White Jeans Done Right: Dressing for Your Contrast in Intensity

I don’t think anything has helped me to feel and {perhaps} look more stylish than learning how to dress for my personal contrast in intensity. But dressing in a way that correctly reflects my own personal coloring and intensity levels in the spring and summer looks completely different from following those same guidelines in the winter. Since we’re wearing white denim more during these warmer months, I thought it would be smart to review dressing for your contrast in intensity with white jeans. Buckle up! We’re taking the scenic route…

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Before we plunge into the different ways you can wear white jeans to reflect your personal contrast in intensity, let’s make sure we all understand the terminology. Indeed, this is a difficult concept for many of us to grasp in the beginning. But once it clicks…it clicks! And then you’ll be able to use this concept to help you put together outfits that truly look amazing on you every. single. time.

What do we mean by contrast in intensity?

When you consider colors, they have three different properties. You might know which colors look best on you. But generally, when we talk about the colors in which we look our most attractive, we’re referring only to the hue. The hue is the color’s name or its place on the color wheel. Hues include blue, green, violet, etc. We often look pretty in hues that work nicely with our eye color.

But there’s more to wearing color skillfully than just identifying the hues that look best with your coloring. That leads us to the second characteristic of color: saturation. The saturation measures the purity, vibrancy, or dullness of a color. A color can be muted or vibrant, bold or dull. For instance, you may notice items of clothing that are dusky pink or muted red. Then again, you’ve undoubtedly come across vibrant reds and saturated pinks. Saturation actually measure the amount of black or white in a color, so it’s associated with pigment. The colors toward the inside of the color ring below are more saturated than the ones on the outside of the wheel.

But when we talk about intensity, we’re putting the color on a grey scale and determining the value of a color.

In fact, one of the best ways to determine the intensity (some people use the term value for this characteristic, in fact) of a color is to snap a photo and then put that photograph in black and white. If the color appears to be a dark grey or black, then it has high intensity or value. And if a color appears washed out or almost white on the grey scale, then it has a low intensity or value.

How to Dress for Your Personal Contrast in Intensity

The first step to dressing for your contrast in intensity is to determine the intensity of your personal features: your eyes, skin and hair.

The second step is to determine how much contrast there is between those three personal features. Let’s do the math on a few examples. Our first woman has light low intensity skin and low intensity hair, but her eyes look like they are probably medium intensity. (It’s hard to determine eye color intensity based on a singular photograph, or course. But you will be able to do this exercise on yourself with more accuracy.)

Just to be sure we’re getting this right, we can put this photo in black and white with a grey filter.

Now do you see the contrast in intensity? Her skin is definitely low intensity (when compared to our grey scale), as is her hair. But her eyes, in contrast, are more medium in intensity. If we stop right there, we’ve learned that she will probably look her very best when she wears colors that are also low or medium in intensity, especially when worn near her face. That does not mean this woman cannot or should not wear rich, vibrant colors. She absolutely can. But we do indeed tend to look more naturally vibrant and beautiful when the colors we wear reflect our personal coloring, in hue, saturation and intensity.

Let’s try another one, and this time we’ll take it a step further. This woman’s coloring is a little more intense.

It looks to me like her hair, a soft but medium grey, is medium in intensity, as is her brown skin. But her eyes look very dark, so I’m calling them high in intensity. Let’s check out her photo in black and white and compare it to the grey scale.

You might could argue that her hair looks light here. But check out her eyebrows. I think it’s smart to check both eyebrows and hair, and in this case her brows are more prominent than on the woman in the previous photographs. For that reason, I’m sticking with her hair being medium intensity. And her eyes are definitely high intensity, contrasting significantly with her hair and skin.

Let’s take it a step further now. If we calculate the CONTRAST IN INTENSITY we can then create outfits that replicate that contrast. Those outfits will almost always look the most naturally appealing and easy on the eyes. They’ll be harmonious and help us to shine. To calculate contrast in intensity use the following formulas:

• If all three attributes are the same intensity level, regardless of if they are low, medium or high intensity, then the CONTRAST is LOW.
• If the difference between the intensity levels is one step in either direction, then the CONTRAST is MEDIUM.
• If the difference between any two of the intensity levels is two steps, then the CONTRAST is HIGH.

With those calculations, the woman above has medium contrast in intensity. That level of contrast is actually the easiest to dress. I’ll tell you why shortly. First, let’s try another example. I’ve already given you my answers on the right hand side, of course. But before you look at those, look carefully at the image and see if you can determine the intensity level of her skin, hair and eyes. I’ll give you the black and white photo, too.

Did you come up with the same results I did? It doesn’t really matter. We’re judging these women’s coloring based on one photograph. So neither of us may be right! But it’s a good exercise to help us judge our own coloring. Here’s another. Very different coloring, but similar intensity levels.

Now try your hand at this one…

The example above is an important one because I wanted you to see that your intensity levels and your contrast in intensity are two different things. This woman clearly has medium intensity in her soft auburn hair, her warm, rosy skin and her green eyes, all three personal attributes. So the CONTRAST in intensity is LOW. See how that works? That medium rosy lipstick is perfect for her medium intensity coloring. And she’ll look best when the contrast between the colors in her outfit also have a low contrast.

Finally, let me share my own coloring and contrast.

My skin is very fair. My eyes are a very light green. And my hair is a natural light grey/blonde. So the contrast between those three features is low to none. That becomes even more apparent when I put the photograph in black and white.

Now all of that information is fun to know, but it’s just useless trivia unless we put it to work as we build our wardrobes and our outfits. When you create outfits based on your personal contrast in intensity they will look more cohesive and you will look more in harmony with your clothing. You will look more authentic and approachable. Most women report that when they start using this information and the important third step it’s a major lightbulb moment. They suddenly understand why some outfits look great on them and others, while they are good in theory, just don’t work on them.

The third step to dressing for your contrast in intensity is to put together outfits that reflect the same contrast in intensity. So if you have high contrast between the intensity level of your eyes, hair and skin, you’ll look absolutely amazing in outfits with both highs and lows. Or if you, like me, have low contrast, then you will look most harmonious in outfits that are either all high intensity or all medium intensity or all low intensity. (That said, many of us with low contrast also find that we look best when the intensity level of the colors in the clothing also reflects our personal intensity level. I’ll explain more later.)

If you determined that you have medium contrast in intensity, lucky you! Do the math and you can probably figure out that women with medium contrast can wear almost anything and look great in it. You see, we can generally all go one step in either direction and still look put together and cohesive. So with my low contrast in intensity, I can wear medium contrasting colors and still look “at home” in my outfit. And a woman with high contrast in intensity can do the same. So if you have medium contrast in intensity and you go one step in either direction, well, you can wear them all: low contrast, medium contrast and high contrast outfits.

White Jeans Done Right: Dressing for Your Contrast in Intensity

This has been a long-winded explanation of a complex topic to get back to where we started. How do we take that information and translate it with white jeans? You see, it’s one thing to work contrast in intensity with blue jeans. Mid wash jeans, especially, often read like medium intensity. So you can wear almost anything with them and look like perfection. But when we add white denim to the mix, well, that changes things up a bit, doesn’t it?

Obviously, this is not brain surgery. But we do have to rethink how we pair the things we enjoy wearing. White jeans, even though they are bright – that’s saturation, not intensity – are low in intensity. (Think about where they land on the grey scale.) So let’s consider how to wear them smart for different levels of personal contrast in intensity.

High Contrast in Intensity with White Jeans

If you have high contrast in intensity you’ll look stunning when you pair your low intensity white jeans with something more high in intensity up top.

Here I’m wearing a vibrant red no-iron linen shirt with full length white jeans. The contrast is stark and bold. It’s not ideal for my coloring, but it will work for so many women with more contrast in their personal features.

If I want to wear this pairing with my personal low contrast in intensity, I can bridge the gap, so to speak, by wearing some jewelry at my face that is also high contrast. That way I have colors near my face that are bold, but low in contrast with each other.

You can also bridge the gap by adding some medium intensity accessories to the outfit, whether it’s a handbag, belt, shoes or scarf. If you have low contrast in intensity, beware of wearing white jeans with a high intensity shirt and all high intensity accessories. This combination could have a very jarring effect on you visually.

But if you have high contrast in your coloring, you can just pop on a high intensity top with your favorite white jeans and call it a day! This kind of outfit will look harmonious with your coloring. And it will give you that effortless appeal that makes it look like you are wearing your clothes rather than them wearing you.

Medium Contrast in Intensity with White Jeans

I created the following outfit as a medium contrast outfit, but I’m not sure how successful I was. I think the contrast reads pretty low, now that I look at these photos. But let’s face it, all of us can wear a medium contrast outfit and look pretty good in it.

Still, for those of you with medium contrast in intensity, I want to do right by you and give you the details that will make your medium contrast outfits sing…in beautiful harmony with your coloring! The key is simply to wear a medium intensity top and/or jacket. Choose the colors that show up in the tiny flecks of your eyes for the optimal eye-popping effect. (See this blog post for more ideas on how to make your eyes pop!)

If you have medium contrast in intensity, you also might want to wear two or more different medium intensity colors with your white jeans. For instance, you could wear a pink tee and a blue denim jacket. Or you could add a colorful medium intensity scarf at the neckline of your soft orange shirt.

But if you have low contrast in intensity and you want to wear a medium intensity top with your white jeans, I suggest doubling up the one color in multiple places, like I did here with my jacket and top. Then I even wore the same color in my earrings and necklace.

If you have high contrast in intensity, I would add a vibrant pop of color somewhere in your medium contrast outfit. Ideas include a colorful scarf on your handbag or in your hair, a bold necklace or even a dark lipstick.

Light Contrast in Intensity with White Jeans

Here’s where I live! If you, like me, have low contrast in your personal coloring, you’ll look authentic and harmonious in white jeans outfits that reflect that same contrast.

You don’t have to create these outfits with all neutrals like I did here. As I mentioned earlier, the aqua and white jeans outfit really is pretty low in contrast. And you can create similar outfits with soft pink, pale blue, light mint or creamy yellow.

One of the important keys to creating low contrast outfits that are still interesting is to mix textures. So consider topping your white denim with crocheted cotton sweaters, ribbed tees, lacy blouses, dotted Swiss shirts or eyelet tops.

If you have high contrast in your coloring, but you want to try a low contrast pairing with your white denim, consider wearing it as a column of white under a vibrant colored topper. And if you have medium contrast in intensity, you’ll look harmonious when you add medium intensity accessories in cognac or a pretty color.

I know we took the long route to get here, but I do hope these styling tips help you to pair your white jeans in a way that reaches your style goals. You might also enjoy this video from last summer.

And tomorrow I have another video coming out about white jeans, so stay tuned! Meanwhile, here’s a shopping widget to help you shop any of the items seen in my white jean outfits above. Thanks for dropping in!

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