There is much
excitement in the Perkins' household because we’re flying north to see if we can
find the big man himself, you know, the one who wears the red suit. Great debate has reigned as to whether the one
at the school Advent fair was real or not – apparently if there is no sleigh,
he’s not the real one – the one we saw the following day in the market square, celebrating
the turning on of the Christmas lights, was real, proven by the presence of his
sleigh (and a wonderful explanation for why the reindeer wasn’t real)!
Debate rages in
other circles regarding the red suit yet, debate aside, there is no doubt the imagery is so powerful, we would
probably struggle to convince anyone that he was anything if not dressed in the
familiar red suit with fur trim. Try green for example!
Red is probably
one of the most emotive colours, having many associations with danger and
warnings (stop signs), fire/heat, violence, ripeness (fruit) and
blood. It is said to be the colour of energy and drive, with dark red implying success achieved. When working with my son recently he was very
clear that while yellow is a happy colour, red relates to anger – he must feel
this at some instinctive level.
In researching
this blog the power of red is obvious, arguably, the most powerful.
·
Seeing Red - becoming angry, losing self-control
·
Red Rag to a Bull – deliberate provocation sure to bring an adverse reaction
·
Red Herring – a distraction from the real issue
·
In the Red - in debt
o
Prostitute
or
o
Symbol
of Pagan Rome
And my
favourite, because it reminds me of my childhood and the Cornish skylines:
·
Red Sky at Night – an indication of the weather.
It is a colour
associated with passion and confidence so wear it with pride but equally be
aware that some will see it as an angry colour.
A conversation
with a bank manager recently related to her early years’ training and a
recommendation to avoid wearing red because it is an angry colour. With ‘anger’ being the energy in Eastern
philosophy which drives a snowdrop up through the frozen ground, I think
passionate would interchange well here.
Maybe with the stiff upper lip synonymous with the British culture,
we need to keep a lid on ‘passion’ as much as anger lest we can’t handle it!
Having spent 12
years demonstrating how amazing the right red lipstick for you looks in
spite of fears and opinions, it was really refreshing to see two women at a recent function proudly and confidently wearing strong red lipstick. It also reminded me of the L’Oreal campaign earlier
this Autumn.
Reds in the
House of Colour range are fabulous - use the
table below to identify from your skin tone which are your best colours:
|
Ideal
Reds
|
|
|
Spring
(warm & clear)
|
Poppy /
Geranium
|
|
Summer
(cool & soft)
|
Cherry / Coral Red
|
|
Autumn
(warm & soft)
|
Brick / Geranium
|
|
Winter
(cool & clear)
|
Burgundy / Carmine / Scarlet
|
Great Reds for your Season
|
Soft
|
Clear
|
Warm
|
Autumn
– L12, L606
|
Spring
– L12, L55, L606
|
Cool
|
Summer
- L28, L50, L307
|
Winter
– L27, L28, L50, L55, L302, L307, L499, L512, L673
|
As the colour
at the centre of the colour wheel, the most adaptable of all colours and the
first colour the eye sees, resulting in it being the colour of ‘sale’ signs to
attract spending customers in a retail environment; in the words of Bill Blass,
'When
in doubt, wear red.'
