Fashion Sense

[Oudeis]

Does perfect color recognition come with fashion sense? I have awful fashion sense. I suppose I should restrict it; I make terrible fashion choices that have nothing to do with color. Does it give you a perfect sense of what does or does not 'clash'? Would you be immune to ever again selecting two pieces of clothing that, from a color perspective, go poorly together? Or does simply knowing how many steps away from red your shirt and tie both are distinct from knowing which two shades look more pleasing together, according to people as a whole?

[maxal]

I do not think so.... I think you have to have a global vision of the look you are trying to achieve, which means colors, shapes, textures, motifs... Fashion is more than colors, but it is true a color blind person may struggle.

 

I think you genuinely need to be interested in fashion to get a sense of what goes with what... read magazines, shop a lot, these sort of things. Know the basics such as "Never wear white socks", "Never wear socks in sandals", "Belt should be same color as shoes", "Socks should be the same color as pants".

 

Anyhow fashion is not rational and is not something that can be described as the number of shades from another clothing item. I do not think designers think of it in this way anyway. 

[Oudeis]

1. I already restricted it to color choice; there's no reason to point it out again.

 

2. It takes a great deal of training, practice and skill to write a symphony, but there's a universally accepted standard. Anyone can tell the difference between cacophony and melody, discord and harmony. Thirds, fifths, major chords, musical keys. These are things that are constant, and someone with perfect pitch is more likely to be able to produce or notice these pleasurable sounds.

 

While obviously if Lightsong wanted to be Ralph Lauren that would require more than sight, you're not actually addressing my question. Certain sound combinations are inherently melodic; whether you prefer ballads, orchestration, syncopation, or even rap, some combinations of notes are pleasant, and some are discordant. What I'm asking is, in this world, is the same true for colors? Could Blushweaver look at her dress with two different scarves, and not just know the specific shades of each one, but also know which one makes a more universally "pleasant" look? The way my friend is able to listen to two minor progressions and automatically tell which would be considered by most to be nicer. Or look at an entire ensemble that seems off somehow, but actually determine that it's the belt which is just a shade too blue, the way my friend can hear a discordant chord and immediately pick out which note is a half-step low, rather than just thinking, "Well that's noise."

[Surgebound Rainspren]

BioChromatic breath may not be able to improve your personal fashion sense but it would definitely make you appreciate others more. No one wants to see someone wearing a pink and green color scheme, especial not those who've surpassed the first heightening. 

[Witborn]

Isn't it personal choice which is influenced by society? Chords that sounds good here may sound not as pleasing in another country. Colors go in and out of style. So could a person at the fifth heightening tell which are more pleasing to him or herself? Absolutely. But that doesn't matter for fashion since someone else's opinion could differ on the matter.

With music it's different. I may prefer minor chords to major chords, especially if I'm writing a sad song, but perfect pitch is still going to tell me which is minor and which is major without affecting my own preference.

[Oudeis]

Chords that sounds good here may sound not as pleasing in another country.

 

I do not agree that this is true. I'm not sure where to look up the proof of this, but there are chords which are inherently harmonious, and ones which are inherently discordant. Some parts of music are taste, yes; some people even like rap. But there remain fundamental truths.

 

Someone above mentioned pink and green. Sometimes it's obvious. But in music there are subtler examples. A chord might be a dozen notes played at once; if a single one of them is a half-step flat, most people listening will be able to tell something is wrong. It takes someone with rare skill to recognize which note was off. Likewise, if an outfit were made of a dozen different items, it's possible anyone could think, this can be improved upon. But for someone of the Third Heightening, do they know instinctively what it is? Can they tell not only, this isn't perfect. Can they tell not only, this is how many steps off true shade every item is. Could they actually glance at an outfit and instantly know, if the purple hat were two shades lighter and one had one step more red in it, it would be perfect.

 

If not, is that something to do with the heightening, or something inherent in sight? Do colors simply not work like that, the way sound does? Mr. Sanderson's use of musical terminology to describe colors led me to wonder. He spoke of red pillars arranged in a scale of ascending thirds; is that inherently pleasing? If two pillars were swapped, would anyone looking at it have a sense of discord, but not have keen enough senses to tell why? Or is it just a conceit? If you took a picture of that palace, and another picture of the same palace with the pillar shades randomized, would an observer even be able to tell, this one is prettier than the other?

[WeiryWriter]

With regards to the music thing, keep in mind that the 12-note chromatic scale of Western tradition is not universal.  So what might sound out of key to us might not be out of key to other musical traditions, such as the Arabic maqam.

[Oudeis]

You're correct that the chromatic scale is non-universal. Some places use the pentatonic scale, some places use others.

 

But that's like saying that in some times and places it was fashionable to wear a bustle, while at the same time in other places it was not seen as untoward for women to wear nothing but necklaces above the waist. There are differences, yes, but inherent fundamentals remain. Both cultures would likely think that neon-pink with puke-green clashed. However you measure the scale, there are some combinations of notes that are simply universally discordant, and others that are universally harmonious. Maybe one country prefers their music on string instruments, maybe some places prefer woodwinds. But there are chords that are simply terrible, regardless of the scale they are set to, and some that are melodic.

 

Of course let me acknowledge that like cacophony, clashing colors might have their place in the grand scheme of "fashion" as a striking contrast sort of thing, but simply putting them together without a broader plan will always be wrong (barring extremely unlikely coincidence).

[Zathoth]

Disclaimer: I dont know much about colors, I do however play music, listen to lots of weird music and dabble a little in microtonality.

 

Dissonance is not inherently ugly or bad . For example The Rite Of Spring is considered revolutionary just because it is dissonant and ugly, Jimi Hendrix played with pure chaos, Penderecki is considered a genius, storms, if you are using the 12 tone scale as your example know that certain intervals (the minor thirds and the minor sevenths especially) are extremely out of tune from what is 'ideal'. (Thats just intonation, and thats a can of worms of music theory Im not going to get into now) There are other scientifically harmonious intervals that sound extremely out of key for a westerners ears, so music is an incredibly bad reference.

 

Humans during the middle ages considered any chord more complex than the major fifth to be dissonant, jazz chords would get you burned on the stake most likely.

 

Colors, there are people who enjoy Merzbow.

 

tl;dr music theory is actually just a bunch of convenient lies.

Edited September 1, 2015 by Morzathoth

[king of nowhere]

it's a good question. do colors that clash do so because there's something innate in most of us that make us dislike those colors put together, or it is purely a social construct? in the first case, perfect color recognition may enhance your fashion sense, otherwise it would not.

[im_not_superman]

There is one thing that is being overlooked. The actual person wearing it. The reason behind patterns, colors and blends is to accentuate or seemingly detract from actual features. The universal constant within fashion is the human eye. A floral or chaotic pattern on a blouse or shirt will hide somewhat how 'hefty' a person is. Or an overweight person should wear vertical stripes instead of horizontal because the human eye will see a 'slimming effect' with the vertical stripes, while horizontal stripes make a person look wider.

Colors of apparel are heavily depicted by a person's skin tone, skin features, body hair, rough vs. smooth skin, freckles, a tattoo, etc. In most cases, the darker the skin tone, the brighter the clothes that would look good, and vice versa. But, there are times when it is overboard... like Ghandi said "Everything in moderation!"