in depth.

--Jewell: I'm grateful that that link made it into this post, especially after you described its affect on you. I'll make my way to the other links you pointed out. Thanks.

THANK YOU
Ladies, you are all, individually and collectively a wealth of insightful information; thanks for taking the time to help me! And for those of you who had no advice but offered a cheery welcome, thank you. Joining this forum was a good decision.

Keep posting the good tips!

JA gal

I'm reading through that post on color and needed a breather. I'll pick it back up and bring a friend in on it to help I believe my dominant characteristic is deep and my secondary is cool. But I really should do that gold/silver test to be sure I'm not warm. Have any of you looked at that link that clearlyclaire shared or do you already know where you fit in the season of things?

Angie, I'll take a look at your findings on color preferences, when you're able to send it.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

When I worked as a buyer for an African market, spice colours and earth tones were extremely popular. So were shades of purple and orange. Muted shades of pink and green were also good. White, cream and tan sold extremely well. Black and navy were bad sellers unless they were bottoms.

tarzy

Veteran

When I wrote my article about PCA, I discovered a lot of interesting websites.
Donna Fujii is an analyst in San Francisco who has developed categories that other systems don't have:
http://donnafujii.com/color-a-.....rican.html

She has a lot of info on her site, including an online quiz you can take:
http://donnafujii.com/color-analysis

JA gal

Thanks, Angie; that helps in the "big picture" aspect of this color question.

Tarzy, thank you for your input. That website has already given me answers even before taking the quiz! By the way, what is PCA?

HelloKitty

Hi JA Gal! I am also darker-skinned, though of Indian descent, not African. I don’t have anything to add that hasn’t already been said, but I do want to welcome you to YLF! This is a wonderful place and you won’t regret joining!

Vicki

(website)

Veteran

Hi JA gal and welcome. You've asked some great questions and it looks like you've already got some great tips and links from Angie and the others. Like misvee said, I too admire the jeweled colors I've seen our beautiful First Lady wearing. But, I also like the muted earth tones Angie shows with her cliet in the link above.

Jonesy

Veteran

Welcome, JA Gal! I don't have anything to add, but I just wanted to say hi! Hope to see some of your WIWs soon :).

stringy

Veteran

Hello there, welcome! If you have some clothes in the colours you're curious about, you could post some photos here of you wearing them, to get some advice from Angie and the rest of us. We're objective and there's always someone online with time to give you feedback.

I love doing the colour analysis stuff, but in the end you're an individual with unique tastes. Play around with the colour systems, but rely on your own judgement about which colours make you feel fabulous. If they make you feel good, chances are they make you look good too!

Corina88

Hello JA Gal! and welcome I'm also a newbie like you, so I can understand how grateful you feel to the tips from others. Being a Singaporean of race Indian i.e. medium skin toned with black hair and dark brown eyes, I'll try to give you a few of the tips i used

1) I think the seasonal analysis works. that's how I at least, found what colours I liked against my skin. Also, i don't normally match with my hair colour as having black hair is easy, it goes with EVERYTHING! Nothing can make it darker/lighter.. at least in my opinion la. But then again i'm an amateur at this so Maybe you might like to check tat website clearlyclaire said, i used tht too!

2) The vein test didn't really work for me, so i cannot really comment. Sorry!

3) I would think there is, if you google "eyeshadow colours for brown eyes". there're many websites offering tips on what colours work best. personally though, i feel warm colours like bronze, light pink, gold and corals and even some blues and greens work for my eyes! I think it's because brown is a colour that complements most eyeshadow colours. experiment and find out, thts the best way!

4) I don't normally match outfits to my eye colour, as i wear glasses and definitely nobody can see my eye colour and outfit at the same time, haha!!

5) I think when we wear a hose/stockings, our legs are supposed to look smooth and gorgeous.. at least that's the trend in my country. so most of us choose skin-toned stockings when wearing with dresses. As for leggings/tights i usually choose based on what is the colour of my top!

6) This.. i'm not sure, sorry!

7) I do wear white ballet flats, as I think some designs are simply too pretty to miss out on!!! However because sometimes it REALLY looks too bright for my black pants and dark skin, i try to wear it with light bottoms like khaki pants, so that my feet are not screaming for attention and people ignore the rest of my outfit.

Hope it helps!! and have fun finding out your colours, i know i did!!!

JA gal

Ok. I'm back with, I believe, a better understanding of skin tone. Whatever links you've shared with me have been utilized. Thanks, again.

FYI: My Skin Tone
I couldn't wait to reply with my (pretty definite) summary on my skin tone; but as I re-read a couple articles while writing this, I lost my confidence. Sigh. For what its worth, I was going to say that according to the 12 System Seasonal Color Analysis:
1. I'm cool. (I wonder if I may be neutral, too.)
2. I am a "Deep Winter" flowing into "Deep Autumn."

Then I read the color theory article again (http://www.thechicfashionista......heory.html). I can't say that I'm "light," nor am I "dark/deep," but I am darker than Beyonce (who is "medium"). So, I guess that means I'm medium/dark.

According to a friend, I fit into the Ebony category that Donna Fujii lists here: http://donnafujii.com/color-a-.....rican.html. I would classify that model as being deep/dark. Am I right?

I'm glad that there were a variety of tests to take because I couldn't try all of them, and if I were limited to just one test I would still be pretty clueless. I did, however, notice a pattern in the colors that I gravitate toward (those that I believe complement my skin tone most) and everything kept pointing to the cool side of the color wheel.

JA gal

Corina88, thanks for your input. I especially appreciated points 5 & 7.

JA gal

1. Basically--and correct me if I'm wrong--everybody is pretty much either warm, cool, (or neutral).

Angie, when you referred to Phoebe's "Autumn wardrobe," was that in reference to her "Autumn" skin tone or does one shop for clothes that are suitable / fashionable as it relates to the four seasons of the year? As I've been studying this skin tone question, I've been thinking that Phoebe would be classified as an Autumn, which would explain the warm (?) colors of her tops.

Also, you'd mentioned the popularity of earth tones and muted shades of pink and green and the unpopularity of black and navy tops. Would it be a good guess to say that the African market clientele were more "warm" than "cool?"