Playing with Color Harmony from So, You Want to be a Model! from 1943

 

From the chapter all about style sense, So, You Want to be a Model offers a really handy chart all about color harmony that I wanted to both show to you and play with. By that I mean I wanted to test it out and see how these color harmony suggestions actually looked on a living person. Of course, this chart is only a suggestion, a sample of ideas to get the brain of the style savvy going, but I found the suggestions to be very good. Some were even ideas that I would not have thought up myself. This chart I am going to share with you is only a small section of this particular chapter. The text goes onto depth on what colors would be best for you based on a variety of factors, from skin coloring to hair color, to height, but this particular chart uses neutrals which are generally universal to all - navy, black, and brown (and rust!). 

To play around with this color chart, I made use of the recommended pieces which I was very fortunate to have in my closet such as a navy suit and coat, a brown suit and coat, and a black suit and coat. These were the foundation outfits used in the chart. The outfits that the book suggests every woman have because they are great basics that can be dressed up or down. 

Next up were the dresses, blouses, shoes, bags, and gloves to be paired with the suits or coats. These extras help expand the basic wardrobe and really make your suit or coat do things for you. For the most part I had these accessories in the suggested colors but a couple I did not have, like the "soft, bright yellow bag". Using only what I have I was able to recreate the majority of the color harmony chart but not all of it. Hopefully thought you can get the idea of the purpose of this color harmony chart and see what a basic suit or coat can do as a foundation item when paired with its accompanying dresses, bags, and shoes. 

One piece of advice I thought was especially helpful was "Don't - like most people- be afraid of color". I thought this was great advice because in a world today where many people seem to be wearing blacks and grey, be bold and choose to wear color! and do not stop there, wear colorful vintage too!

Color Harmony Chart from
So, You Want to be a Model

Color Harmony Chart continued from above from
 So, You Want to be a Model

As a side note, the chart only discusses clothes. No jewelry. So, any jewelry pairings I added were from my own ideas of what I thought would go well. 

For the first look, I went with the first suggestion in the book. A navy-blue suit and paired it with a white blouse, a "white" hat and then red bag and shoes. My hat was not white but an off white or cream colored felt. It was the closest one I had I was hoping that it would work. I really like this look and I think it is really timeless. . . Although I think red, white, and blue is always in good taste. The colors pair together really, really well. 

The next look in the book was a navy-blue coat with a navy and white printed dress. With it, I chose a deep red straw hat and red snakeskin bag. White gloves complete the look. Once again, it is red, white, and blue for the win again. 

Another look using navy-blue. The coat is from the previous look and underneath is a fuchsia dress paired with a deep red straw hat and red snakeskin bag. navy shoes complete the look along with white gloves. When I was reading about this color combination, I was not totally sold on it. Now that I have worn it and seen it in person, it totally works!! 

The next page of the color harmony chart was all about brown. I used my brown and white printed dress for the next few looks and with it my brown wool suit jacket. I used the accessory suggestions to play with the look and used a white felt hat, a green felt hat, and a buttery yellow hat as well. If you ever needed an idea of what neutral to wear that can go with almost any color, give brown a try. 

The final color in the color harmony chart was black. They suggest that black can be paired with any bold and bright color - in accessories or dresses. I quite agree with that too! Black can be paired with so many colors, even other lighter neutrals. 

So, there you have it, a little fashion fun from 1943 and how color can be used. While I was playing around with this chart and making up the outfits, I found that I used only a few pieces, I was expecting to use many more. With that said, one could even use this chart to make a small capsule wardrobe. Imagine the outfits one would have with a navy-blue coat, suit, and a few well-chosen other pieces.