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Home » Building Your Personal Style Vocabulary: Colors

Building Your Personal Style Vocabulary: Colors

It’s fine to say “my favorite color is blue”, but realistically there are dozens and dozens of shades of every color, and lots of color words that are open to a range of interpretation. So I’m suggesting that you consider being really precise in the description of your favorite colors. Don’t just capture the color itself, but search for words that share the spirit and essence of what the color is in your life. The more clearly we can define ourselves and our preferences, the more focused we can be when we put these color into practice in our wardrobes and our homes…

What words did I miss?

love,
Janice

PS – You can find the latest Pantone Color Planner and other documents in the Planning Documents section of the website.

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03.05.14 16 Comments

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Comments

  1. Grasshopper says

    March 5, 2014 at 12:57 pm

    This is a really good post to help us refine our color preferences. I would add oyster white and woodrose red. I also like slate blue, dusk blue, taupe gray, taupe brown, mauve, robins egg blue, and moss green.

    Reply
  2. Anonymous says

    March 5, 2014 at 1:42 pm

    Cerulean, puce, but mostly PINK!

    Reply
    • Janice Riggs says

      March 5, 2014 at 1:45 pm

      Ah, you noticed that I didn't go anywhere NEAR pink – the sheer number of colors available through cosmetic colors is mind-boggling!

      Reply
    • Anonymous says

      March 5, 2014 at 2:37 pm

      Knowing that pink is one of the colors in your own wardrobe, I figured it was a deliberate omission!

      Reply
  3. Virginia says

    March 5, 2014 at 2:00 pm

    What about the pinks — ranging all the way from blush to deep pink

    Reply
  4. cheryl :) says

    March 5, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    So fun. Just after a quick browse I missed spring green and cobalt blue and yes, of course, the pinks :)

    Reply
  5. Gail says

    March 5, 2014 at 4:13 pm

    There's an old, famous linguistics experiment showing that persons asked to sort items by color will make a separate pile for pinks–but not for light blues (since there's no comparable word in English for light blue; blues of whatever hue are blue.). So, yes, pink is a category all its own. :)

    Reply
  6. robertsongallery says

    March 5, 2014 at 4:14 pm

    Loden. Brown or Green? Love this exercise! Theresa

    Reply
  7. Anonymous says

    March 5, 2014 at 4:29 pm

    Great post! One of my favorites is Peacock blue.

    Reply
  8. Pam @ over50feeling40 says

    March 5, 2014 at 5:10 pm

    Such a great illustration of the colors within a color…my favorite purple…even in the spring…is eggplant!

    Reply
  9. Thea says

    March 5, 2014 at 5:26 pm

    Fun exercise! Do you have a resource for pinpointing the name of that "perfect" red (or blue or green)? What is the difference between ruby and carmine, for instance? Thanks!

    Reply
  10. Meigan says

    March 5, 2014 at 11:07 pm

    Neat post. I agree with the commenter who said peacock blue. That's one of my favorites along with caramel brown.

    Reply
  11. Shawna McComber says

    March 5, 2014 at 8:28 pm

    It is so much easier to list colours I don't like as opposed to my favourites, and as someone who is completely fascinated with colour and the distinctions between all the various shades, tones and tints, the colours I dislike are easily narrowed down to not just one broad hue but merely one or two variations of it. I despise mint green but love just about every other green out there. I loath peach/salmon but many other types of pink appeal to me. I am not a fan of lemon yellow but love soft buttery yellows and ochre. I love many blues but am not fond of sky blue.

    I often think the names given to paint colours are inaccurate and misleading. I want a job naming lipstick and nail polish.

    Reply
  12. Barcy says

    March 5, 2014 at 9:55 pm

    Very interesting. I love olive green, not just because I find it visually appealing, but because it evokes a feeling of the outdoors and sun-baked landscapes. I think it is as much of a mental and emotional appeal as it is a physical one.

    Reply
  13. SimplyFy54 says

    March 6, 2014 at 3:26 am

    Sage?

    Reply
  14. Bea says

    March 6, 2014 at 3:39 pm

    You have Olive, but not Olive Drab. Yes, I know it is a "military" type color, but I have seen a lot of OD green with red and/or black trim again lately. It is a browner olive color, more like what the USMC wears, which is probably why I can't wrap my brain around the OD/red/black combination since that is pure dress uniform.

    KiKi says you can't omit PINK, what ever shall she wear??

    Reply

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The Vivienne Files is a unique personal style blog with carefully-selected capsule wardrobes based on color palettes drawn from works of art, nature, and more. It helps women buy less clothing, and to love what they buy. Read more...
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