19th – 25th march 2017
I have always been a person who loves colour. When I left school I became a hair dresser and colour plays a big part in that profession. One of the first things you learn is how to understand the colour wheel and I have enjoyed experimenting with it ever since.
When I am making a quilt I mix all sorts of colours together. When I paint I love mixing colours together to see what I get. I have a rule when painting of never using black. If I want a dark colour like black I will always mix a few colours together to make it more interesting to look at because, in my view, black is boring.
However, when it comes to the clothes I wear I tend to default to black. I have this theory that it makes you look thinner it’s also easy to mix colours with because everything goes with it.
Before I lost the weight I always wore black. I don’t think I had anything in another colour. When the weight started to come off and I was buying new clothes I started adding colours that I could wear with my black.
One thing I have struggled with since losing the weight is knowing what suits me now. Because my body shape has changed so much I can’t seem to wear the same style of clothes that I did before.
I have a friend who is a lifestyle consultant. She assesses what suits you, helps you with colours and goes through your wardrobe to see if they are any good. So I asked for her
help.One thing she did was get a colour lady in. I have always wanted my colours done. It basically starts by putting lots of coloured scarfs around my neck.
She then looks at the colour and how it reflects on my face. As she was explaining it I started to look at my face rather than the colour it’s self and I could see that some colours were brightening my face and others were making me look more washed out.
I found it very fascinating and I feel I learnt a lot. One colour that I am not supposed to wear is black. There was me thinking that black is a good colour and it goes with everything and apparently it’s not slimming if it’s not your colour.
We then got to my wardrobe and we went through my clothes I must have had hundreds of items that were black! I sat there watching them getting thrown in the bin. I did keep my favourite black items though.
It sounds harsh but in some ways it was quite liberating. I didn’t seem to care that I had a lifetime of bad habits been thrown in the bin.
My friend then sorted out the clothes I had left in colour order and then put them back in my wardrobe. I now have one wardrobe that has only my black clothes.
Now when I look in my wardrobe I can’t seem to go to the black cupboard. It’s like a part of my past that has gone but it means that I have a brighter more colourful future.
One thing I have noticed is that I am taking a lot more pride in my appearance. If I was only going to the shop I would normally grab the first thing I could find and put it on. Now though I find I am taking more time and asking Matt what he thinks before I go to the shop.
I am quite enjoying my colourful wardrobe. I am also enjoying experimenting with colours for myself for a change rather than putting it just in my paintings. I have now become the canvas!
If you want to know more about this then the lifestyle consultant I used was Emiko Ray – I highly recommend her! Find her on twitter – @EmikoCRay
How interesting.
I did some clothes shopping in time for the next Jewish festival (just discovered the site JD Williams which has a fabulous selection should you need something) and spent last night trying on a million different things. It’s enlightening to be able to wear things that you like rather than just things that fit. I hope you find some really beautiful new clothes that you love and that make you feel good.
Thank you, for the first time I am actually enjoying clothes shopping
It must be so liberating! Enjoy it!