I am now officially obsessed with buying clothes only in the colors that look best on me; so obsessed, in fact, that I don’t want to wear anything I own that isn’t in one of these colors. Jill Kirsh’s ingenious swatch book in hand, I went with David to Paron Fabrics to find linen for long shirts I want to have made to wear with leggings.
The tailor told me I’d need around 2 ½ yards per shirt. I wish I could afford to have shirts made in every one of the 24 colors in the book, but I settled on four colors. I’m going to ask the tailor to copy a button-down shirt I love, in each of the four great shades.
I’ve also succeeded in making my sister, Shelley, so crazy about this color business that she is going to buy her own swatch book, since her colors are different than mine. I know I sound like a commercial, but you’ve got to get one, too. Trust me. You may love black, gray, white, navy and tan, but when you see how you look in eggplant, turquoise, red, camel and olive (if those are your colors), you’ll know what I mean.
0 Responses to “Color me coral”
Duchesse says:
What a fantastic idea! I’m all for finding several shapes you love and then replicating, like your shirt. Re black, it odes not flatter all faces, but everyone can wear it (or another dark, like dark chocolate) on the bottom, which is a good thing given the weather in my city for 5 months of the year.
That woman you knew Toby, sounds like she had far more serious challenges than her wardrobe.
Vera B says:
I had my colors done years ago and I am a Winter. Unfortunately, I haven’t followed the advice. Now that I’ve been reminded I believe I will go in search of those swatches and get back on my “color” track.
sharon Segal says:
Dear Geri, Hi! Many years ago I decided to color my hair. I went to a fancy salon in NYC . The hair dresser said that he loved my hair and would not change the grey. He suggested ” Color Me Beautiful ” I changed my glass frame to be blue and I wear colors that they suggested. I also have a book of swatches. Have fun shopping for new clothes. Sharon
Toby Wollin says:
I don’t care what fashion ‘says’ (and I saw a photo of a recent panel from the ‘saving the garment center’ where every single person on the panel, from Nanette Lapore to Tommy Hilfiger, was wearing BLACK. Now, I realize that black is the new black for New Yorkers. OK, I get it. It also reminds me of a former coworker who always wore all black and when I asked her why, she told me that she went out drinking every…single…night and that wearing all black made it easy for her to just reach into the closet and the drawer to pull a couple of things out, throw them on, and crawl into work. ‘No decisions dressing’, she called it), but looking at yourself in ‘your colors’ vs looking at yourself in the mirror when you are wearing what a particular designer has declared his or her color muse that year (which usually revolves around sand, beige, black, grey, and cream), is like looking at yourself while you are in the hospital while under care for some horrible chronic disease and looking at yourself on your wedding day. I can’t even describe the difference in any other way. There are going to be people who will never, ever wear anything but beige, sand or black because they feel it looks classy or elegant. I’ve got to tell you that after a certain age, unless you are a black or beige person, you will end up looking like your own Romanian grandma wearing those colors. Additionally, at this point in our lives, I take the position that I want to wear what makes me happy. Bright, lively colors make me happy. Black, sand, grey, and beige make me look tired, sick, and ‘vampiric’. Which is another reason (probably Reason number 465) why I make my own clothing…because then I can look at the colors and textures of the fabrics, fall in love and make what I want. Geri – I think your plan to get a bunch of linen shirts made in your fabulous colors is definitely the way to go. I think you might want to think about a longer shirt that with a nifty belt, you would wear with sandals during the warmer months – how about a coral shirt dress? With a long wooden bead necklace and super brass earrings? I think with sandals, that would be great.