This theory originates from the Five Elements color system: metal corresponds to white, Wood to cyan, Water to black, Fire to red, and Earth to yellow.
Does applying colors to the Five Elements really work? In my opinion, it offers little more than psychological comfort. It has little practical effect and does little to help one’s fortune.
For instance, if someone needs to strengthen the Water element, wearing blue or black clothes associated with Water is, to me, less useful than carrying a bottle of mineral water around… at least that is actual water.
Besides, another point we should not overlook is the effect of sunlight and heat on clothing colors. Let’s first look at the following experiment.
Taking the heat absorption of car colors as an example, the heat absorption of different colors from highest to lowest is: black, purple, red, orange, green, gray, blue, yellow, white.
Therefore, black fabric absorbs 85% of solar radiation heat, while white absorbs only 20%. The darker the color, the more heat it absorbs.
According to traditional beliefs, someone who needs Water in their destiny should wear more black clothes. Yet black clothes absorb the most heat, and people who favor the Water element generally fear Fire.
Especially in summer when Fire energy is strong, wearing black clothes that absorb the most heat will trap more warmth, strengthen the Fire energy, and thus produce the opposite effect.
From the perspective of heat absorption by clothing, people who favor Water and dislike Fire should actually wear more white clothes, while those who favor Fire and dislike Water should wear more black clothes to be reasonable.
Furthermore, light and heat have different properties. Green absorbs light better than black, but black absorbs more heat than green; light and heat cannot be treated as the same.
People wear black coats in winter to better absorb solar heat, not to absorb sunlight. In summer, light-colored clothes absorb less heat than dark ones.
In Feng Shui applications for clothing, the Five Elements—metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—are not always represented by their traditional colors; sometimes it is exactly the opposite. We must be flexible in applying these principles.
