Hi Wrapunzelers!

Do you like to read Dear Abby? I do! Well, sometimes we at Wrapunzel get our own version with the following kinds of questions:

Dear Wrapunzel – I really like the 2 in 1s and the pashminas, but I’m not sure what colors I should buy. How do I pick colors? I’m on a limited budget but I want to really look nice!

   Sincerely,
   Colorless and Confused

Dear Wrapunzel – Andrea did this amazing video and I liked it so much that I bought all of the tichels and tried to wrap it at home. I managed to tie it properly, but it just doesn’t look nice on me. Why don’t my tichels look as nice on me as they look on the models in the store?

   Signed,
   Feeling Frumpy

Dear Wrapunzel – I really want to dress using more color, like Andrea and Naomi Rose. But every time I try to wear something colorful or if I try to not match perfectly, I wind up looking like I got dressed in a dark closet. I usually end up defaulting to black as a result. Can you help me ditch the black?

   Signed,
   Accidental Goth

 

I feel your pain ladies; all of you are basically having an issue with the same thing: color. As I’ve mentioned before, color is relative, and when a particular piece of fabric is placed next to your skin, it will appear different than when it is placed on someone else’s skin. As for our Accidental Goth, would you believe that I suffered from too-much-black-itis as well? I have always had a closet full of colors but I never really wore them. It took me a long time to lose the black. After all, the media and current cultural climate have bombarded women with the message that black is slimming, glamorous, and always a good choice for a frum wedding. And I want to look slim! I want to look glamorous!

But the truth is that looking great is not just a matter of putting on any figure-flattering outfit.   The cut of your clothes is only half the battle – choosing the right color clothing can mean the difference between appearing vibrant and glowing – or looking strung out and ill. Wearing the right color can take years off your appearance or it can age you by ten years. Colorless, it sounds like you need a return to color theory class.   A color wheel can help you to determine what colors look best for you. And as for Frumpy, the various nuances in individual skin coloring is altering how a specific color looks. On Andrea, a certain color is fantastic. On you, the exact same combination is merely “meh.”

So that Little Black Dress should sometimes be the Little Blue Dress, or the Little Orange Dress, because the LBD just doesn’t work for everyone. Individual variations with a person’s skin tone (namely if you are warm or cool — see previous post HERE) can radically change how a color appears.

For the quick refresher course that I promised – cool people have pink-based skin tone. Their skin often has rosy cheeks and shows blue or purple veins. Their eyes can be very dark brown, dark blue, grey blue or hazel. Cool toned individuals have natural hair color that trend towards blue-ish black, dark brown, medium ash brown, or golden blonde.  To further narrow it down, there are “summer cools” (picture Reese Witherspoon) and “winter cools” (think Anne Hathaway). But that doesn’t mean that cool toned people only have light skin! Skin shades can range to include brown with a reddish or blue undertone (think model and fashion designer Alex Wek) to pale with pink undertones.

As a rule of thumb: people with cool tones look best in fabric with a blue-base like a vivid raspberry, a deep emerald green, royal blue, sapphire blue, dark teal, and pure black. Those with lighter shades of skin can wear rose-based pinks, aqua blue-greens, pure whites and soft whites.

Warm-toned people have a more golden or apricot complexion. Skin can be brown, medium or pale but all will have golden (or peach!) undertones. The vein test yields results that look a bit more greenish than blue.  Natural hair color ranges from golden blonde, reddish brown, strawberry, red and all the way to black. Eyes tend to be amber, golden brown, hazel, or green. For celebrity color matching inspiration imagine Jennifer Lopez, Naomi Campbell, and Beyoncé.

People with warm tones glow when wearing bronzes, camels, mochas, sage greens, mango oranges and burnt oranges. They also look great in greens in the shade of moss, olive and jade. In summer, they can add lime, celery greens, ivory, or oyster whites.

Check out the following helpful chart:

Credit: http://www.thegloss.com/2014/06/11/beauty/how-to-choose-flattering-makeup-colors-hacks/

 

So what does this mean for tichels? Tichels follow the same rules as finding your favorite clothing fabric! However, whereas you can have a bit more leeway for your skirt, anything that is RIGHT. NEXT. TO. YOUR. FACE can have a drastic effect on your overall appearance. So, what’s poor Colorless to do? Well, fear not!

 

If you are cool toned, try out the following “staple” scarves from Wrapunzel:

The Shinylicious: in Silver, White, Teal, or Silvery Black

2-in-1s: Black, Pewter, Light Gray, Dark Brown, White, Olive, Very Light Blue, Slate Blue, Dark Blue, Teal, Purple, Lilac, Lighter Lilac, and burgundy.

The Shimmery: Royal Blue, Aqua, Ice Blue, Teal, Light Teal, Beige Gold, Brown, Black, Silvery Black, Pewter, Silvery White, Navy, White, Light Purple, Purple

Solid Pashminas: Black, Bright Purple, Berry Wine, Eggplant, Navy, Wine, Rivka Malka’s Teal, Pewter, and Dark Brown.

For accessories – try things that are silver based. Check out Vintage Beauty (An absolute FAVORITE of mine!), Hibiscus Haven, the Ruffled Waves sash in Black, and the Razzmatazz in Silver.

 

 

If you are warm toned –

Lakeshore Bliss: Green, Pink and Red Sherbert, Brown,

New York Brights: White, Pink, Red, Light Purple, Orange, Yellow, Brown with Color, Brown, Colorful Grey.

Soft Pashminas: White, Brown, Deep Purple, Sky Blue, Aqua, Yellow, Light Pink, Magenta

Solid Pashminas: Dark Forest Green, Green, Olive, Light Brown, Pink, Pumpkin, Berry Plum, Red, Andrea’s Teal, Yellow, Orange, Seafoam Green

For accessories try items that are gold-based and sashes in the same color schemes as the above tichels. I love the Razzmatazz in Gold, Cosmic Wonder in Brown, the Empress Circlet, and any of the Braided Wreaths.

 

As for Accidental Goth, breaking out from the bad black habit can be hard. If you are used to wearing black on a daily basis, adding colors (even though you want to do it!) can still feel outside your comfort zone. My best advice is to start slowly. It is shocking to (both your sense of self and to your wallet!) if you abandon your deeply cultivated sense of black-themed clothing. So don’t start off by suddenly purging your entire wardrobe. I personally started adding patterns into my wardrobe by buying a few maxi skirts that had black somewhere as an accent color, but not as the main focus. The first few times I wore the skirts, I paired them with black crew tops. After a few wears, I started wearing crew tops that matched the purple in the skirt, or the burgundy…then I paired them with blue. The Wrapunzel Signature Skirt can be a nice gateway to creating a less monotonous wardrobe.

But what if you are in a professional setting where maxi skirt fabric is a bit too casual for the office? Well, I bet that right now, your gut instinct is probably to grab a black bottom to match whatever nice top you have in your closet. Although it’s hard, start the transition by selecting a different solid color to wear instead of that black skirt. Don’t try to complain that you need the black skirt in order to appear ten pounds lighter. You can help to minimize a larger derriere by choosing a solid dark color skirt (think navy, brown, dark gray, burgundy, dark teal and even deep purple!) While you are at it, try to swap out your black blazer or jacket for a non-black option.   Become creative with your color combinations. Use the color wheel when you make combinations! It’s sometimes easiest for beginners to pick colors that are analogous (next to each other), but you can also just start combining cool colors with other cool colors. A teal top can match a burgundy skirt. A dark brown skirt pairs well with blue, pink, purple, gold, red, and green tops. Cream, mango, and tan look fantastic together. Deep purple pairs really well with a cool, dark green (there are tons of Wrapunzel posts about this). Deep purple also pairs nicely with gray.

 

 

In the height of my black era I wore a black skirt, a white or black shell, and a colored top daily. My current personal goal is to try to avoid the stark white shell underneath a colored top and to instead pair different colors together. Now, does that mean that I gave up all white shells? Nope.

 

See?

 

I just stopped wearing this:

 

 

What will your color goals be for yourself?

Good luck! I can’t wait to see the selfies!

 

Love,

Tamar Adina