Red evokes intensity and passion but wearing the wrong red can achieve quite the opposite effect. Here’s how to pick the right red and wear it well!

"Better pick a red pair before I go back to black!"

By Kendall Farr

Fashion designer Bill Blass famously told his clients, “When in doubt, wear red!” Sure, red is a legendary signifier of good fortune but we are only lucky in red if it makes the skin glow.

The skin thing

Wearing the wrong red can make a woman look tired, like she’s forgotten her lipstick. Red is tricky to get right, but finding a flattering one for your skin tone is worth the retail quest as few colours can make a woman look as vibrant or confident.

When brunette Sigourney Weaver decided to wear an ‘auspicious’ red dress to honour Ang Lee at the Cannes Film Festival, I put out the call to several designers. Days later, we stared down a rack of gorgeous dresses. Sigourney tried on dozens before we found the alchemy of an ever-so-slightly orange hued red that perfectly accentuated her auburn highlights and warm skin tones.

It’s the here and now of your skin that counts. The undertones change with hormone shifts and climate as we age. Just as our hair goes through a hormonal progression from childhood to adolescence to the first greys of midlife, so does our skin. Don’t be surprised if the reliable shade of red you’ve loved for years now makes you look a little sallow.

The ‘cosmetic’ approach

I always encourage my clients to take a ‘cosmetic’ approach to choosing their reds. Most women are savvy about choosing lipstick and blush with warm or cool undertones to flatter their skin, yet, when it comes to clothing they are easily seduced by what shades are on offer in a current trend’s cycle, flattering or not.

Your latest red discovery may look smashing in the dressing room but never snip price tags until you’ve performed a daylight test at home.

Try on clothes and accessories like scarves and necklaces that will sit flush to your face, neck and chest, sans makeup. Even if you’re testing an outer layer like a jacket or cardigan try it over bare skin. Enhance the accuracy by covering your hair and hairline in a white scarf (a bath towel works nicely too).

The key is to gauge the hue (yellow or blue undertones) and the value (the depth of the colour from dark to light) without any competing colours. The right hue will have a softening and warming effect on your face and when your skin looks vibrant in daylight you’re safe in any light. If what you notice is undereye circles and facial lines then file that red under ‘returns’.

Red accessories

Wearing red accessories will spark the tried-and-true white, ivory and khaki that are staples in a tropical wardrobe. It’s easy to create flattering focal points in an outfit (and not worry as much about specific hues) when you carry a red bag or wear red shoes. With these a woman can take a bit of license with her reds because they are farther away from the face.

Red nails, too, are accessories. Choose a polish in the right hue or you’ll age your hands. Personally, I prefer a red pedicure as a woman’s feet remain an ‘age-free zone’ longer than her hands.

Finding the right red lipstick is another challenge altogether. When you plan to shop for new makeup, wear a white shirt or pop a white scarf in your bag to cover your top. If a colour seems to work under the store’s fluorescent lights, then it has passed stage one.

“It’s always a good idea to check a new lip colour in daylight. Wear it for an hour or so to see if the colour changes on your lips”, recommends makeup pro Shawnelle Prestidge who has drawn red lips on actresses like Jane Fonda for L’Oreal campaigns.

Here are a few more of Shawnelle’s red lip tips:

• Use a lip primer and follow by softly buffing a neutral liner into your lip line. This prevents feathering around the mouth.

• Lightly moisturise your lips and then sparingly apply an opaque red with a lip brush or try patting on the colour with a fingertip so that it looks blended and not heavy or chalky.

• Other good red options include sheer formulas and lip stains as an alternative to opaque, heavily pigmented lipsticks. They can be drying.

Sensai by Kanebo has some wonderful ‘treatment rich’ lip colours in softer, sheer reds. Dior and YSL make moisturising formulations at the high end while Body Shop and L’Oreal offer good and affordable moist formulations.

Red makes the most dynamic statement when it is worn selectively – a few focal points at a time – and in complimentary hues. But always remember that matching your reds is a fashion do-not.

Kendall Farr is a top New York-based stylist who has worked as freelance fashion editor for Vogue, Glamour, Elle, Marie Claire and InStyle. She has dressed celebrities including Joan Allen, Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie, Diane Lane, Andie MacDowell, Diane Sawyer, Uma Thurman and Sigourney Weaver. Visit her website at www.kendallfarr.com.

This article has been edited and condensed. First published in Silver Lining Jan-Feb 2011, p. 28, 30.