So we’re on this journey toward the perfect wardrobe. . .we all have to start somewhere. Let’s start from the very beginning, a very good place to start. When you sing you begin with Doe, Ray, Me. When you dress you begin with H…U…E… hue! (How many of you are picturing Julia Andrews and 7 unruly children right now?)
Primary Color Wheel
So, let’s begin with hue. You might call it color. It’s the very first design element that you notice. Just think of how much more efficient your shopping will be when you can automatically rule out all the garments that are not the right color for you.
I could go into all the scientific explanation about the wavelengths of light and additive versus subtractive color, but we’re going to keep it simple.
I’m sure you’ve all been learning this since pre-school, so you’ve already got a great foundation for understanding color. First you have the three primary colors or hues. You know what those are right?
That’s right red, yellow and blue.
Secondary Color Wheel
Next you have the secondary colors. Secondary colors are made by mixing two primary colors. Red and yellow make orange. Yellow and blue make green. Blue and red make purple. I’m pretty sure I haven’t lost anyone yet, so I’ll go on.
Color wheels help us see the relationship between the colors. You’ve probably also noticed that many color wheels have more colors than this.
Tertiary Color Wheel
Color wheels that have 12 colors are called tertiary color wheels because they have tertiary colors on them. These colors are derived from adding a primary color to the secondary color beside it. The colors are also often named as such like “red-orange” or “blue-violet”. Somewhere down the road they started giving other names for these colors like “teal” for blue-green” or periwinkle for “blue-violet”.
Basically, the color wheel usually displays the purest form of the color.The hues were not lightened, darkened or otherwise altered.
What’s next
In essence, I know this is very basic information but it will get much more in-depth as we go along. It is all very helpful knowledge we will build on to understand why certain colors look better on you than others. It’s a very important step in our journey.
Stick with me. Learn how to harness color to optimize your look and your wardrobe.
The world around us displays a variety of colors, not just those found on the color wheel. Learn how to achieve colors beyond the color wheel with posts in the following categories.
Follow my color Pinterest board for inspiration.
Last, but not least, what’s your favorite hue?
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