When "throwing out all your black clothes" isn't in the budget.

Carol Tuttle has mentioned time and again that if you are not a bold, striking Type 4 then you need to throw out all your black clothes yesterday. And why?

Type 1s look silly and childish in black. Bright, spring colors are for you!
Type 2s look washed out and not taken seriously in black. Muted, soft colors are for you!
Type 3s look old and fat in black (gee, thanks). Rich, shaded colors are for you!

Hearing this for the first time was quite a bummer as I believed black to be the universal color. But looking in photos I can see where my black clothes tend to have dominance and the eyes go there instead to my face. I also look older and more tired in black, the color pulls my face down, even when I'm smiling.

Problem: I'm too cheap to throw out all my black.

And I know I'm not the only one.

One day I was surfing Carol Tuttle's blog and read the comments in one of her videos.

Kathryn said (source):

I'm a Type3 and I have another Type3 friend who took her black clothes and soaked them in a light bath of bleach water, just enough to remove part of the dye and not destroy the fabric. She came out with some burnt oranges, and other rich hues!


Kathryn, your friend is a genius and you were inspired to write this! We, the people of the cheap, thank you.

Now it was time to try this out.

I took two black tops that I felt no emotion to (because I got these). If I lost them during this experiment, oh well. If they turned out as planned, coolio. I could go either way.

I filled the bottom of the washer with hot water and added, oh, 3/4 c bleach. I don't measure when I use bleach and therefore I probably go overboard with it. But I wanted results fast.

I let it soak in still water for 30 minutes (moving it around every ten-ish minutes, making sure it remained fully submersed) before allowing the washer to continue its cleaning cycle.

Before:

After:

The shirt, my first attempt, didn't turn out as I would have liked as I had it agitating in the bleach water instead of having it sit in still water. Some parts of the shirt didn't lighten as well as the rest. It doesn't look bad, it just looks like it's a little damp in some areas.

Biggest bummer? I hated this sweater when it was black. Now I love it (hellooooo chevron!) and it doesn't fit me! AUGH! I don't know how to modify clothing (now could be a good time?) and therefore will figure something out with it.

Maybe there's a giveaway in the future? That is, if there's more readers out there than the ones I have made up in my head....