James Eves

Look in your closet – what colors do you see?  Why did you choose those colors for your wardrobe and would it change if you were in a different part of the country?  If you are in Boston, it’s likely hues of black and brown started overpowering your closet once the temperature outside dropped.  If you’re in Southern California, your closet is probably full of white and other light colors.  Why is this?  And how does color affect how we feel?

The main reason why people in cooler climates wear dark clothes and people in warmer climates wear light color clothes is pretty straightforward – it comes down to balancing our own body temperature’s with the environment outside.  Dark colors, like black, absorb heat, keeping us warm in cool weather whereas light colors, like white, reflect the light, keeping us cool.  The color you wear is also affected by the culture around you. For instance, Miami is heavily influenced by Latin cultures, where bright colors are popular, so clothes there are usually in shades of orange, yellow, bright blue and purple. (continued below photo)

On a psychological level, how does the color you wear affect your mood?  Research on this subject is limited, however some evidence suggests that color influences the pituitary gland, which controls hormone levels and thus our moods.  There have also been studies about the affect of certain colors, like a 2008 University of Rochester study in which photographs of men and women wearing red were considered more attractive than in other colors. And around the world, colors have different meanings.  For example, in America, white means purity and happiness, making it an obvious color choice for wedding dresses.  However, in eastern cultures, white symbolizes death and is worn to funerals.

This is all consistent, for the most part, with what you see from the fashion and merchandising industries.  For fall/winter, black is usually more prominent on the runway and in stores than bright colors, which are seen more in spring/summer collections.  This all results in why a closet in Boston looks quite different from one in Southern California.

Kristen D’Amour is the Founder/Owner of the clothing menu, a fashion blog and online boutique that supports independent fashion designers.

Special thanks go to the very talented Stylist Terry J. Wheaton,  Make-up by Jeni Teran The incredible retouching of  Mr. James Eves, and Photo Editor Raquel Vidal. Photograph by Steve Marsel

Visit Steve Marsel’s other sites: Steve Marsel Studio, the assignment site and flagship site of the Steve Marsel brand, Steve Marsel Stock, the rights managed digital stock library of Steve Marsel Studio, Steve Marsel Galleries, the private gallery site of the Steve Marsel Studio. Visit one of Boston Photographer Steve Marsel’s other blogs as well: Steve Marsel Studio Blog , the creative blog of the Steve Marsel Studio. Steve Marsel Galleries Blog, Steve Marsel’s blog that discusses the stories behind the photographs, and Steve Marsel Stock Blog, the blog of Steve Marsel’s rights managed digital stock photography library that discusses the stories behind the images on the stock site.