Clare Maxfield

Where Image Matters

The Colour Teal

The colour Teal - showing a boat on a teal oceanTeal is a blend of blue and green.

Together blue’s tranquil stability melds with green’s optimism and healing properties. In deep shades, teal has a natural dignity that is not contrived or “in your face.” Its understated elegance encourages a calm, reflective mood. Brighter shades are unique and smart.

The lover of teal often has an even temper and a thoughtful disposition while also having a talent for mediation and finding a compromise. With the trusting combination of blue and the natural tones of green teal is easily liked and trusted by most.

Individuals who wear teal are naturally creative and think for themselves and are perceived seen as reliable and independent.

Teal is a natural skin intensifier and as such will suit most women and men. It can be used in large or small amounts to make anyone look fresh and alive.

A colour analysis will discover all the colours that suit you best.

Book your colour discovery session today.

What’s your Colour Personality

colour-personalities

There is so much said about our personalities and our values and I must admit, I can never get enough of all of it.

The colours we select will relate back to our style personality to some degree, but they can be completely removed from that personality and can often confuse those around us.

We are never simply one personality style, hence I love spending hours with a client delving down into what really makes them tick. Having said that, though, I thought I would share with you here what the colours you are most comfortable in are saying about you.

Let’s start with the Artistic Colour Personality. You love to have fun. You like to intrigue and to create interest in what you are wearing. This does not mean that your personality is completely creative. You might be the style of person who wears very simple clothing, but you ensure that your colours are lively and loads of fun. You will wear neutrals under sufferance.

The Bold Colour Personality. Ah, you like to be noticed. You wear bold, dark and strong. You will love a pop of neon. You are no shrinking violet and the colours that you wear shout a big hello to the world, look at me, I’m here. You love fashion and you love looking fabulous. You will never be seen in dull or sombre tones. The only time you will wear low contrast is when it is black on black or white on white, otherwise, you are high contrast all of the way.

The Nautical Colour Personality is fun loving and lively. The colours they are attracted to fulfil their delight in lively activities and an energetic lifestyle. They love to mix and mingle and are very sociable. Their colours are generally medium contrast and there will always be a neutral with generally only one colour. Their neutrals are white and navy as opposed to blacks or olives yet they might slip into camel with a peach or orange accent.

The Relaxed Colour Personality is worn by the person who finds comfort in nature. The thought of wearing anything which looks unnatural just sounds ridiculous to these people. It does not mean that they insist on wearing hemp at any given opportunity. These people simply have a quiet, naturalist personality that is most at home in the colours of nature. They will be most at home in low to medium contrast clothing.

The Romantic Colour Personality is preferred by those people who have a soft caring side to their nature. They love the warmth of all of the soft colours this palette relates to and they will find that they have an air of gentility to them. There is nothing really high contrast, brash or even overly earthy about this personality. It welcomes affection and warmth .

Lastly, there is the Timeless Colour Personality. Here we have the person who plays by the rules. Fashion may be just too much for them so they have found a solution. Keep it simple and wear mostly neutrals. They can’t get into too much trouble that way. They may also be the type of person who doesn’t want to think about clothing. Navy’s, creams, red and brown are a very simple solution.

Keep in mind that the colours that you prefer are only one part of the personality process that is used when discerning a person’s style. The colours that you select say something about your personality but not everything about your style. They just explain why you dress in the colours that you chose. Your style personality will explain to you why you chose the styles that you do and you could find that your clothing personality is completely different to your colour personality, yet both will relate back to your values.

It is not that uncommon to find a Natural Style Person wearing Timeless Colours. Or perhaps a Classic personality style wearing the Artistic palette.

To understand your Colour Personality you can click through this link and do the quiz here. This quiz is suited to both men and women to complete.

If this all sounds too hard, just give me a call and I can help you in a live or skype consultation.

How to create moods with colour

Colour Your Moods

 

The colours that you wear can influence how people feel about you and the mood that they perceive you to be in.
Whilst these images are relating to women’s clothing the combinations hold true for men as well.
Dramatic and dynamic moods suit bold colours worn in a high contrasting manner. This mood makes you want to stand out in a colourful and vibrant manner.
The person whose mood wants them to command attention, to take control will wear black, often in a double breasted pseudo-military manner with gold or silver buttons. They will wear deep and dark or metal accessories. There will be little to no colour to their outfit with the exception of white.
When your mood is elegant and sophisticated you do not feel the need to be showy. Your colours will be neutral and medium toned.
When your mood is playful you will feel very comfortable in jackets with cute or colourful, even childish imagery on them.
A romantic mood will find you looking for low contrast and pastel outfits where shades of medium blue, or pink are visible.
A playful mood will find the person wearing loads of colours.
When your mood is earthy and relaxed you will look for colours which speak of nature in a heavier form than the elegant mood would wear nad finally to be fre3ndly and welcoming wear mid-density colours with lighter brighter accents. Not quite as romantic as mood above it, but it is subdued and makes everyone feel at home.

 

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What is a neutral colour and does it suit everyone

Neutrals

 

Neutrals – they are those ‘colours’ that go with everything else. They can be worn alone, or can be the bridge between two colors , that when placed too close to each other can and will clash. Kind of like younger siblings.

Whilst black and white are not technically colours I add them into this mix. I consider the following colours neutrals black, grey, navy, denim, olive, all shades of brown from deep to beige and, of course, cream and white.

Neutrals are very quiet and generally do not have a lot to say as an outfit. These are great to wear and are very dignified as a colour group. People who have a dramatic personality will tend to wear black and white. People who are classic personality will opt for the navy blue and cream combinations. People who have a natural personality will favour the earthy tones. feminine nad romantics will struggle with neutrals and will really only wear the shades of light to mid grey and blues. They really prefer blues soft colours. The Elegant Chic personality will be found wearing shades of camel and finally the rebellious will be in black, plain and simple.

For some people this colour scheme will look fantastic and this will be if there is very little ‘colour’ to your appearance. Or if your colouring falls naturally into the neutral shades. Unless you have highly coloured or red/auburn hair, your hair will fall into the neutral shades. Unless you have reddy, rosy or ruddy skin, that too falls into the neutral categories and finally if you have brown eyes, those are also neutral.

So in actuality it is the person with red or golden blonde hair who has green or blue eyes that does not look great in pure neutrals. They have a higher level of colour contrast, as described in my last colour article and they will look best if they wear their neutrals with at least one colour, ideally two for them.

Neutrals plus one is the name I give to the colour scheme which brings a bit more colour into a set of neutrals. It is not very colourful but it is often a little more interesting and generally has a bit more to ‘say. Like neutrals, it is a very easy and popular colour scheme to wear. Most people can wear this scheme effectively.

For some people neutrals make them shine and for others they hide behind them. Get to know what suits you and play with it.

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Walk and Talk to your Future

Walk and Talk to your Future

Last night I was asked this question via email and I thought it was a great one to share here – “I was thinking about my voice and my walk – do they play a role in the way I dress?”
Here is my answer –
If you have a strong voice and powerful gait and wish to be seen as friendlier, you will need to wear medium intensity clothing in friendly colours such as mid-tone blues, creams and lilacs/purples. Your fabrics will also nee to be softer and the lines softer. Or at least one of these elements being softer as I don’t actually know what you look like so I am not sure if your physical appearance is overall more assertive, more supportive or quite balanced.
If you have a soft voice and a floating walk and wish to be seen as more persuasive, then you will need to wear strong colours and sharper cuts.
Our physical presence is the first thing people notice about us, so as you walk into a room, your walk, associated with your outfit will set the stage for how you are perceived. A strong outfit and a strong walk will say – I am a strong woman. A softer outfit combined with a graceful stride will say, I am friendly and you have nothing to worry about.
Now in both instances, you will expect the voice to reflect the image and you can come undone if you do not sound as you look.
Let’s now take this image to the telephone, your voice will paint a picture of what you look like. It can range from age expectations to personality and size. Again, people do not like to be surprised. So if you wish to be taken seriously in your given role, that may be to be more persuasive, or more supportive, make sure all of your elements cover that expectation. These elements are your physical image, your clothing choices and your voice. The great thing is that we can choose our clothing to reflect an image and, with work, can adjust our voice to sound as we like.

Don’t fall on your face because you don’t appear to stand true to how you appear.

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