Colour Type Harmony In Series And Film
Do you know films or series in which the actors are dressed in harmony, i.e. in alignment, with their Colour Types? A real-life Deep / Dark Winters dressed in costumes in Deep / Dark Winter colours? Soft Autumn actors and actresses dressed in Soft Autumn palette costumes?
I have been collecting ideas for this article over a number of months. I wanted to cover as many Seasons as possible. Have a look at the list below.
Let me explain, how to read the list below. First, I list the Colour Type (e.g. Bright / Clear Spring). Then I list the name of the actress that is a Bright / Clear Spring (e.g. Marilyn Monroe). Thereafter I list the name of the film or series where the actress wears (predominantly or even exclusively) Bright / Clear Spring costumes - in this case it is Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. To sum up, I am saying that Marilyn Monroe was dressed in harmony with her natural colouring in the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The overall visual effect in this particular film was maximised when it comes to the aesthetics of Marilyn Monroe. She was dressed for her Colour Type, for her natural beauty to stand out.
Of course, it is not at the best interest of every film to dress the actors according to their Season. On the contrary, they often dress actors in disharmony to underline a certain character attribute (flaw) or character development. More often than not, actors aren’t supposed to come across as their most authentic and visually pleasing selves. They might need to look cunning, duplicitous, evil, meek, submissive, aggressive, subdued, unbalanced, chaotic, fragile, unstable, ill, angry, cold, strict, self-unaware, confused, traumatised … you name it.
However, sometimes it is perfectly adequate to dress the actors in harmony with their natural beauty. And in such cases, something magical happens. Lots of the examples below are cult movies (or series) that transcend generations.
Bright / Clear Spring
Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) - the violet top, golden jewellery and the orange evening gown… pure perfection!
Warm / True Spring
Christina Hendricks in Mad Men (2007 - 2015)
Nicole Kidman in To Die For (1995)
Light Spring
Meryl Streep in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
Light Summer
Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine (2013)
Cool / True Summer
Kimberly Williams-Paisley in Father of the Bride (1991)
Soft Summer
Laetitia Casta in La Bicyclette bleue (2000)
Soft Autumn
Jane Seymour in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993 - 1998)
Mia Wasikowska in Crimson Peak (2015) - some of the costumes border on Warm / True Autumn
Warm/True Autumn
?
Deep / Dark Autumn
Keira Knightley in Anna Karenina (2012)
Carey Mulligan in Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
Meghan Markle in Suits (2011 - 2019)
(somewhat Keira Knightley in Atonement (2007))
Deep / Dark Winter
Monica Bellucci in Malena (2000)
Lana Parrilla in Why Women Kill (2021) - except in the last episodes where she had to look defeated, dethroned and weak
Cool / True Winter
Katharina Wackernagel in Aenne Burda – Die Wirtschaftswunderfrau (2018)
Zooey Deschanel in 100 Days of Summer (2009) - Zooey was sometimes dressed as a Cool / True Winter, other times as a Cool / True Summer. She is a Cool / True Winter and Cool / True Summer clothes are slightly too muted for her.
Bright / Clear Winter
Vivien Leigh in Gone With The Wind (1939)
Joan Collins in Dynasty (1981 - 1989)
The list is by no means complete. What would you add to it? Please comment below.