Reason to wear certain colours...

[long_hand]

Most of us where certain tartans for family reasons, but aside from looking good, does anyone wear certain colours for significant reasons? I want a Loud Mcleod because all of my favourite sports teams colours are black and yellow(or gold). I currently wear the heck out of my Nightstalker SWK because before my first pond traveling ancestor came over, several of the families in my line were given a shield of black with silver pile on it, hence the black and grey of the SWK. I know, maybe its a bit odd...anyone odd with me?

~LH

[Bugbear]

I wear pastel colors and brown, greens, blues, and grey because all my life I have recieved comments like, "Don't stand next to me, your shirt is too yellow," or with anything orange, "going hunting today?" and I realized, eventually, those colors don't look so good on me no matter how much I like the colors.

Believe me, though, I picked the nicest of the comments I have heard to post.

[Fit2BKilted]

I tend to favour the colour Blue. And, the older I get the more I'm getting into earth-tones (browns & umbers).

[Tobus]

I tend to favour the colour Blue. And, the older I get the more I'm getting into earth-tones (browns & umbers).

Me too. I've never been able to wear "loud" colors or even bright colors. I strongly prefer subdued earth-tones, mainly greens and browns, but I'm also partial to the deeper shades of blue.

I suppose that puts me in the Fall color palette, and it's surprising how accurate ForresterModern's description is. I'd never heard of the seasonal color palettes until now, but apparently I fit right into one of them, and always have, without ever realizing it.

[ForresterModern]

One school of fashion holds that each person has a color palate named after a season--winter, spring, sumer and fall--and that one looks best wearing predominantly colors from that palate, but can also wear some colors from neghboring seasons, usually as accents to their primary color scheme. Winter--stark white, cream, grey, black, navy blue, etc.. , in solids and strong simple patterns like heringbone and houndstooth. Spring---mostly bright pastel colors, think easter eggs, and similar patterns like colorful checks, argylls, andsersucker. Summer---bold reds, royal blues, yellows, oranges, bright white, typically solids or florals or nautical patterns. Fall---olives, browns and tans, maroon, greys and blacks, in solids or patterns like paisley and fabrics like corduroy. Not hard and fast rules but generalizations. Most folks can wear colors from other seasons but tend to look best in their own season, or predominantly their season with some accent from a neighboring season.

Tartan adds a new factor to the mix as most are relatively strongly colored, although with the various colorsets (modern, ancient, muted, weathered) and different clan setts (hunting, etc..) most folks can find one within thier palate. Or wear the tartan of choice but accessorize it with things that fit their palate.

I am a winter, and definitely look best in that color palate, but can venture out a bit into other seasons. Tartan has allowed me to spread my palate to include some more spring, fall, and even summer tones into my wardrobe, as they look best with the tartans I have chosen to wear for the various reasons we all chose our own tartans. So I think kiltwearing has helped me spread my color palate significantl, and in a good way.

[Bugbear]

ForresterModern said it, not me.

And looking at the OP again, perhaps we are talking about the meaning of colors when being worn. I think there is something to that, but I don't think there are universal meanings to colors; other than some foods and colors often go together. Where one culture or sub-culture may find a certain meaning in a color of shirt or hat, another group may have a different meaning for the same shirt or hat. It's difficult to generalize.

[Rex_Tremende]

Here are some mnemonics to help remember the difference between the roof of one's mouth (or a taste for something) and a painter's color-mixing board.

Palate - I ate late last night.

Palette - a set of colors.

Regards,
Rex.

[ForresterModern]

Here are some mnemonics to help remember the difference between the roof of one's mouth (or a taste for something) and a painter's color-mixing board.

Palate - I ate late last night.

Palette - a set of colors.

Regards,
Rex.

Thanks Rex, you caught me using my medical terms outside of medicine. YOu are correct in using the term palette.

But then look at the posts so far----Matt seems like a fall, McNulty a fall, Ted a fall, MacMath likely a winter but might be a summer, and I think you Rex are likely either a spring (from your choice of colors in another post about color matching) or a summer.

Take a look at your closets and the clothes you wear each day, and the clothes YOU LIKE to wear, colors that make you feel comfortable and good about yourself. That is your "palette". Once you find it it actually makes clothing choices easier when you go shopping becasue you can start to see yourself in certain pieces of clothing and in combining your colors.

But like I said, tartan, depending on your choice (and the reasons for your choice) may or may not follow your seasonal palette. For instance I am stuck with Forrester Modern as basically my only family tartan choice, and it is a spring/summer color palette, making it a bit tougher for me to wear than a nice Black Isle or my Muted MacDonald of Glencoe. But my palette spreads when i wear the Forrester, Forrester Hunting, Ancient MacDonald, IoS, Weathered and Ancient Douglas, and my soon returning Maple Leaf---which are all spring, summer or fall color temperature tartans.

[The Guy in the Kilt at UC]

Here are some mnemonics to help remember the difference between the roof of one's mouth (or a taste for something) and a painter's color-mixing board.

Palate - I ate late last night.

Palette - a set of colors.

Regards,
Rex.

Ha. How fun. I need to remember this one.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I've always been a fan of greens, and lately I've developed a real preference for loden green. Reason one is I find that color aesthetically pleasing. Reason two is that it seems to go quite well with most of the kilts I own, which makes shirts, sweaters, hose, etc., in that color easily fit into my Highland wardrobe.

I've also recently developed an affinity for brown. Whenever I wear it I am reminded of my mother who is a Lay Carmelite (brown is their color).