Your outfit looks different in winter because you choose and wear it more often under artificial light: warm lamplight makes white more yellow and navy almost black, cool office light makes cream look dull and burgundy more brown. Candlelight in a restaurant makes dark colours run into each other. So choose your clothes preferably in daylight and combine dark shades with a clear contrast. For the evening, choose colours and fabrics that actually look beautiful in warm light, such as burgundy, cream and a satin-like sheen. Below you can read how different kinds of light work and how to match your outfit to them.
Why light changes colour
A garment has no fixed colour. What you see is the light that the fabric reflects. Daylight contains all colours in a balanced proportion, so you see your clothes as the designer intended. Artificial light often has a strong preference for one side of the spectrum. Warm light, such as an incandescent bulb or a warm LED lamp at home, contains a lot of yellow and red. Cool light, such as in many offices, contains more blue. Every colour in your outfit reacts differently to it.
In November and December you get dressed in the dark in the morning, work under fluorescent or LED lighting and go to a restaurant with dimmed light or candles in the evening. You sometimes barely see daylight. No wonder an outfit that looked lovely at home suddenly looks different at the office.
Three kinds of light, three effects
| Light | Where | What it does to colour |
|---|---|---|
| Warm (yellowish) | At home, restaurants, hotels | White becomes cream, navy looks black, red and burgundy glow |
| Cool (bluish) | Offices, shops, public transport | Cream looks dull, brown turns greyish, blue becomes brighter |
| Candlelight and dimmed | Dinners, parties | Dark colours merge, shine and texture stand out |
The navy-black problem
The best-known effect: in warm, weak light, navy and black are barely distinguishable. At home you put on a navy polo with black trousers, and only in daylight do you see they are not the same. That need not be a problem, navy and black can go very well together, but it is nice when it is a choice and not a mistake.
The solution is simple: hang your navy and black separately in the wardrobe, and if in doubt check with your phone torch or at a window. A knitted piqué polo such as the Alistair in navy you then combine deliberately: with grey, cream or khaki instead of black. And if you want a black look, choose truly black, like the Josephine in black, a knitted polo with a V-neck.
White and cream under different lamps
White is the colour that changes the most. Under warm light, white takes on a yellow glow and looks cream. Under cool office light, a cream garment can instead look dull and greyish. If you wear white and cream together, the difference often becomes larger in cool light and smaller in warm light.
A tip: for the office with cool light, choose a crisp white, like the Hamilton shirt in white, in 100% cotton. For a dinner in warm light, a soft shade like the Rosamund in pearl cream, a lavallière blouse with a satin look, is simply beautiful: the warm light makes the shade richer and the sheen of the fabric catches the light.
Burgundy, brown and other warm colours
Warm colours are the winners of the winter evening. Burgundy, rust, camel and cognac glow in warm light and look rich and inviting. In cool office light they become slightly duller and burgundy can lean towards brown. The fine-knit T-shirt Lenora in burgundy, with a two-tone tweed look, is therefore an ideal piece for a dinner: the structure and the warm colour come fully into their own in lamplight.
Grey and charcoal: the reliable middle way
Shades of grey change colour the least under different light sources. They can look slightly warmer in warm light and slightly cooler in cool light, but remain recognisably grey. A fine-knit open polo such as the Theodore in dark charcoal melange, in lyocell, looks calm everywhere. The melange yarn also gives depth, which stays visible in any light. That is why grey and charcoal are excellent colours for days when you go straight from the office to a restaurant.
How to choose your outfit in the dark months
- Lay out your clothes the evening before, when you still have some daylight or under a good lamp with neutral light.
- Use a daylight lamp in your bedroom or by the mirror. Lamps with high colour rendering show colours most honestly.
- Work with contrast. Combine dark with light instead of two dark colours that merge in low light.
- Choose texture for the evening. Cable knit, rib, a tweed look or satin sheen stand out more in dimmed light than a plain smooth fabric.
- Check the colour at a window before you combine something new. A minute of daylight prevents a surprise at the office.
Colour and your skin
Light affects not only your clothes, but also your skin. In cool light, pale winter skin can look dull, especially next to grey or black near the face. A warm or light colour close to the face, such as cream, light blue or burgundy, then brings some life back. That is a reason to wear a light collar or a warm knit in winter, even if the rest of your outfit is dark.
Shopping under artificial light
In shops and fitting rooms too, the light is rarely neutral. If in doubt, take a garment to the shop window or the door for a moment, or look at it at home in daylight before you remove the labels. Bought online? Then look at it at a window and combine it with what you already have. Looking for pieces that stay beautiful in any light? Take a look at our knitwear for women and polos for men, or for the evening the Dinner & Dates for women and Dinner & Dates for men collections.
Shop the look
Alistair: knitted piqué polo, navy
Josephine: knitted polo with V-neck, black
Hamilton: shirt with Italian collar, white
Rosamund: lavallière blouse, pearl cream
Lenora: fine-knit two-tone T-shirt, burgundy
Theodore: fine-knit open lyocell polo, dark charcoal melange
Frequently asked questions
Why does navy look black in lamplight?
Warm, weak light contains little blue. As a result, a navy fabric reflects little blue and looks almost black. In daylight you see the difference again.
Which colours look good in candlelight?
Warm colours such as burgundy, cream, camel and cognac. Fabrics with texture or a light sheen also stand out well in dimmed light.
How do I choose clothes when it is still dark in the morning?
Lay out your outfit the evening before in good light, or use a daylight lamp by the mirror. Work with a clear contrast between light and dark.
