The Potter journal. [volume] (Coudersport, Pa.) 1857-1872, 1859-06-23
For Ladies OnIy--IS This Be-
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M. Chevreul, the Callic Owen Jones,
has recently published work entitled
'The Laws of Contrast of Color" Among
the subjects treated is one of universal in
terest-female clothing. Nj. Chevreul
discusses this with all the care it de-
mands. And first, he establishes certain
distinctions that of the two types known
as brunette and blonde; that of the jux-
taposition of the articles of toilet, wheth-
or pertaining to the hair or to the COM
plexior and that of notifications of the
complexion, by colored rays emanating
from the head-dress, and which, being re-
fected ON the skin, tingeit with their pc
culiar color He says:
"The color of light hair being essen
TALLY the result of mixture of red, yell
low and brown, we must consider it as
very pale subdued orange brown; the col
or of the skin, although lower tone, is
analogous to it. except in the red parts.
Blue eyes are really the only parts of the
fair type which form contrast with the
whole; for the red parts produce, with
the rest of the skin, only harmony of
analogy of hue, or at most contrast of
hue, and not of color; and the parts of
the skin contiguous to the hair, the eye
brows and eyelashes, give rise only to a
harmony of analogy, either of scale or of
hue. The harmonies of analogy, then,
evidently predominant in the fair type
over the harmonies Of contrast.
"The type with black hair shows the
harmonies of contrast predominating over
the harmonies of analogy. The hair, eye
brows, eyelashes and eyes, contrast in tone
and color, not only with the white of the
skin, but also with the red parts, which
in this type are really redder, or less ro-
seate, than in the blond type; and we
must not forget that decided red, asso-
ciated with black, gives to the latter the
character of an excessively deep color,
either blue or green"
Of the colors of the hair and head-dress
we are told:
:" The colors which are usually consld-
cred as asserting best with light or black
hair are precisely those which produce
great contrasts; thus, sky blue, known to
accord well with blondes, is the color that
approaches nearest to the complementary
of orange, which is the basis of the tint
of their hair and complexions Two COL
ors, long esteemed to accord favorably
with black hair-yellow, and red more or
less orange-contrast in the same man
ner with them. Yellow and orange red,
contrasting by color and brilllancy with
black, and their complementaries, violet
and blue-green, in mixing with the tint
of the hair, are far from producing bad
result"
The following, on the colors of the CON-
plexion and the contiguous drapery, af-
fords several valuable hints:
"The juxtaposition of drapery with
the different flesh tlnts of women offers
to portrait painters host of remarks,
which are all the results of the principles
already laid down. We shall state the
most general thus:
"Rose-red cannot be put in contrast
with even the rosiest compilations with
out causing them to lose some of their
freshness. Rose-red, maroon and light
crimson have the serious disadvantage of
rendering the complexion more or less
green. This is shown in the following
experiments Place two sheets of paper
of either of the above colors beside two
sheets of hesh-colored paper, when it
will be seen how much they are mutu-
ally injured, the lighter becoming green
ish, and the darker rather of violet hue
By substituting light green for the red,
we shall find them mutually heightened
and improved. The height of tone OF
the green influences the result; very
deep green, acting by contrast of tone, SC
enfeebles the complexion, that the slight
contrasts of it's colors will be inapprecia.
BILE; deep red, by contrast of analogy
blanches the complexion. 1t is necessa.
ry, then, to separate the rose from the
: skin, in some manner; and the simplest
manner of doing this, is to edge the dra.
peries with border of tulle, which pro-
duces the effect of gray by the mixture
of white threads, which reflect light, and
the interstices, which absorb it; there is
also mixture of light and shade, which
recalls the effect of gray, like the effect
of a easement window viewed at great
distance. Dark red is less Objectionable
for certain compilations than rose-red,
because, being higher than the latter, it
tends to impart whiteness to them in con.
sequence of contrast of tone.
"Delicate green is, on the contrary,
favorable to all fair complexions which
are deficient in rose, and which may have
more impaired to them without disadvan.
tage. But it is not as favorable to CON-
plexions that are more red than rosy nor