4 Ways To Create Visual Harmony Between Yourself And Your Clothing
with Kristina Birchwood
Even if you can't name it, you know it when you see it. It stops you in your tracks. You see that photo in a magazine, that woman at the next table or across the crowded room at a party and you find it hard to avert your gaze because, well, visual harmony attracts.
You see, there are visual laws of attraction that just exist. The golden mean, the rule of thirds for example, explains why certain proportions appeal to the eye in art, interior design and dress. And then there's the undeniable power of the visual color connection when colors connect and draw our eye from one object to another returning to the start. These "rules" and more are behind what makes something appear attractive to us or not.
And when it comes to our personal dress, visual harmony attracts. It’s the reason that I (and perhaps some of you) have been attracted to the style page of Kristina Birchwood. Kristina’s a “ Spring” and has palettes from a couple of different systems but what caught my eye when I first saw her on her FB page was that she had really grasped what it meant to create visual harmony between herself and her clothing. And I’m delighted she’s letting me use her photos to illustrate how you too can create visual harmony between yourself and your clothing.
4 ways to create visual harmony between yourself and your clothing
Repeat your inherent colors
Repeating your hair color (especially in your foot wear) not only grounds you, but creates a beautiful connection back to your crowning glory, your hair. Repeating your eye color in your outfit (especially worn on top) will draw our eye to your eye, the window of your soul. And repeating your skin tones will draw our eye to your face and allow us to see you at your most vulnerable.
Kristina repeats her hair color in a pant and shoe, and also picks up her skin tone in the scarf and print of her blouse.
2. Repeat your facial shapes
Do you have an almond shaped eye? A bow shaped upper lip? A round cheek? Repeating those shapes in a print or pendant or earring or your handbag will create a lovely connection between yourself and your accessories. Mirroring the shape of your jaw line in your neckline or the toe of your shoe will create instant harmony. Work with the shapes of your best features to really highlight them.
Kristina mirrors her jawline through this neckline and repeats some of the curved lines and shapes in her face in with this Spring print.
3. Repeat your scale:
Each of us has a particular skeletal structure. We may be tall, average or petite in height. We may have small, medium or large bones. Our facial features may be small, medium or large in relation to our face as a whole. By repeating the scale of our personal features we create visual harmony between ourselves and our clothing.
Notice how the scale of the collars, trims, belts, earrings. buttons, stitching, right down to the strap on her shoes repeat Kristina’s smaller scale frame and features.
4. Repeat your personality:
Are you a fun lovin’ gal? Are you a true romantic? Are you a little bit badass? Or prone to the dramatic? By expressing your personality through your clothing we will see not just the obvious physical visual harmony but you’ll take it a layer deeper as you allow your personality to be expressed through your clothing as well.
Anyone can put on a bold outfit, but if you aren’t bold to your bones it will wear you, not the other way around. So embrace who you really are and then express it through the style aesthetic you choose to wear.
Kristina describes her current style as being on the on the quirky and sunny side. She uses a lot of color, detail, joy and a bit of irony, and needs to look put together. We can see her personality and the Spring expression of her style aesthetic in every outfit!
Kristina pays attention to the details — each one adds to her Spring expression of her personal style aesthetic and creates visual harmony with her through color, shape and scale.
Of course there other design components you can use as well to create visual harmony between yourself and your clothing, but practice these four, as Kristina has done, and you’ll be well on your way.
Need a little more help and direction? Book a personal color & style consultation or take one of my online courses at the color and style academy. And for ongoing inspiration, follow Kristina Birchwood on Facebook.