It’s October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness month worldwide. It’s the time of year when you can expect to be invited to various pink-themed events- walkathons, soirees, galas, etc. and to all of these, it is expected that you get into the spirit of things and wear pink.

This is all very well for those people who adore wearing pink, whose wardrobe is full of hot pinks and American Beauties and cerises and magentas and fuschias…but what about those of us who tend to steer away from pink, who don’t have any pink in our wardrobe, or who don’t feel we look our best in pink? This seems like a great time of year to discuss ‘How to Wear the Colour Pink’.

Top Tips For How to Wear Pink

1. FIND YOUR BEST TONE OF PINK

1. This tip takes the number one spot. There is a pink to suit everyone- truly! Neon pink may do you no favours, but you may come truly alive in a soft rose pink. Wearing the right colour pink for you may change your mind about wearing pink.

   All pinks are not equal. Take a look at the colour wheel below. There are so many shades of pink- light and deep, warm and cool.  Generally, you will suit EITHER warm or cool.  If you suit both warm and cool, it will (usually) only be where those colours are closely related to each other i.e. right next to each other on the wheel.

Have a look in the mirror at this colour wheel next to your face. Can you see which shades suits you better?

And now for a real-life example featuring yours truly.

I made the maxi dress on the left a couple of years ago. It is some kind of polyester knit fabric from Spotlight (a large fabric chain store in Australia), and to be honest, at the time, I was more excited to have actually found something with enough stretch for my project- colour was not my top consideration.

I made the sweater on the right with a warm coral pink sweater knit from Sewing Australia Unique Fabric For Collectors, and it is undoubtedly a much more flattering shade for me. In fact, if you look at the pink colour wheel again, you will see that these two colours are practically on OPPOSITE SIDES of the wheel: the maxi dress falls between dark pink coral and dark pink, and the sweater is coral. Well done me for getting it so absolutely and completely wrong with the maxi dress!

If you are interested learning more about your personal colours, you can do an online quiz to find out what colours suit you. Here is an example of one short quiz.

http://30somethingurbangirl.com/free-quiz-what-is-your-seasonal-color/

You can also see a colour consultant- these colour specialists offer their services both online (you send photos of yourself), or even better, in person. A google search can show you your options.

2. CHOOSE A FLATTERING STYLE

There are occasions where you may not be able to choose the shade of pink- a bridesmaid dress may be a good example of this- but more and more, brides are allowing their bridesmaids to wear dresses in different styles to each other.

If you aren’t able to ensure your fabric is your best shade of pink, you can at least make sure your project is in a style which suits you. Do you receive the most compliments wearing plunging v-necks or high halter necks? Flowy circle skirts or tight pencil skirts?

Necklines are extremely important to consider when you are dealing with a pink which does not suit you.

V-necks are not my best look- my décolletage (chest area) is a bit bony and freckly and not something I generally want to be highlighting. It’s another mistake I made with my dark pink maxi dress.***

***(HOWEVER, the fact that I put a border of skin between the fabric and my face was actually a GOOD thing- see How To Wear Pink Part II for more information.)

3. WEAR A ‘BAD PINK’ AWAY FROM YOUR FACE

Your ‘colour season’ is based on a combination of your skin tone, your hair colour, and your eye colour, so your face is the area where colours will complement or clash the most.

If at all possible, when wearing a shade which doesn’t suit you, wear the pink away from your face. If I have a pink fabric which is not in my colour palette but I really want to wear it, I sew something to wear on my bottom half, like shorts or skirts- or socks! This is a great tip, especially if you love colours which are not in your colour palette- you can still wear them!  Just keep them away from the all-important face area.

I love the hot pink skirt below-too cool for me to wear near my face- but I am comfortable wearing it it because it is on my lower half. Yay! (Same for my hot pink boots!  Can’t get much further away than my feet!).

This circle skirt panel is from Cheeky Chops Fabric.

4. CHOOSE A PRINT WHERE PINK IS AMONG OTHER COLOURS

Where pink is among other colours, find a way to feature one of the colours which suits you better. The skirt below contains cool pinks- not my best colour- but it also has purples and yellows and black. I made the fabric into a skirt to keep the pink away from my face and then featured purple by wearing a purple blouse.

And that is it for Part I.  Tune in for Part II with information about necklines and accessories and more coming soon!

Please also visit my blog over at Husqvarna Viking with more detailed sewing information on my pink creations in this post.