INTRO - Hello & Welcome back to “Where Feng Shui Meets Fashion”! Podcast Episode 18. A place for Home & Wardrobe Inspiration. My name is Laura and I’m a certified Feng Shui Practitioner, Curator and Stylist for you and your Space. New Episodes drop every Sunday Morning. Subscribe for weekly tips on mindful dressing and decorating! This hybrid Podcast & Newsletter originates on Substack where you can follow me for all the visuals, text and video. My stories about Feng Shui & Fashion are told in part through pictures and visuals in the body of my newsletters here on Substack. So if you’re listening on Spotify or ITunes, you can subscribe for free on Substack. For all my other content and services check out my Link-tree.
Today we are exploring Shades of RED which in Feng Shui represents Fire Element. Shades Of Red ~ Feed The Fire for Luck & Attraction. Red attracts attention and is a power color. It’s dramatic and bold. Red is associated with passion and romance.
In china brides wear Red on their wedding day for all the aforementioned reasons. In Feng Shui we recommend wearing the color red when you have an important meeting or presentation. Think Good Fortune, attraction, power and luck.
Red spectrum colors run the gamut from shades of pink, fuchsia, oranges, bright red, wines, plums, and purples. Skin tone, disposition and tastes differ and fortunately there is a fairly broad Spectrum of red hues.
As a Winter, my skin tone looks best in jewel tones with a range from Fuchsia to Purple. Bright red is not my jam. I will wear a print with a splash of bright red in it, but I can’t pull it off from head to toe.
I also have to be in the right mood for Red Spectrum Colors or it can feel like I drank too much coffee. It’s not the color to wear when you want to fly under the radar or are feeling off. It can feel like too much energy for me sometimes, so I’m very particular about when and where I wear it. Shown here are my versions of fire element color.
As you can see pictured here my range goes from fuchsia, to purple, to burgundy. Essentially blue based reds or a slightly watered down version of red.
Last week on episode 17 called “HOW TO DRESS IN YOUR ELEMENT” I showed you how I dressed water element in a fiery way. Guess what’s happening today? I’m dressing Fire element in a watery way! It’s especially notable in the last two looks where I am dressed in two different burgundy velvet looks. The first one is an aline Wrap mini dress with long bell sleeves which I’m wearing right now and I can see on the screen that it reads as black. I promise you it’s burgundy. The second look is a long velvet burgundy jumpsuit with a deep v neckline, spaghetti straps and palazzo style pants. What’s watery about both of them is the velvet material and how dark the burgundy is bordering on black. The bell sleeves on the dress are watery and so are the flowy palazzo style pants. Freedom of movement and comfort is watery feature.
Red has a powerful impact that isn’t always for everyone.
How does red make you feel? It’s definitely stimulating. Too much red in a physical space can insight arguments and make people feel edgy. That’s why we balance the elements.
BAGUA MAP
From a Feng Shui perspective red is the color associated with the Fame Gua which is the energetic center of your home that represents your reputation and how you are perceived in the world as well as how visible you are. It can be found in the far back center area of the home and each individual room. Pictured here is a Bagua map to help you find your Fame gua. You might want to place some red there or perhaps a candle of any hue.
Not everyone likes a red spectrum color palette so there’s a number of ways to introduce the element into the environment or your clothes without color. Using the actual element as with the aforementioned candle or a pointy fiery shape like a star or triangle. In fact color is never the whole story for any element. Shapes, the actual element, and artistic representations of an element will all work.
A few ways to water down your fire ensembles include: wearing long flowing skirts, like the one I’m wearing at the top of the newsletter, sheer materials, something with a ruffle, velvet material and pairing your red with black also does the trick!
It’s a matter of dialing an element up or down based on how you feel and what you want to project. It’s also a very individual expression of your own elemental make up. I’m already pretty fiery inside which is why I usually dial down the volume on my red until it feels just right. The same applies when I wear black or water element and don’t want my fire completely extinguished. I think we each have specific sensibilities and sensitivities in relationship to color and the elements. For example, I can barely tolerate any amount of earth element. Think earth tones like brown and taupe. This element makes me feel lackluster and stodgy particularly in the color spectrum. You won’t find Brown in my closet other than my beloved comfy Birkenstock sandals. We all need some earthly grounding and I can handle a small detail like a cozy sandals or a square shaped piece of jewelry or neckline. Square shapes also represent earth element. These are all subtle nods to earth.
I see Dressing & Decorating as a form of alchemy, similar to cooking. You discover what ingredients appeal to your pallet and how they all go together. Your tastes can change and evolve along with your recipes. Bon Appetite! All right folks, I hope you are coming to understand some of the nuances of dressing with the elements and I look forward to sharing more examples with you soon. Many Blessings & Ciao for now!
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