COLOR THEORY IN STYLE: HUE VALUE AND SATURATION
Welcome to color theory in style wear I go all geek mode and teach you all about color theory using colors in my outfits!
Today, we are covering some basic terms to help you understand more about how color theory works, and how you can apply it to your style.
HUE
At it's base, hue is color.
More specifically it is the characteristic that allows us to identify and classify a color group, like red, yellow or blue.
Let's take the color of my sweater:
The characteristics of the color helps us to categorize it as purple (although some might even say pink!)
SATURATION
Saturation is the level of intensity of a color. When looking at a photoshop color picker, the colors on the right are the most intense and saturated while the colors on the left are the least intense.
Here is the pure form of the hue:
VALUE
Value is the relative lightness or darkness of any given color. Saturation and value should not be confused.
This color scale are all at 100% saturation (intense color) but become deeper in value. With that in mind, we could say that the color of my sweater is slightly desaturated or toned.
Here are the same colors with the same value desaturated as 50%.
This color palette could be described as tonal colors as well. (Tone is a color + gray)
Now let's talk a little about how much value and saturation can change a color. The first thing I will ask is what color are my pants?
You will probably say "olive green" and I am totally inclined to agree with you!
What if I told you that this color is the hue of my pants?
Surprising right?
I was surprised myself when I calculated the colors complement (opposite on the color wheel) and it was a blue gray!
When you change the value and desaturate the color significantly, this is what you get.
Still don't believe me?
I bet you are realizing that the color is a little closer to a brown than green right now.
APPLYING HUE, SATURATION AND VALUE TO STYLE
When it comes to style, you can utilize these three elements to achieve different effects. For example, if I wanted a more powerful look, I could pair the same sweater with a bottom of similar color and saturation. Since the sweater is moderately intense, it would make the look stronger and much more commanding.
I could tone down the entire look by adding a gray or brown blazer. If I changed the shirt to something closer to my skin tone, the look would be more demure and unassuming.
Understanding the nature of color will help you to build more dynamic and intentional looks. You will be able to achieve the effect
Now I hope I've convinced you to be just as nerdy as I am when it comes to color theory. If I have, sign up to get notified about the color theory posts!
