A pale guys guide to colours

Take it from me, a blond, blue-eyed inhabitant of the far, far north... Being pale can be a pain in the ***, when it comes to finding clothing in suitable colours.

Come summer time, when I'm not hiding cowardly inside or constantly finding myself running for shade, I have to wear multiple layers of sunscreen, long sleeve shirts and trousers, and a wide brim hat where ever I go.

In the winter time I make Count Dracula look like a surfer dude in mid season... And God forbid it will snow, then I'll become completely invisible.

While protecting pale skin from the deadly rays of the mid summer sun, could be a great topic for a later article, in this article I will tackle the equally fatal question – how do you as a pale guy* wear colours without looking sickishly pale.

* Disclaimer: I assume that all the advice given here works for guys 'n gals alike, but I should admit that I am no expert on women's fashion!

If you are like me, tired of people asking if you are ill or need to go home, just because you chose to wear a red sweater, this article is for you. I will go through how you can select colours that make you look your best and avoid appearing sickish.

Get the most out of what you've got

If you have pale skin, there's a good chance you have either blue, green or other lighter coloured eyes. Incorporating those colours in your outfit will make your eyes pop out – well, that sounded wrong, I did NOT mean that literally!

Say you have emerald green eyes, wearing emerald green will make people notice your eyes, which you should use to your advantage! After all, not that many people in world have green eyes, so you are pretty unique – embrace it, you've won the genetic lottery here! (Even if you lost the race when pigmentation was handed out...)

The same is true if you have blue eyes. You can try to match some of the colours in your outfit exactly to your eye colour or just use colours from the same category. Say you have ice blue eyes, you can either get an ice blue shirt or go with a jacket, pants, tie, you name it, in another shade of blue to get the desired effect.

The benefit of this strategy is two fold:

1) Change the focus from your skin to your eyes and no one will notice that you happen to be pale. Who wouldn't want to be perceived as having handsome eyes, rather than skin white as a sheet?

"If you don't like what's being said, change the conversation" – Don Draper

2) Attracting attention to your eyes have the added benefit of improving communication between you and the people you engage with. Be retaining eye contact, people are more likely to pay attention to what you are saying, than if they are distracted by your appearance or bright coloured outfit. So this strategy could actually benefit your career – which is all we're about on this blog!

Know your skin tone

Everyone's skin is different and it is not just about being more or less tanned. The appearance of your skin is a function of your skin colour – light (pale to dark (tanned) – and your skin tone.

Your skin tone i can be warm or cold, and remains the same when you are your palest in the winter to your most tanned in the summer. Equally, you can have a warmer or colder skin tone independently of your skin colour.

The most common way of determining your skin tone is to look at your veins showing through at your wrist. As a pale person, they should be plenty visible, so this test should be fairly easy to carry out.

If your veins have a blue to purple colour, you have a colder skin tone. That is because of the way light is absorbed by the skin tissue, if you want to know more about why your veins appear to be blue when your blood is intact red, have a look here.

If they appear green, you have a warm skin tone. A little knowledge of colour mixing will teach you that combining the blue colours of your veins that shines through your skin with a layer of yellow toned skin on top, your veins will appear to be green.

And finally if you have a hard time determining if your veins are more blue or green, you have a neutral skin tone.

Combining colours with your skin tone

Just as I discussed about matching elements in your outfit to your eye colour, you can do the same with your skin tone. Your skin tone might be easiest to determine at your wrist, but it actually shows throughout your skin, even if subtler so.

If your veins show through as purple, you will maximise the look of your skin and make it look well nourished and healthy by wearing shades of purple in your outfit. This is because you minimise the contrast between your outfit and your skin. Try putting a red and green item next to each other, or a blue and orange, etc. These colours are "complimentary colours" and when put next to each other the make each other appear stronger, a blue bowl seems even more blue with an orange in it.

Warm skin tone

A sunset is the perfect inspiration for warm colour schemes.

If you have a warm skin tone (greenish veins), you cannot go wrong with wearing shades of green, especially shades of olive will suit you very well.

You should consider wearing warm colours like cream, mustard yellow, shades of orange and coral red.

DO NOT WEAR: cold colours like blue, lilac, purple and violet, as these colours will make your skin get an unhealthy yellowish colour and make you look like you've eaten too many carrots or give your skin a reddish glow that will make you look like you are blushing even when you are not.

Cold skin tone

Snowy mountain landscape is the perfect inspiration for cold colour schemes.

With a cold skin tone you will maximise the look of you skin by wearing blues and purples. The baby blue or pale lilac shirt is your best friend, as they frame your face and make your skin appear as lively as possible, because they do not wash out the little skin colour you have.

You have to be careful when selecting red items, but if you go for neutral shades like burgundy, you are pretty safe.

DO NOT WEAR: Pink or yellow, especially not in shirts! These colours will wash out your face and skin and make you look even paler than you already are.

Stay away from strong colours, like bright reds, yellows, oranges, greens, and opt for darker or neutral variants like burgundy, burnt/brownish orange, navy blue and bottle green.

Neutral skin tone

With a neutral skin tone your skin has much less contrast to anything you wear, giving you the possibility to wear much much bolder colours.

With a neutral skin tone you can wear green, blue and red all day! (But please, not together! You'll risk looking like a circus clown!). And don't shy away from wearing white. A white base, such as a solid or patterned white shirt with some brighter coloured accessories is your formula to shine.

Wearing to bold colour combinations will make you stand out, but not necessarily in a good way.

Guidelines for pale skin regardless of skin tone

If you are not blessed with a generous amount of pigment from natures hand, you have to be a bit more cautious in your colour selection. That doesn't mean that you cannot wear colours, as I have outlined above. But wearing very colourful outfits easily take over when your skin is on the lighter side. Therefore I suggest that you invest in basic items in neutral colours such as greys, stone, sand, and browns, to be safe that your outfit doesn't overpower you.

You should also take your "natural contrast" into consideration when putting together outfits. If you have fair skin, blond or lighter coloured hair and lighter coloured eyes, you have a fairly low natural contrast. In this case you want to wear colours of little contrast in your outfit as well, in order to still be the on wearing your outfit, and not let your outfit be wearing you.

If you have a low contrast, like I do, try to stay away from starch contrasts such as black and white, red and green, blue and orange, yellow and purple (i.e. don't sign with the Lakers). And opt for monochromatic outfits, using shades of grey or even different shades of the same colour, like navy and baby blue, pastel green and bottle green, etc.

Nice balance between the contrast of skin/beard and jacket/shirt.

If you have fair skin and dark hair on the other hand, don't be afraid to wear contrast as this will compliment your overall look. If this is the case, black and white is your friend and you probably kills it in a tuxedo.

Conclusion

As you can see, complimenting a pale skin is primarily about choosing the colours that compliment your skin tone. But other great hacks and tricks is to opt for neutral tones and limits strong colours and contrasts. Monochromatic outfits can work great for you, and the right colour selections can actually draw focus away from your skin, as well as making your skin look more lively.

I hope this article was helpful, please leave a comment or share this post if you found it informative or think there is something I left out!