Yellow and Purple
Bringing bold color-chakra energy into the daily fold
What colors are you drawn to wearing? Do they change over time or with the seasons?
In the last few years, I’ve embraced colors I never wore much before—yellow and purple, but also orange, red, pink, and brown. Bold colors of passion and fiery energy.
For years I hid behind neutrals like black, white, gray, and navy blue. They were safe choices and conveyed a sober seriousness about how I approached my clothes, and how I felt about myself. Looking back, I wasn’t having enough fun, with clothes or in my daily life.
“Maize” collage by me. Original photograph is of a building on Ventura Boulevard in LA’s Studio City neighborhood. Prada’s America’s Cup sneakers are now a classic shape in fashion and they’re making them in all kinds of fun colors now, like this bright yellow. The man on the roof is Adom, a lululemon model wearing their Pace Breaker short in Maize yellow.
My time in LA cracked open my façade of conservatism. I got into vintage fashion, and began checking in with my heart about how items made me feel, in addition to the practical considerations of my lifestyle when making purchase decisions. When faced with lots of options for something as inconsequential as workout shorts, I started to choose the boldest color instead of black or blue.
Famous fashionistas have found their personal style by embracing color—think Iris Apfel and André Leon Talley.
Around this same time, I began learning more about the mind-body connection, including the seven main chakras, or energy vortexes within the human energy body according to Hindu scriptures. These energy centers correspond to certain body parts and states of being, as well as to key vibrations and frequencies of the light spectrum—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. It’s said that a blocked chakra can manifest in certain ailments, and that focusing on certain colors can assist in moving or unblocking this life force energy, also known as Prana or Chi.
Yellow correlates to the solar plexus chakra, located in the upper abdomen, and is affiliated with the concepts of personal power, confidence, and control. These have certainly been areas of focus for me over the last few years.
Purple (or violet) indicates the crown chakra at the top of the head, and touches on spiritual connection, enlightenment, and higher consciousness—three additional areas I’ve sought clarity around.
“Açai” collage by me. I love walking at night and finding all kinds of creepy, eerie vignettes like this one at the dead end of Woodlawn Avenue along the Hillsborough River in Tampa’s Riverside Heights. It was so still quiet. The grass is overtaking the brick pavers and the red diamond signs jumped out and touched me. The small bag is a Bottega Veneta “candy cassette” in “Unicorn” buffed paper calfskin and the sandals are Veja’s new Etna sandal model (they usually only do sneakers) in “Açai” suede.
On the surface, I simply like these colors. But I don’t believe in randomness, I believe we are all influenced by our subconscious mind, by the experiences we have that get “trapped in the body,” and the unique journey we each follow throughout our life, of growth, change, and transcendence.
If I think back, pops of color have always had a place in my wardrobe, they just feel more prominent now. I had a pair of yellow boat shoes and a yellow wallet in my 20s, and cherished a pair of burgundy Doc Martens as a teenager. I found a gorgeous vintage green Prada bag while living in Italy which is safely in long-term storage.
Today I balance staple colors like black and white—I also love a tonal look with black on black or white on white—with deep purples, earthy browns, cheerful yellows, and bold reds.
Color is very personal, so I can only speak to my own perspective. What I can say is that color is fun.
Color is a statement of presence, of sticking out instead of shrinking. I embrace color because it quietly tickles me. Color also helps me stand out. Choosing a color (vs. a neutral) to adorn oneself is an act of expression, a statement of intent, of affiliation, of connection.
What is the most dominant color in your wardrobe? How does it make you feel when you wear it?