If you’ve been on the right side of TikTok lately, you already know that having your colors done is very popular - there’s even a filter to narrow down your season. What that means is finding the colors that are most flattering for your skin tone, whether that’s for clothes, hair color, or makeup. All in an effort to look like our very best selves. But why limit ourselves to just clothing? How can you use undertones, overtones and seasons when picking your lingerie as well?
Dive into your wardrobe
The easiest thing, by far, is to go straight to your existing wardrobe and assess your colors. What do you gravitate towards? Does it look good on you, or do you just wear it because you like the color? Or worse yet, just because you already have that shirt? Try on different tops, and be critical of what you see: is that color flattering? Does it bring out your eyes? What does it look like next to your face? Does it do anything for your skin?
This is a quick and easy game of elimination, and it can really help you choose a direction or narrow down some options. You might not enjoy bright red, but a light pink is right up your alley. Or white washes you out, and you prefer black. Any discovery you make about yourself will help you choose better, more flattering lingerie.
Cool girls wear blue…
…and warm girls wear red! No, it’s not a rule, (and there are more colors to choose from). But it’s a great guiding principle, and something that can really help you if you’re overwhelmed by not just colors, but different shades of different colors.
To understand if you’re cool or warm, there are some “tests” you can do at home. Compare how you look in silver jewelry vs gold jewelry: which do you like the most? Cool-toned girls look fantastic in silver, while warm-toned girls are harmonious in gold. You can also do the white paper test. Hold a sheet of white paper next to your face in natural lighting: what jumps out to you first? Your features, or the paper? Are you flattered by the stark white, or overwhelmed? If it flatters you and your features, then you’re cool-toned, and you can pull off true white lingerie beautifully. Otherwise, you’re a warm-toned person who would do better with a creamy, off-white, or even nude shade of lingerie.
It takes some trial and error, but most of all, you have to understand a bit of color theory. There’s a cool red (or a pink red) and a warm red (an orange red). One has some blue in its composition, the other has yellow. Is it too confusing if I mention there can also be a neutral red shade? A lot of our red lingerie collection is neutral, and would suit a variety of skin tones. An emerald green is cool, because it has a hefty dose of blue in it, but a khaki green is warm (because it’s muddier and veers towards yellow or even brown). So, you have to choose the best color for you, and the best shade of that color.
Choose according to season
I know what you’re waiting for; you want the color season chat. Depending on the source you wish to follow, there are 4 color seasons, 12, or even more than that, depending on how granular you want to get. The main seasons are, of course, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
- Spring - a bright, light, warm-toned season. It tends to be flattered by light colors that give a very “fresh” appearance. The three seasons encompassed by Spring are Bright Spring, True Spring, and Light Spring, all with their own specific colors and idiosyncrasies.
- Summer - cool, light and muted, Summer breaks into Light Summer, True Summer and Soft Summer. Muted, natural shades flatter the Summer, giving them an almost ethereal, otherworldly vibe. Overall a very delicate appearance.
- Autumn - the three main characteristics of the Autumn is that they’re warm, dark, and muted. The three main seasons spawning from it are Soft Autumn, True Autumn, and Dark Autumn. Natural, rich colors with a hazy quality are flattering to Autumns, as they’re overwhelmed by brights.
- Winter - dark, cool, and bright, winters are flattered by contrast. Playing with extremes and pairing the darkest darks with the brightest whites gives a very striking appearance to Winters. Their 3 subcategories are Dark Winter, True Winter, and Bright Winter.
What’s the bottom line?
But my ultimate advice, if you’re not going to bother with all of that theory, is to just go to a lingerie store or make a big order and actually put it on! Nothing beats seeing the way a piece of clothing looks on your body in person, and in different lights. It’s a foolproof test, and the best part is that you get to keep the sets you liked. We offer a wide variety of colors, from warm reds and yellows to sparkling blues and classic neutrals like black and white.
But the concept of what’s “flattering” should not dictate your life; at the end of the day, if a woman really loves yellow, who are we to tell her she can’t wear that color? But if you want to try something different with your lingerie and pick your best color, then color theory is the way to go.