MALE CALL

Tagging matching combos eases plight of colorblind

— Q. I have trouble with colors. I’m not sure if I am partly colorblind or if my color judgment is not great. When I match up a tie with one of the colors in my tweed jacket, my girlfriend says they don’t go together. Do you have any rules that will help?

A. There are a couple of possibilities. One is that you may indeed be the one in every 11 men who is genetically “colorblind.” If your ability to differentiate between shades is less acute than it could be, you may find it next to impossible to select the tones and shades necessary for exact harmony. Here is a tested, foolproof solution for colorblind people.

Ask a friend who has good taste to spend an hour or so with you, going through your collection of suits, sport coats, shirts, ties and socks. Arrange them into color families or into compatible combinations. On the label of each piece, use an indelible marker to identify its set by number. For example, all shirts and ties that coordinate with gray suit No. 3 would be marked “No. 3.”

An easy trick that works with socks: Buy all your black ones from one manufacturer and all your blue ones from another, choosing brands that have some clearly identifiable stitching on the toe.

Since so many men are colorblind, it makes no sense to be embarrassed or hide the fact from the salesman when shopping for clothes. He sees people who are colorblind every day. Learn to ask for help. Ask him, for example, to show you a blue shirt that has no hint of green or purple in it. (That can be helpful even if you are not colorblind.)

On the other hand, even people who can differentiate colors may not be skilled at matching them. Here are a few general color-coordinating hints.

A common mistake that men and women make when trying to match or coordinate colors is to examine a tweed jacket or a small-patterned tie too closely, trying to determine exactly which colors are in the fabric. This is a mistake.

Instead, the right approach is to step back, at the very least, an arm’s length away or, better yet, several feet away, and look at the garment from a slight distance. What color does your eye see? You will not see every one of the actual colors that you find when examining it up close. Often what you see in the tweed or in the tie’s pattern is the effect of the colors blending with each other. Sometimes the color you see will surprise you.

As an example: a black and white tweed jacket looks gray from a short distance; that’s not much of a surprise. But a blue-and-red patterned tie from a distance will assume a faint purple cast; a red-and yellow patterned tie looks orangey-red from several feet away. The first of these two ties goes with blue or gray, and looks terrific with a light blue or pink shirt. The second tie would look terrible with a pink shirt, but would be perfect with a khaki, tan or olive suit and a white, soft yellow or ivory-colored shirt.

Isn’t it odd that a classic blue-and-red tie that gives a cast of purple works wonderfully for every dresser, even the most conservative, while a real purple tie sends a different message? Years ago it would have marked you as an avant-garde, even funky, dresser. Today, a purple tie marks you as a fashion-aware guy who knows what is current.

Note: These color guidelines are not limited to dressing in a suit, shirt and tie. They apply equally well to casual weekend dressing in sweaters, knit shirts, khakis and jeans. Since color is free, there is no less expensive or easier way to project that you are a style-aware guy than to wear clothes that are handsomely color coordinated. It is a skill worth perfecting.

Send questions for Male Call to:

lois.fenton@prodigy.net

High Profile, Pages 46 on 07/29/2012

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