So You Wanna Wear 50 Shades of Gray…
These days, it seems it’s all about the grays. With everyone looking for a tie-in to what will no doubt be one of the hottest films of the year, you’ll find advice for using a 50 shades of gray theme on your walls, in your boudoir, in your closet, in your garage — even in your kitchen, although we think the menu suggestions have less to do with the color and more to do with the effects. Far be it from me to go against the tide, so I checked in with my fabulous friend, Hollywood’s Guru of Hue, color expert Jill Kirsh, to find out how to wear 50 shades of gray so that it complements, rather than comatoses your look. After all, consider all she taught us about wearing the right red.
“Believe it or not, there’s a specific shade of gray that looks best on each color group,” she says. “It’s impossible to wear 50 shades of gray and look good in every one of them — as a matter of fact, some will make you look shot rather than hot.”
As you of course know by now, Jill divides us all into four color categories: Golden Browns and Redheads, Warm Blondes, Deep Brunettes, Ash Blondes, Platinums and Grays. She says anyone can wear just about any color, you just have to wear the right shade that complements your hair. I asked her to make examples of the cast members of the ubiquitous film, to further enlighten us on whether we can or can’t wear 50 shades of gray. Heaven forbid you go full metal jacket when you really should be donning dove.
Interestingly enough, leads Jamie Dornan, who plays Christian Grey, and Dakota Johnson, in the role of Anastasia Steele, (ain’t it cute how both names reflect the color?) are coifed for the movie in almost the same hair color: reddish brown. I think it would have been nice if their hair color could have reflected their personality differences, but what do I know? Anyway, it’s interesting to note that their category, “Golden Browns and Redheads,” has the toughest time of all looking good in gray.
“Since gray is a cool color, and there’s so much warmth in red, the two really clash,” says Jill. “Wearing the wrong gray can make you look like you have a bad dye job.” So how to do gray right? “Choose an ‘olivey’ gray,” says Jill. “One with a little green in it.”
Dornan could have been better served if hair stylists would have made Christian Grey a deep brunette. “He’d look like a raven-haired stud in charcoal,” Jill explains. “Charcoal on a deep brunette is powerful, sexy, commanding. He would exude striking authority.” Now that’s the Christian Grey we all know, love and loathe. We’re using Victor Rasuk, who plays the also-ran Jose, as an example of this.
Now if Dakota Johnson would have gone with the warm blond tones she inherited from parents Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, as well as grandmother Tippi Hedren, she would have looked fab in a putty color–a gray with more warm yellowish tones, to complement her golden flecked hair. Jill uses actress Eloise Mumford, who plays Anna’s roommate Kate, to show exactly what she means.
And those Ash Blondes, Platinums and Grays are fortunate enough to do ‘dove’ divinely, according to Jill. “Dove gray complements their silvery strands and harmonizes perfectly, producing an extremely sophisticated effect,” she says. Rita Ora, who plays Christian’s sister Mia in the film and is almost unrecognizable in a dark wig, usually appears as a platinum blonde, and demonstrates what Jill’s talking about.
Find out more about Jill’s color system on her website, JillKirshColor.com, As for me, a warm blonde who prefers just about any color to “putty,” I steer clear of almost all 50 shades of gray. Unless, of course, I happen to wearing my favorite cat hat, “Schmoopie,” who is a lovely shade of Russian Blue.
See my review of Fifty Shades of Grey here.
