To Pink or Not to Pink?

May I be brutally honest for a minute? I always groan inwardly when a poor bridesmaid comes to me for alterations on a pink dress. Even in the movies, where they have the best make-up artists and the best costume designers, etc., a pink dress has never looked fabulous on any bridesmaid–whether it was in 27 Dresses,Bridesmaids, or Steel Magnolias, with bride Shelby and her two shades of pink, “blush” and “bashful.” (Boy, I just dated myself. Lol!)

Please, don’t get me wrong. I do love the color pink. It just has a bigger tendency to look “muddy” against the skin since it washes out the wearer, which is probably why I have not seen anyone yet that looks good in any shade of pink that a bride has picked.  I am glad, however, that brides have followed the trend of letting their bridesmaids pick the style that best suits their figures in recent years. That at least makes wearing this required dress a bit more palatable. Still, their color shade choices sometimes leave a great deal to be desired, so about the only thing that a bridesmaid can do if she likes the style of dress is dye the dress black afterwards.

To address this, let’s talk about color theory for a minute. If you line up a random bunch of people from lightest skin shade to darkest, you will notice that the undertone of each skin color is different. Some people, like myself, have a blue undertone to their skin. These folks are classified as either “Summer” or “Winter.” In other words, they look good in colors with a very strong blue undertone. “Winters“ are the easiest to identify because they look absolutely fabulous in jewel tones. The other set of folks have a yellow undertone to their skin. These people look good in fall or warm colors; hence, their classification is either “Spring” or “Autumn.”

So, what’s a bride to do? Well…aside from hiring a color theorist to line all your bridesmaids up and figure things out, you can do one simple test. You will need two fabric swatches, one orange and one royal blue. When you hold each fabric just under the chin of your bridesmaid, you will find that one of those colors will make her skin glow. If the orange makes her glow, then she has yellow undertones in her skin, and if the blue makes her glow, then she has blue undertones in her skin. If you luck out and everybody is one type, fantastic! That makes your job of choosing a color and a shade easier. If you have a mix, like most people do, then you should consider looking at neutral shades if you want your bridesmaids to be able to wear the dress again–or, at a minimum, not to look like they’re ghost extras in a bad horror movie.

By now, you might be wondering what my favorite choices are. Most of the dresses that have come through my studio that looked good–or, at a minimum, decent–on the bridesmaids are navy, darker shades of green, red (believe it or not), burgundy, and taupe. If you still have your heart set on pink, however, please use the color guide link I’ve included below. 

Your friends love you enough to be part of your special day. Love them back by choosing a color and shade that compliments them.

Check this blog out for a very easy to understand detailed explanation as well as color samples: https://www.simplifiedwardrobe.com/blog/how-to-do-a-color-self-analysis

Until next time dear reader!

Heather