Taking Inspiration From the Joker

The Joker's trademark colors are green and purple. These colors look well together yet many ignore there potential. Whenever I mention it to a friend they laugh or bring up the Joker. I take it in kind and just prove them wrong. Instead of looking like a cartoon character, I channel a dandy of exquisite taste.

Take a gander and analyze why this works:

Waist Coats of Envy.

I just bought this from a thrift store. For some reason, I'm starting to wear green. I still don't think olive green goes well with my skin tone so I avoid it. These other shades seem to work well with me. The mustard waistcoat seems to work well with me. It brings out the brown undertones in my flesh. It almost imitates the effect orange and red have against my face. The darker greens work too. As long as they aren't too close to olive green, they work. The fact that green is a very versatile color works for me as well. Expect to see them in an ensemble soon. I'll try and give you an idea of what these hues of green can be worn with.

Side Note: These buttons look really bad and I plan on changing them to an orangey brown horn ones. Hell! I might even go with a metal button type because this is an odd vest I can do that. We'll have to see.

Dressing With the Color Wheel

We are all familiar with the color wheel yet few of us look to it for guidance. It can definitively give you an answer about what colors to wear and with what. So, this post is all about how I used it today.

Today I used analogous colors, colors that lie next to each other on the wheel. First, let me explain what forced me to use the color wheel. One of the colorful sweaters I received yesterday was a heather dark bluish-green, someone called it peacock although it isn't the color of peacock feathers. Well, what do you wear with it? I had an idea that green and blue look good together but, what else? What tie should I wear? I just didn't know what to wear.

I referred to the color wheel. Now, I drew a line bisecting the wheel; one side is purple all the way to bright green and the other half is yellow to a purplish-red. Since, I dislike yellow most of the time, I ignored the yellow side. Since, I'm focusing on the purple and green side I started to play around with the colors. Since I have a dark green I know, I have to use bright or lighter colors. So what I did was I said I'll try a purple and a light blue. I put on a blue shirt and immediately moved on to the tie. It didn't look good wearing a solid purple tie; my plumb and bright colored purple both looked strange. Next I thought how about a geometric using a purple as a significant color. This approach worked much better because I landed on the tie I decided to wear. It is a checked pattern with a dark purple, a bright purple, a light blue, and a navy repeating check.

Using my methodology wont guarantee success. Like I did, you have to play around with it. You also need to use the basic skills you learned about dressing, such as contrast, scale, and the rules. Also you'll never have the exact colors you have on the wheel. This is neither desirable nor a disadvantage. It just means you have to use your imagination and slant the colors to fit what you have in your closet. Now you have no reason you can't wear something that is a hard color to coordinate with. Seriously it isn't very hard to do.

Good Luck!!!

Colorful Sweaters

As you layer for winter warmth consider brightening up your appearance with a colorful sweater.

Throw on a mid-weight one underneath a casual suit or an odd coat. Either way you can't go wrong. I recently ordered these after the after christmas sales. Lets just say they were the last pickings and because of it I got them dirt cheap.

These were purchased for two reasons:

1. I can layer with them for winter
2. I can wear them on their own for Spring and Fall

Always purchase 1 to two seasons ahead. You can get incredible deals this way and it gives you time to consider how to put it all together.

I plan on wearing these sweaters with my usual blue striped shirts. The greenish one will look particularly well with a purple checked shirt I haven't worn in awhile.

How to wear it? You're on your own for this one! Try out different combinations and try something you like. For a last resort use a color wheel triad, at least I think that is what its called it has been awhile since high school art classes. Make an equilateral triangle and the three points touch will touch three colors that look great together. The brightest color should be your sweater and the next one your tie.