Oh well, all these days, nay years, that you have been choosing colours for your dress based on your skin tone, you were wrong! Latest research says that it’s the colour of the eyes that matter!
THE PEOPLE: Skin tone may be important at a distance, such as for sashaying down a catwalk, but for one-on-one encounters, such as lunch or an in-person interview, it’s the eyes that matter, says the research by the University of St Andrews led by Professor David Perrett from the School of Psychology and Neuroscience.
- Published in the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, the study reveals strong preferences that favoured ‘cool’ blue hues in fabric match grey or blue eyes and ‘warm’ orange/red fabric hues to match dark brown eyes.
- There has been very little scientific evaluation of the aesthetics of clothing colour. The research team measured skin tone and eye colour objectively and showed that for White women, light-coloured eyes were consistently matched to different colours compared to dark eyes.
THE RESEARCH: The study first replicated the preference for warm garment colour for women with a darker complexion, and then tested the relative importance of skin, eye, and hair colour by transforming skin colour between low- and high-melanin levels and by transplanting eyes between facial images
- Results revealed a dominant role of iris colour with warmer, more saturated, and darker clothing colours being chosen for faces with darker eyes. Skin colour had little influence.
- Even when participants were instructed to match clothing to skin colour, they used eye colour as a basis for clothing colour choice. The results indicate that the emphasis on skin colour for personal clothing colour choice may be misplaced.
The Significance: Future studies will attempt to introduce more realism in the garment depiction and will explore colour choice for men and women from diverse ethnic backgrounds.
- This study could well change how stylists choose their garments. We will wait and watch how will it impact the global fashion industry which is worth trillions of dollars.
