Coordinating colours in style
Fashion
By Meena Gujaral

AFTER a somewhat mild winter, a long hot summer and a dreadfully wet monsoon, designers are getting ready for adding some colour in their collections. The autumnal festivities mark the end of the annual cycle of fashion seasons with a good deal of vibrancy getting into Indian styling.

As designer Lina Tipnis puts it: "I think the single most important factor that attracts a customer to an outfit is colour. Colour is very important, important enough to override all other aspects of design."

Agrees nahid Merchant, who is extremely choosy about colour options. "When I design, I think colour, texture, form and line — in that order. The shade has to be just right. Half-way houses do not work with me."

Unlike the West where designers decide on colours that would dominate a season a year ahead and work towards it, in India the priorities are based on popularity and preferences. Colour predictions for seasons, if any, are thoroughly unreliable.

"You have to empathise with you clients," advises Suman Sriavstava, a merchandising manager. "Earlier whites and pastels dominated the summer horizon for a single buy. This year we discovered that florals and paisleys were also moving."

From September onwards, down to February, dark shades make an appearance. "I think people turn more experimentative during the festivities and party season," observes Tipnis. "Though black plays a vital role, it’s more in western clothes."

There’s also a profusion of techno and abstract prints in psychedelic colours and single tone shades like deep grey, vermillion red, cobalt blue and verdant green in western wear. In ethnic wear, there’s a predominance of earth tones as well as reds, oranges and magentas.

Winters are also when there’s colour on the face. "Try reds and deep maroons," advises Marisa Goel, a beautician. "It livens up your face and it’s strange, but you actually feel better. Besides, these are the shades that match with the dominant colours of the season’s outfits."

Tipnis’ all-time favourite is beige. "It’s an evergreen classic, not seasonal and works on all skin tones." Merchant favours earth tones but "works with all the colours in the palette" while Srivastava chooses prints, particularly florals.

Then there are stylists like Kiran Sheikh who emphasise that it is important for the wearer to discover his/her colour and stick to it. "Are you a red person, a pink person, a blue-green person or other colours person?" she asks.

"Generally, if a colour suits you, chances are that all its shades will suit you. Follow the basics, know the primaries from the secondaries. If all fails, play it safe and wear nectrals that can never clash. Sone people were beiges and whites all the time because it saves so much bother!"

Confusion could, however, arise in matching lipstick with nail polish. Here, the rules are simple: avoid complementary colours and shades within the same family. Pink lipstick never works with red nail polish and vice-versa.

"Be aware that red has several undertones to it," says Sheikh. "A red with blue undertone is quite different from one with yellow undertone. A brown lipstick or brown shoes will not go with everything. Wear pink lipstick shades with bluegreen tones and brown with yellow, oranges and reds, Black goes with everything."

However, getting to specifics, stay with the classics. The reds in lipstick are getting warmer with shades of maroon. The browns encompass a whole gamut of earth colours by way of pine, teak, cedar and twig.

Pink is the celebratory colour in lipstick. When you think pink, remember champagne, fruit punch, raspberry, sorbet and scarlet that merges into maroon. For a romantic evening out, go for gold, or stay with the mauves, which span a range from lilac to grape.

For the base, sheer is in when it comes to foundations. The geisha-like off-white look with cream colours is out. And as for nail enamel, the colour purple inspired by the aubergine is considered cool. So is electric blue, besides a range of metallic pinks and sedate browns.

Cool, apparently, even reflects on to jewellery. As designer Poonam Soni advises: "Now is the time when white gold, matter yellow gold and silver are making comeback. You should stick to light jewellery and you won’t go wrong."

If you are wearing stones, try pale jades, tourmalines in baby green or baby pink, lilac rubies and, of course, pearls. "On special ceremonial occasions, it would be broad jewellery instead of thin chains," she qualifies. "Try sparkling yellow gold." (MF)