A recent small colour survey I conducted turned up some interesting results on colour attitudes and preferences.

Blue and red featured as commonly chosen favourite colours. Interestingly both are of course two ‘primary’ colours with different effects. Red relates to the physical self and as I spoke about in the previous blog article, relates to qualities of strength, stamina, courage etc. Whereas blue is the colour of the mind – our intellect and its qualities relate to thought, logic and trust. Colour psychology might interpret these two colour choices as representing two different personality types – one that is an active ‘doer’ (red) and one that is a planner and ‘thinker’ (blue).

Although purple was more often cited as a least favourite colour, yellow was the colour that was most mentioned as the colour people feel they ‘don’t suit’ and I have found this quite a common attitude among clients I have worked with. Here in the UK of course we don’t benefit from too much of the sunshine stuff and I think in some way that fact is mirrored perhaps by the lingering attitude of ‘GBR’ – Great British Reticence? Our inherent inhibited traits mean we’re not usually given to drawing attention to ourselves and displays of overt behaviour and there’s no doubt about it – yellow is the sunny, confident, ‘here I am’ ego colour!

Now although blue and red appear to be our more favoured colours, curiously it still seems that black is most highly favoured as a colour in which to dress ourselves. Around 57% of participants in the survey feel that it is ‘easy to wear’ colour and 43% claim to have at least up to 5 items of black clothing/accessories in their wardrobe! But why when we have so much other choice of colour available? Popular opinion holds the view that black can be seen as glamorous, sophisticated, efficient and serious, maybe ‘cool’ even. What I’m interested to know is this, is it because fashion/trends perpetuate the perceived benefits and allure of black? Or are we less confident about experimenting with other colours that suit us?

Previous blog articles you might be interested in……

Red Alert!

Purple Power

The message behind black

We’ve arrived in to the month of November and dare I mention it, the countdown to Christmas and many of you may be already filling your diaries with upcoming seasonal party dates.

The colour black still seems to feature in many wardrobes this time of year as the colour of choice – be it for dinner suits, party dresses or gowns for all kinds of parties and occasions. But what is our fascination with black all about?

Some of this research may surprise you…..

The fashion industry has a continuing love affair with the colour black. Coco Chanel invented the ‘little black dress’ in the 1920s and British women in particular, apparently still believe black is best. In total their wardrobes contain nearly 550 million different black items from buying 17 new black items of clothing and accessories every year! Despite changing fashions we still consider black the most ‘practical’, ‘timeless’ and ‘flattering’ colour around.

When it comes to clothes, research shows that two in fivewomen say that black still dominates their wardrobe. We believe it’s so timeless that a third of us are still wearing our favourite black clothes over five years on and nearly one in ten are bringing out the old favourites ten years after we first purchased them! *

Popular reasons given for buying or wearing black are that it is reliable and goes with everything; it never goes out of fashion, it’s timeless, sophisticated and classic and particularly popular with women is the belief that the colour is slimming.

For many black is considered a comforting colour, we feel safe and protected, but black can make us also appear mysterious and powerful. It can appear as a barrier behind which we are hidden, therefore not necessarily the best choice of colour to wear at social occasion where we want others to engage and interact with us! Black is flattering for the few whose colouring can adapt to it but for many of us it can be a difficult colour to pull off successfully without over-compensating with make-up or looking quite ‘washed out’.

So – time to be adventurous and try ‘colour’! By wearing more colour – particularly reds, yellow, orange and gold hues – you signal to those around you that you are warm and friendly personality, then watch how people gravitate towards you!

* (Additional research carried out on behalf of &MORE black credit card from M&S Money by YouGov)

Look fabulous – enjoy increased confidence and well being!

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