Color Question

[Karl R]

Do you know, in a rather long life with some brief time spent almost every day peering into a mirror for one reason or another, but I cannot recall ever considering my complection!

Good news! You don't need to. Even if I wanted to pick out the best colors for my complexion, I could do so purely based on the unsolicited feedback I receive from others (usually women). If someone says, "That shirt looks good on you," or "That color really suits you," then you know that you've chosen a color that works well with your complexion.

If someone starts acting concerned about your health ... out of a genuine belief that you're ill ... when you're actually perfectly healthy, that's a clear indication that you've chosen a color that works poorly with your complexion.

In some circumstances, I may not care what reaction I receive. For my hiking clothes, practicality trumps all other concerns. But for certain social functions, I may wish to look my best, rather than looking deathly ill. In order to make that choice (rather than having it occur randomly), I actually have to know which colors will produce which reactions.

While self-assurance (as Tarheel mentioned) will generally produce more impact than one's sartorial choices, the effects are additive ... the self-assurance might mitigate a poor wardrobe choice, but it doesn't replace it.

Are you really being serious? Do you really apply all that colour tone and matching palaver to your attire choices?

Palaver? This isn't rocket science. This isn't brain surgery. I know the range of colors that work for me, and I can tell at a glance whether a color will work or not.

This isn't something that requires daily thought and effort. If I'm buying a dress shirt that I wear to work, I choose the correct color. I'll figure out which pair(s) of dress slacks it works well with. After that, I won't need to think about it again for as long as I own the shirt. (And my shirts last at least several years before I wear them out.)

To me, it seems more economical to figure out whether or not a shirt will look good before I spend money on it. Since I understand this well enough to tell at a glance, I don't even need to waste my time trying on a shirt that won't look good.

I offered a thought that included the opinions of Karl's wife (always a positive direction) in my statement.

I believe you offered that advice to jmerchlinsky, but it's a valid point. In addition, most women care enough about their husband's appearance that they will purchase clothes that look flattering. Not to mention, one earns brownie points with the wife when wearing something she purchased.

I cannot say that I or anyone else, including women, that I know who go into such depths of detail for, well, clothes!

It doesn't require much depth or detail to buy/wear the right clothes. I don't need to understand all of the guidelines. Just the ones that apply to me. (I'm a really small subset of the entire population.) Depth and detail is required to explain the guidelines to someone else.

The other time someone needs to really understand the guidelines is when they want to break them ... correctly.