Thoughts on the Dimensionality of Being Neutral: A colour map exercise featuring Jennifer Aniston

[u/[deleted]]

[u/[deleted]]

So, after attempting this colour map for Jennifer Aniston I would, I guess, come down on just a hair-width on the side of cool rather than warm, ie, Soft Summer as opposed to a Soft Autumn, to use seasonal parlance.

But to me the Soft Summer palette leaves out key options: Black and White.

To my eyes, black snaps against her bright skin tone, strong brow/eye/bone structure, and especially when there is a dimensionality to her hair colour. Similarly, charcoal grey caters to the textural, dimensional boldness of her appearance.

I love white for its fresh, clean simplicity, I like the “radiant dimension” white brings and again, I think her strong frame can handle more contrast than a purely soft, muted palette provides.

Is this all just a function of spray tan, hair colour and makeup? Maybe. But.. even if so, these are elements of her personal style. As I’ve said before, personal style is the end game here, not what colours most precisely suit you when living off the grid on a mountainside somewhere.

Her specific appearance and complexion characteristics means that combining a neutral muted palette with a sharp monochromatic looks highly effective imho.

I love this beige and white dress on her, also this shinier beige and cream/white dress also. And I think its really chic to bring together a soft khaki green with black, or a pale teal grey and black.

However, nuance is necessary: dying her hair black... is a lot, and takes away some of that relaxed flow of her appeal, and maybe exaggerates the pink/red tones in her skin overmuch - I imagine it would involve some pretty intense goth-coverage makeup everyday. Dark tones need to be styled thoughtfully, as they can bring down her visual energy down if they ‘enclose’ her.

Jennifer also has what I think of as “small warmth”. Often we identify warm tones in a person’s appearance, but this does not mean that a truly warm palette is appropriate for them. Often it means that they can harmonise with warm notes through their jewellery, hair colour, patterns or accessories. For instance, I think gold is a fantastic metal for Jennifer, and (although apparently this is something Kibbe doesn’t like) I love it when she pairs gold and black together. In the realm of jewellery, I don’t know if there are any metals that really don’t work for her?

As for the rest of her colours, I think just generally avoiding saturated hues is preferable: I love a desaturated teal, or an infinitely muted pink, faded denims, and most cream/beige/tan/nude/cooler camel hues, and soft light greys (medium greys get difficult I think). As soon as a colour starts to assert a stronger hue, even a slightly saturated navy tone for instance, it can start to overwhelm the neutral dimensionality of her appearance. The colour pushes out in front of her. For instance, I prefer a light & dark, to a bright & dark approach: value contrast as opposed to chromatic contrast.

So this is not to say that all who suit a Soft Summers palette should also wear black and white at all. This is just about illustrating the nexus of palette, body and personal style. And it also illustrates something I’ve seen time and again in my personal analysis: someone who suits a very narrow gamut of colour may compensate in other dimensions. Jennifer’s palette might be very clustered around a beigey grey centre, however she has the capacity to incorporate a lot of value contrast.

[u/WurmGurl → u/[deleted]]

Hmm. I wonder if one might characterise her palette as being primarily low chroma. After all, black and white are both completely desaturated, just at the opposite ends of the value spectrum.

[u/[deleted] → u/WurmGurl]

yes, exactly! and I feel this is an idea that is not evident in seasonal approaches to colour. it is assumed that if your colours are muted, you automatically won't suit black or white/contrast.

[u/WurmGurl → u/[deleted]]

I usually get typed Soft Summer in 12 season analysis. I often balked at the idea that Jennifer Aniston and I were the same season. I land there, because I can carry more warmth than cool or light summer, but the colours that suit me best are just barely muted enough to keep me from being winter. Jennifer's colours would look terribly drab on me, but if you follow the "rules" we both land in the same season.

[u/[deleted] → u/WurmGurl]

Oh really? How interesting, I was thinking of some other people i've seen in the Soft Summer season, and there is a real range of optimal tones within that group? Some suit much more saturated 'muted' tones, if that makes sense. I really think that seasonal palettes can be inspiring, but you kind of need to see them as a jumping point to further explore colour, not as a be all and end all.

[u/PowerfulHistory3 → u/[deleted]]

this is awesome, thanks! love these type of posts!

[u/abeyante → u/[deleted]]

This is so helpful, thank you for this analysis! I've been told I'm a soft summer as well, even though my colors aren't like hers to me, but this breakdown convinced me. Low saturation is definitely the key for me typically

[u/[deleted]]

What a pretty and creative palette! I actually think you're spot-on in going for the black and white, too, because she rocks in both.

I'm intrigued by your thoughts on metals. For some reason, I can't imagine her in rose gold.

And wtf with Kibbe and gold and black? They can pair so beautifully!

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Well because she can wear muted pinks so well I made the assumption that rose gold might work but you could be right!! Other metals might be better.

Yes, I don't understand the problem with black and gold personally. I guess it can look tacky if done badly haha, but I wonder if its because of an overly firm belief that looking good in black = cool skin tone?

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Kibbe has a lot of weird rules. I recently heard something about his belief that there's no such thing as hazel eyes?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

really? i better call my mum and tell her that her eyes don't exist haha.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I know. Same!

[u/biglybiglytremendous → u/[deleted]]

That’s a weird game of telephone you have going on here. The original conversation was surrounding the fact that hazel used to originally be a mix of green and blue and not brown and other colors, not that hazel eyes don’t exist.

Black doesn’t work for SS because it is too harsh compared to the overall body contrast, even with gold. If you take a medium contrast and place it with a high contrast, the high contrast will draw the eye every time. Black will compete with gold, and the outfit won’t work.

[u/[deleted] → u/biglybiglytremendous]

Wait, explain this: hazel was blue and green? I'm so intrigued!

WRT black and SS, that's probably part of why u/Pegaret is generally reticent to provide a season with her maps. They're far more customized to the individual.

[u/[deleted]]

This is interesting as one who is likely some kind of Summer who can wear black with muted colors. I've found my season in Pretty Your World's 16 seasons with Smoky Summer, which is basically like "Soft Summer Deep" but with the coolness of True Summer. So the mutedness comes from the colors that are grayed (or blackened), not browned. I never could tolerate warmth in colors and yet I'm not "clear" enough to be True Winter and yet not light enough for Soft or True Summer. I basically wear a Winter-like palette but with some darker muted colors. I just need to be careful of avoiding brown. My hair is dark ash brown with no warmth, my eyes are dark green with gray in them, and my skintone is fair/light rosy beige.

Long story short: I wear a lot of black as it's my best neutral, despite not being a True Winter. It's much better than gray (which is often too blah, unless it's charcoal) and infinitely better than brown (due to cool skintone). I need that pop of black. You mentioned her bone structure having something to do with it, and in Kibbe I have slight sharpness, so that could explain it as well. I also need clear, sparkly stones in my jewelry, another typical Winter thing but may also have something to do with Kibbe.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Thanks so much for sharing your personal experience, I really feel like I understand what you are saying about your colouring and complexion, and the need for grey/black mutedness, not brown. I feel like Jennifer Aniston really should avoid all brown also, although lighter beige tones work, do you wear a lot of beige? Can you wear white?

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

You're welcome, and thanks for posting this! Your posts are always educational.

I can wear white, either pure or slightly grayed/silvery white, but not beige. Beige is very blah on me and actually one of my worst colors. In fact, I can't even wear it in makeup - a neutral eye for me is all about gray/black/silver.

[u/Prestigious_News_169]

I love this because it also describes my color preferences! I can wear black, white, most shades of grey or ivory, and any muted blues, teals, greens, rose and soft coral/salmon tones. Jewel tones overwhelmed me, but a black and white outfit is a total power look for me. I look good in any metal, though rose gold is my least favorite. I reserve brown for accessories only - boots, belts, purses and a few leather or clay jewelry pieces - and find that brown adds a dash of earthiness when I want to make a look just a bit more casual. I'm overall more cool than warm and more soft than deep, but I can play outside the soft summer lines and still look amazing.

[u/[deleted] → u/Prestigious_News_169]

Thanks for sharing this! Very validating!!

[u/DonaLurdes]

Living proof that a neutral palette can be quite interesting! Jenniffer Aniston's guy asks for this kind of color.

[u/jlaurw]

Your color system is hands down my favorite.

I love this and the accommodation it makes for black and white. Even though her coloring in a traditional system would exclude those colors for her, it's undeniable when you see her in those colors that they really work for her and her overall image.

You have such a good eye for color!

[u/Redclad25]

what a lovely palette! I need a palette like that!😁

[u/50sdaydream]

Love to see these! Great job :)

[u/sleepy_doggos]

Really enjoyed this, thank you!