There is no doubt that colours affect how we feel both mentally and physically. In fact, a number of cultures have used colour as a form of healing. Not surprisingly, our daily wardrobe selection is based on the mood we are in. At Troop Your Colours, we encourage you to wear and surround yourself with colours that will lift your spirits and brighten your world. Read through what each colour represents and then set the tone by creating your own mood.
Red is the colour that we pay the most attention to. It is the warmest and most energetic colour in the spectrum. We associate red with love, valentines, danger, desire, speed, strength, violence, anger, emergency exit signs, stop signs and blood. Red can evoke a fight-or-flight response, raise blood pressure and make the heart beat faster. In China red symbolizes celebration and luck, used in many cultural ceremonies that range from funerals to weddings. In India red is the colour of purity (used in wedding outfits).
If you are reaching for something red to wear that day, you secretly need or are feeling power and energy. Red is great for people in the sales industry or anyone giving presentations. It commands attention and awareness.
Pink: Pink clothing represents a feeling of purity and femininity. If you are feeling calm and centered and everything seems right, you will probably choose something pink.
Orange: Orange symbolizes balance, enthusiasm, vibrancy, flamboyancy, and is demanding of attention. If you are feeling or wanting to feel confident, you will choose something orange. Orange also represents warmth and inner-contentment, so if you have a particularly large workload ahead of you for the day, you may indirectly reach for something orange to wear, as it will give you that confidence boost to get you through the day.
Yellow: Gives off the feeling of youthfulness and vibrancy. If you are feeling playful and uninhibited, you will inevitably reach for yellow. An unseasoned professional will always look more credible wearing something yellow. The yellow rose is a symbol of friendship, less passionate or threatening than red ones. In Asia yellow is sacred, and imperial.
Green: It represents nature, environment, health, good luck, renewal, youth, vigor, spring, generosity, fertility, jealousy, inexperience, envy, misfortune. Its cool quality soothes, calms, and has great healing powers. It is often worn in operating rooms by surgeons.
Blue represents peace, tranquility, calm, stability, harmony, unity, trust, confidence, conservatism, security, cleanliness, order, loyalty, sky, water, cold, technology, and depression. Blue can "slow the pulse rate, lower body temperature, and reduce appetite." Blue is considered a business colour because it reflects reliability.
Purple represents royalty, power, spirituality, nobility, ceremony, mystery, transformation, wisdom, enlightenment, cruelty, arrogance, and mourning. Purple is considered an exotic colour. Today purple is a trendy colour targeting creative types.
Black is the absence of light and therefore, of colour. It represents power, sexuality, sophistication, formality, elegance, wealth, mystery, fear, evil, anonymity, unhappiness, depth, style, sadness, remorse, anger, underground, good technical colour, mourning and death.
White is what we see when all colours come together in perfect balance. It represents reverence, purity, simplicity, cleanliness, peace, humility, precision, innocence, youth, birth, winter, snow, good, sterility, and marriage. We use white in figures of speech like "pure as the driven snow" or "a white lie." We associate white with the good guy in old western movies.