Why the Numbers 5, 8 Keep Coming Up in My Wardrobe Color Palette Clusters?

After I just finished writing my previous blog post, I wondered WHY I was so consistently finding this number '5.5' or '6' or '8' in my clusters...

I realized a *generalized* description or prescription of a color cluster could be...

• 4 neutrals x 4 accents.
• Or 4 universal neutrals x 2 nuance colors x  2 accent colors.

* * *

I researched the numbers 5 and 8 and apparently, these two numbers are well-matched in Numerology compatibility! Here's an excerpt from http://astrobix.com/marriage/numerology/8/5

Numerology love compatibility for 8 and 5



Number 5 is ruled by planet Mercury while number 8 is ruled by Saturn. This is materially motivated combination rather than physical and emotional. These two numbers are opposite to each other but both have strong personality and one cannot suppress each other. People of number 8 bring a strong direction in the lives of people of number 5. Together they can achieve material and personal success.

This combination brings out the best in each other. Once they fall in love, these two stick for it throughout the lifetime. The special bond shared between these two numbers can be an asset which is shared in business as well. It is also an excellent number combination to find in a family or a pair of best friends. This is a relationship between two individuals who don't always follow the rules and they might find themselves locking horns on the rules of a relationship. It will take careful planning and compromise to make this relationship work. Great happiness is in store for these two.

I really believe that color harmonics work or behave in VERY similar ways to 'sound' harmonies...

Our visual and auditory sensory systems MUST on some level resonate and correlate...

* * *

I was really struck also by the number 5.5 also.

Why the double 5?

And it suddenly reminded me of my previous research on traditional Korean color system and philosophy. The O-Bang-Saek and O-Gan-Saek. Now, in that theory, the 5 main colors called the 'Yang Colors' make up the ENTIRE UNIVERSE, according to ancient Chinese philosophy.

Just regarding color though, those 5 Yang Colors make up the 5 Yin Colors. And together, my Korean ancestors had 10 basic colors.

Now, those of you who are versed in Feng Shui elements will know that we currently live and operate in a totally different perceptual color scape compared to those times.

The 5 said main colors were...
White, Black, Yellow, Red, and Blue.

What's confusing for these days is that in those days, white and black were natural colors, so they're not our typical industrial stark white/jet black colors!

They're more subdued than that... more like cream/ivory and dark gray. Besides, the 'Black' corresponds to the Water element, so the dept and reflection of the Water Quality actually meant both black and blue color ranges!

And the so-called 'Blue' which in Chinese character is 'Cheong' actually represents a green/blue blend which is more like the 'sky' color. So it's a lighter and prettier color than Water so to speak!

Yellow was earthier color than our industrial bright yellow, although I guess some flowers did have bright yellow coloring, and the Red was more like a brown, and just in Feng Shui speak, Red is like Fire, so it represents light as in fireworks or electricity kind of illumination...

* * *

All of that thinking led me to research Pinterest for '5 elements' and I got a lot of images which I have filed under http://pinterest.com/jeeyoona/5-elements-color-theory-and-musings/

Now, one of the images that was labelled TOTALLY caught my eye...!

Tata! As you can see, this little diagram, actually represents both the numbers 5 and 8! Nifty, ain't it?

Now this is basically a diagram of the '5 Elements' of Feng Shui, representing 8 different sectors also known as Pa Gua or Ba Gua.

Each gua represents a direction, an area of your life, a body organ, color, element, and so on. The center is called Tai Chi and touches upon ALL 8 gua's.

* * *

I think this sheds some light on why I felt so 'restricted' by adhering to the strict guidelines of DYT. As per DYT guideline, being a Dominant 4 means, I can't embrace the 'nuances' or the 'middle paths.'

I think, being a Third Culture Kid, I have embraced both the Asian mindset as well as the Western mindset. Former through my natural ancestral heritage and lineage, and the latter through both my formal education and globalization.

I think I can now see how these diverse elements fit together, like pieces of a puzzle. A vast and myriad puzzle, that still has some underlying Principles and Laws.

For example, my dominant energy and movement may be a Type 4. But my facial features are a strong blend of Type 2, Type 4 and Type 1. It's really hard to distinguish just one element, because I'm not a Cartoon nor a Caricature. I think this may be another reason why DYT often gets criticized despite its clear cut methodology and their good intentions.

One of the ironies I had to realize and accept through my embracing and journey THROUGH DYT was specifically THAT I ended up subscribing to yet another 'prescribed' fashion system. All the while I was escaping the previous set of 'Fashion Rules' set by the 'evil garmentos' and 'fashion industry' and 'marketing divisions' -- how much further was I getting by subscribing to a different set of 'DYT Fashion Rules?' set forth by Carol Tuttle who learnt her system from Illuminescence and Taylor Sinclaire? (Sorry, if I mispelled her name here...)

* * *

Now, in my previous 'attack' towards Carol, I had mentioned how these '4 personalities/4 Seasons' approach traces itself all the way back to a Bauhaus guru called J. Ittens. Just Google 'Ittens Color Theory' and you will find a lot to learn from his categorization of different color contrasts!

* * *

OK. Now. On to the REAL MEAT!

Sorry, I had to 'build this up' in this manner, because I like to be 'thorough!' :D

Please bear with me another 10 minutes!

* * *

I looked up 'human color palette' to see if it would show me any color combinations I can work off of, regarding fashion/wardrobe color choices.

After all, as Christine Scamen of http://12blueprints.com/ argues, the human gene DOES have a certain color bias and there is such a thing as a preset color combination.

After looking through a lot of fascinating Pantone Skin Colors which came out a while ago, I stumbled across this:

http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/tech13.html

or...

more specifically...

this:

and also these:

This is a model of 3 colors, and their 8 combinations!

That is, one color + white + black as a base.

Then, you get these 3 in between colors, as well as the center color!

According to this guy (shall we say, a GENIUS!) ALL of the 8 combos work!

Yummm!!!!

Just in my head, that just feels like a total Color Jack Pot to me!

After all these years, and all this searching...

I can now finally work off of a REAL COLOR COMBO MODEL,

to work on my Core Wardrobe Colors!!!

(Goes off screaming into the other room... *mentally*... ^^)

* * *

Now, I think the above model shows how Ireene Online http://ireneeonline.com/ was so right about a very simple way to create 'elegance' in your clothing choices is to go with...

Your Hair Color + White.

Of course, she is NOT the only one who advocates wearing your hair color... Almost all image consultants start off by asking you what your hair/skin/eye colors are...!

But still, I think the above model really helps you choose from a COMPLETE mathematical probabilities of whatever color your hair or skin or eye color may be, to work out your contrast level and choose another color...

(Hope I'm explaining this clearly enough...! I'm Asian coloring so the orange of my skin tone and light/dark contrast really neatly works with the above model... Not sure if for Caucasian coloring or a different Ethnic coloring, this model might not seem as evident?)

* * *

I personally believe though, working out your 'Neutral' or 'Core Wardrobe Colors' can definitely find an exhaustive combination from the above model...

More so than any 4 seasons color approach, or Feng Shui approach, or Zyla's 8 body colors approach...

The above model thoroughly and visually shows us 'Possible Color Strategies' to opt for before you head out the door to spend and splurge on your fashion choices...

* * *

OK... I'm all grins...

Just for getting to this point...

BTW, that above site http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/tech13.html has a motherload of Color Theory... Might I add, a very intense amount of SERIOUS RESEARCH...!

So, I hope you'll have some 'take away' from my blog post this morning!

As a parting bonus,

here's another lovely coincidence for the numbers 5 and 8,

that ties into a demonstration of musical harmonics...!!!

See those 5 black ones, and the 8 white ones... ^__^?V

Mmmmmmmm...

Harmony and Principles at work in the Universe of Sound and Colors!

Can't get any better than this!!!

Illumined L o v e ,

xoxox

Jessica

Introduction to Your 5 Yin Colors and 5 Yang Colors to Create Your Core Wardrobe Color Strategy!

After I finished my personal core wardrobe color chart, I suddenly wondered if the colors I ended up had anything to do with the local traditional colors of Korea. Because Koreans have such a conformist coloring -- black hair, black-brown eyes, beige skintone, I wondered if the colors that my ancestors wore in their Hanbok had already accomplished the best color combinations that I could refer to for my color combinations.

The research led me to the exploration of the O-bang-saek and O-gan-saek which are the 10 colors that had distinct color-names to them. The O-bang-saek were colors regarded as Yang energy which also mean the 5 directional colors. As far as I can see, this is very closely related to Feng-Shui elements with Earth Yellow in the center representing Stability, and the four directions North, South, West, and East each having a color representation also. 

As these 5 colors represented the whole world, they were regarded as special and often were used to wish blessings, health, prosperity, and health.

Note bene. After going back to my research material, I am noticing I have made an error. Along with the word O-bang-saek, there is another word O-jeong-saek. For now, to my understanding, the former relates to the 5 elements of Fengshui and the Bagua. And when it applies to color itself, they call the Yang group of colors O-jeong-saek. So from this point on, when you see the word O-bang-saek, please note that if I were to be technically correct, they should've been written O-jeong-saek instead. I am sorry for this inconvenience!

The five source colors shown in this Blessings-Pouch are given below with Korean sounds for each of them:

• White (Baek-saek)
• Black (Heuk-saek)
• Yellow (Hwang-saek)
• Red (Jeog-saek)
• Blue (Cheong-saek)

I had not consciously made the connection but these colors so local to Korea are easily seen in Korean food colors. 

I'm including the above photos to make a point about how the 5 colors that we now call Red, Blue, Yellow, White, and Black and what my ancestors would have called 5 directional colors. Because color pigments from long ago would have to come from natural sources, a lot of them would not be the kinds of explosive, intense, artificially manufactured colors. So please bear in mind that what you and I call Red, Blue, Yellow, White, and Black may be slightly different than what the original names suggest!

Here below is a picture of a Moo-Dang. I can now see how those intense rich and dynamic colors that they wear come directly from the O-bang-saek. Note how he is holding the 3 primary colors on the left, and 2 colors black and white on the right. 

Here, I can see how the colors used for this hunter is ONLY using the Yang/Directional colors, and no intermediary colors. See below for a chart on those! This is an image of the Spirit of Goguryeo people found in a Goguryeo tomb. He is riding a horse in colors white and black; he himself is wearing the colors red and yellow. Of course it is possible that the artist for various reasons may have used such restricted colors, but I think it is quite possible to believe also that this was done intentionally to express the Yang characteristic of Goguryeo people. Among the three kingdoms that ruled in the Korean peninsula, these people were the most enterprising and most eager to expand their territory. Or at least that's what I've been told. :-P

And here are some diagrams explaining the O-bang-saek and O-gan-saek. The colors that were created by mixing the O-bang-saek, 5 Directional Colors were called O-gan-saek, which basically means 5 Intermediary Colors. 

So mixing black and red gives you this purple color. Black mixed with yellow gives you the richer gold/tan color. Yellow and blue gives you green, although traditionally the blue in Chinese character "Cheong" is not the blue we call blue, it actually is a blue-green color so it actually encompasses blue AND green! So if you read Korean poetry, you'll see that the word "Cheong" is used to describe both the sky color and the grass color! And then you get the pink from white and red, followed by blue mixed with white which gives you a skyblue color. Hmmm, I am not certain but even the Red that we call red might be different than you think because the Korean traditional Red is more like a tomato red I think (don't quote me on this yet!) and it is possible in some sources to quote red mixed with white being orange. Again going back to my previous assumption, the white found in nature, is not going to be the pure white from a paint tube; it is more likely to be a cream or ivory color with a little bit of coloration, in which case it is plausible to find that particular red and white creating an Orange.

In the diagram below, the squares are the O-bang-saek, and the circles are the O-gan-saek. What's particularly neat about these is that with the distinct 4 seasons of Korean climate, there's always a cycle of Birth/Death/Rebirth... and although there are slight variations each year, there's always that cyclical expectation of Seasonal Colors that are the source of new colors in Fashion/Interior trends.

So to summarzie, the O-gan-saek that are created by mixing O-bang-saek are:

Green (Nok-saek)

Skyblue (Byuk-saek)

Pink (Hong-saek)

Tan (Yoo-hwang-saek)

Purple (Ja-saek)

For those of you who want to know more about the traditional Korean colors and their names... here's a chart for you!

Image credit: http://www.gosinga.net/archives/1120

Now in the color chart below, you can see the top row made up of the 5 Directional Yang Colors. And the bottom row made up of 5 Intermediary Yin Colors. I'm really loving this chart right now, because this can now help me create my combinations of Core Wardrobe Color Combos with the Basic Principle of mixing Yin and Yang!

For instance, if I want a basic 2 color combination for my outfit and I wanted only Yang energy, I would pick 2 colors from the top row. If I wanted a mixture of Yang AND Yin, I'd pick one from each row. Then if I only want to have Yin colors for top and bottom, or inner and outer, I can just choose the colors from the bottom row.

Of course, it would get quite complex once you start doing accessories in different colors, and you could end up with 3 color combo's now!

• Yang-Yang-Yang
• Yang-Yang-Yin
• Yang-Yin-Yin
• Yin-Yin-Yin.

OK. Well. I hope these Yang-Yin color groupings really add to your Core Wardrobe Color Strategy! Because this is why I've researched it for myself. :-> 

It is said that all our skin tones regardless of race and ethnic origins are a version of Orange according to Irenee Riter:

http://www.ireneeonline.com/skin_color_test.htm

So, I think the traditional colors using natural dye CAN help us in creating our core wardrobe colors better than going with the paint-tube-colors. They will always be a closer approximation to our natural colors, right? :->

In closing, I share with you these beautiful Korean bowls. You can see the colors from nature that correlate to Red - Black - Blue - Yellow - White. 

Happy color-strategizing to you!!!

Love,

Jessica