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Most of us think that getting dressed every day Is just something we have to do, just another day, another outfit.

Maybe for some of you, getting dressed is about personal style, or what looks good, or maybe it’s just about putting something on and moving on with your day. But there is a layer underneath all of that ,that most of us are not paying attention to, and that is COLOR. Whether you realize it or not, the colors you choose to wear are shaping how you are perceived every single day.

Color is communication.

Color is one of the most powerful and immediate forms of nonverbal communication, it communicates things like, energy, identity, mood, status, color communicates your culture, before a single word is spoken. Color gives people information about you to interpret, and most of this happens quickly and automatically.

When you start to see your clothing colors as communication, getting dressed will stop being a random act and will start to become intentional because you are choosing what you want your color choices to say.

Colors carry certain associations, not because of rules, but because of patterns in how our brain responds to light, contrast and what we are used to seeing.

Some colors feel stronger. Some feel calmer. Some draw attention while other colors don’t.

Colors don’t just look different, they really do communicate differently.

Navy Blue: Navy Blue is one of the most universally trusted and arguably the #1 power color globally and it’s the most well received color. Blue communicates; competence, trust, calm, & stability. This is why you see it so often in business and professional environments.

Black:

Black is one of the strongest colors you can wear. Black is the ultimate power color in fashion and formal contexts. It communicates authority, control and sophistication, its “armor”, it reveals nothing, and commands everything!

Charcoal Gray: this is the quieter cousin of black. Grey communicates, serious, established, and unshakable and is Universally respected in professional settings.

Red: Red is a statement-it is the color of dominance. It commands power and energy, it communicates confidence, energy and presence and it draws attention immediately. Red is the color you wear when you want to be noticed.

White: white on the other hand is the opposite energy of black. White has a different kind of power- white really isn’t a “power color” in the same way as black, navy blue, red and grey. White communicates clarity, cleanliness, and simplicity.

There are so many colors, but NOT every color is meant to communicate power- and that is actually a good thing- Power isn’t always the goal.

Sometimes the goal is:

*to feel approachable

*to feel relaxed and feel like yourself

* and sometimes the goal is not to intimidate people.

Those stronger, power colors communicate authority and structure.

But softer colors , like brown, beige and other neutral colors communicate something different.

They communicate approachability, grounded, and they communicate a more relaxed feel- they don’t demand attention.

At the end of the day color isn’t about following strict rules, it’s not about getting it right or wrong, it’s about awareness.

Remember Color is a tool- and when you start using it that way- your image doesn’t just look better- it makes more sense- and people respond to that.

Enjoy!

Joanne Demers

The Aging Mask-A Lifestyle Medicine Podcast

(949) 236-1529

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