I Can't Even

I Can't Even...

by, 

Sara 'Zarine' Jessop 

… Complimentary Colors

So I talk a lot about the subjective side of fashion. I mean, really, most of it is just a matter of personal opinion and some people's opinions matter more than others. But there are things that are not a matter of opinion but rather a matter of science(ish).

Oftentimes people ask me how to chose colors that looks well together or why certain color combinations make them want to lose the contents of their last meal. While some people might recognize that certain colors naturally go together and others do not, many don't actually understand why. And then of course there are the poor plebs that just can't even recognize it and are unknowingly walking around making the rest of us cringe.

To understand why colors compliment or upset each other one needs to understand color theory. Now the entirety of color theory is huge and complicated and would take up far too much of my precious time for me to bother explaining all of it. The two basics of color theory that are most important for you to know are the color wheel and color harmony.

The color wheel, pictured above, seems pretty self explanatory. It's a wheel of color, sort of like a wheel of cheese only less delicious. However, the colors are organized in a certain way. It's based on the primary colors of red, yellow, and blue. In the middle between two primary colors are the secondary color that it creates, and to either side of that is the tertiary color created by the primary and secondary. Now, I know that those are a lot of big and confusing words, but I can only handle one educational experience at a time and today's lesson is on color, not vocabulary. Some color wheels contain even more variations of color, but for now let's start simple.

Color harmony means pairing colors that are pleasing to the eye. For this we can use the color wheel. I don't feel like writing it all out, so I found this handy photograph for you that someone with no social life had the time to make.

All of these things create a logical structure for color that makes it easier to understand. Some colors together are as bland as a boiled dinner. Other color combinations are too chaotic and make our minds want to shut off as it can't organize it. Following the guide above will help you create a harmonious color scheme for any occasion. I would say it's fool proof, but I have had the displeasure of meeting most of you and I really believe that you could screw up just about anything set before you, so I have faith that you could completely bungle this too. I hope that you all at least now know that complimentary colors are not just colors who say nice things to each other...

See you next Tuesday.

Zarine is the proprietor and Madam at Alchimia Lupanar, a magic marshal approved practitioner of medicine, an award winning author, and has 36 years of experience in giving her unsolicited opinion.