Red “Tit-bits”!

A survey by dating website OkCupid found that women who wear red in their online dating profile photos are more likely to get messages and dates than those wearing any other colour. Careful though as lead author Dr Fangfang Wen wrote in a study, published in the journal, Evolutionary Psychology. that by choosing red, women are reflecting their sexual intentions ‘from the beginning’!

Psychologists at Central China Normal University, in Wuhan, China, showed 280 heterosexual students 32 pictures of the opposite sex and asked them to rate them according to how attractive they found them. These photos showed people wearing either blue, white or red. Male students found ‘feminine’ women wearing red the most attractive and also rated them highest for looking ‘warm’ and competent. ‘The colour red was shown to have a boosting effect on the sexual attractiveness of women with feminine facial traits,’ claims Dr Fangfang Wen

Scientists from the University of British Columbia in Canada, last year, claimed that women tend to wear red or pink when they are ovulating – the time of the month that they are at their most fertile – in a bid to attract a mate.

We know that red is synonymous with romance, passion, lust and fertility across nearly every long-standing civilisation, with males perceiving that they have a higher sexual opportunity when females adorn themselves in red! Other studies back this belief that red clothing also has a ‘marginally significant effect on men’s sexual attractiveness’. This may be because red can indicate higher status in some vertebrates and females evolve to prefer males that are high in status to provide for their babies. In addition, men are more attracted to women wearing red compared to other colours because they believe they are less likely to be rejected.

The Canadian research team claim that the colour red carries subtle but powerful messages about how receptive a woman might be to romantic advances and so men find it more alluring. Could this explain why women in red dresses have become such a provocative image in modern culture?.

When men were shown photographs of women wearing a red shirt they found them more attractive compared to when they saw the same women wearing green or white garments.

Another study, which tested 96 men from the United States and Austria, also found that the men felt the women would respond positively to their advances. Echoing Desmond Morris' belief, Adam Pazda, a social psychologist at the University of Rochester, in New York state, who led the research along with colleagues at the University of Innsbruck, said the response may be hangover from humans' evolutionary past, as animals such as female baboons display patches of bright red skin to indicate they are ready to mate.

He said: "We find it fascinating that merely changing the colour of a woman's shirt can have such a strong influence on how she is perceived by men.

"It is possible that women actually wear red clothing more when they are interested in sexual encounters. We are currently investigating this possibility, and preliminary evidence suggests that this is indeed happening."

It would appear that whether the studies have been carried out in Asia, Europe or the U.S.A., there is a resounding similarity throughout various studies, that men perceive women in red to be both attractive and more receptive!

Red is therefore a powerful communicator and it probably will benefit you to understand how to use it in the judicious way that you would choose!

A SEASON OF COLOURFUL EQUILIBRIUM

According to Leatrice Eiseman of Pantone, designers are taking a modern twist on the traditional for spring 2014 by pairing soft pastels with vivid brights to create a colourful equilibrium. Inspired by a mixture of blooming flowers, travels abroad, and strong, confident women, designers are using colour to refresh, revive and defy conventional wisdom.

So, whether you make a statement wearing a head-to-toe colour, or bring different shades together, you'll be bang on trend. Having experienced the wettest winter in recent history, I think most people are feeling a bit blue at the moment! While Leatrice states that “This season, consumers are looking for a state of thoughtful, emotional and artistic equilibrium," the UK consumer probably needs a little bit of warming up! Luckily Spring’s palette includes freesia (yellow), celosia orange and cayenne (a soft red) which all work perfectly with blue.

You can choose from Placid Blue, Violet tulip to Dazzling Blue and make this your wardrobe staple. The more vibrant versions, as always, belong best to the Cools, Clears and Deeps but Warms, Softs and Lights will wear their blues in lighter and softer versions, the placid versions.

Add your warm tonalities of Fusion Coral, Azalea Pink, Pink Carnation and Sachet Pink and add a dash of sunny lime for good measure! Azalea pink evokes drama and glamour and is best suited to Cool colourings or Deep or Clear colourings with cool skin tones. Blush pink in a key piece or top-to-toe can be a statement look too. It is a great shade on all colouring (aka a universal colour!). The delicate pastel sachet pinks are made for the Lights but can be mixed with bolder pinks for those that can. A pastel pink in shiny fabric will turn a simple garment into something more special. Warms should go for more corally shades of pink (fusion coral) or head for or celosia orange! Peach Whip and Flamingo are also the delicious names of colours being bandied around... I am thinking of fun and sunshine for a change!

Radiant Orchid has been hailed the colour of the season and this sits somewhere between violet and pink so perfect for most colour types!

Are you ready for some sunshine? Then say hello to Yellow! It's a sunny, feel-good colour but you need to get just the right shade for you and have the confidence to wear it. Choose from the vibrant freesia or head towards precious amber for a richer tone. You can add this to pattern or go quite bold, but remember you will be seen, so choose your most flattering version.

And finally Spring wouldn’t be Spring without those lovely shades of green which remind us of everything fresh and full of life, saying that Hemlock is a fashion shade!

When I am old...

Whatever your age, it is essential that you take your personality and lifestyle into account. On the whole, as we get older, we need a bit more or slightly weightier fabric, to help camouflage the lumps and bumps that tend to come from nowhere, and we are better to incorporate trends, rather than do the whole look from top to toe!

I always think it is worthwhile considering the elements of clothing that you enjoyed wearing in the past. For example, I preferred the seventies more hippy styles with crochet, wild colour and wacky patterns. So, to my reckoning if your personality and shape hasn't changed that much, then the probability is that much of this fashion will still work. Just make sure that you aware of how the original fashion may have been a bit revamped. A good trick can be to look at how the youngsters are doing it, then remove at least one of the pieces. Most importantly your make-up should be bang up to date so that you don't look stuck in a time warp.

When I am “Personal Shopping” or “ Wardrobe Weeding” what often comes up is the concern that ladies have of looking the same and not having enough variety in their repetoire. For sure you don't need ten pairs of black trousers, but remember that we do wake up and look the same! I have waited for the day when I wake up blonde and slim, but it hasn't happened yet! Therefore, it pays to understand what your assets really are and go with them! Classic has never done it for me, so why bother? If you are a girl, then be a girl! If you are sporty, you will probably find that high heel boots will work better than shoes. So you can alter your look, but always maintain what feels best.

Play up your best features in tops and bottoms that hug your curves in all the right places and camouflage the ones you don't like as much. With age our waistline tends to disappear a bit more, so it can be more important to find ways of creating the illusion of a waistline rather than opting for blazer styles, a shaped jacket will be more flattering.

Cover up unsightly flesh, but don't hide what may be your best asset, such as shapely legs or firm arms. Some older ladies are firmer and fitter than their younger counterparts! Invest in a few quality pieces that will run and run so make sure you really love these and play with a variety of accessories and - finally but essentially, spend money on lovely undergarments because these are more key than many ladies realise to making your wardrobe both flattering and stylish – hippy and braless will not work second time round!

My theory is that looking like mutton dressed as lamb is more exciting that mutton looking like mutton, where's the challenge and excitement in that??

isme

phase eight

Shades of purple should feature in all wardrobes, you don't need to be any particular age, but if you still fee sure you are past trying...read on!!

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other peoples' gardens
And learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickles for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

by Jenny Joseph

A red hat that will suit from Holly Young Hats! 

www.princeshousecornwall