2. Matching in Almodovar's Movies & Fated To Love You

Not only is Pedro Almodovar a master of colours, but he is also master at matching costume colours and designs with the props and surroundings.

[Below: Women On Verge of Nervous Breakdown (1986)]
Black boxes: The check prints on the character's blouse go with the rectangular bricks, notice-board and notices.
Yellow boxes: Beige bricks with beige phones, and even the kitten in the wall picture.
Pink ovals: Black phone with black case.
Blue ovals: Red checks on the blouse with red pencil, counter and the red ball in the wall picture.

[Below: Kika (1993)] A riot of colours clashing with geometric shapes and floral prints. 

[Below: Kika (1993)] A scene full of clean lines and geometric shapes with brown colour scheme.  

In recent years, some Japanese and Korean dramas are starting to match characters' clothes with their surroundings. Some shows have only a few matching scenes whereas some go all the way to match. A good example of the latter is Fated to Love You where the stylist devoted much time and effort to match props and costumes in many scenes. 

[Below: Episode 9] The colour and prop-matching in this scene comes as a surprise as I thought at first that only Mi Young's skirt matches the yellow flowers in Lee Gun's hand. But then I noticed that Lee Gun's blue jacket with white stripes go with the blue wall with white words. So I looked more closely and noticed that the green leaves behind him match the bouquet's green stalks. The lines of these long and straight stalks match the pin stripes on the jacket and  the lines on Mi Young's mother's striped blouse. Unexpectedly, the orange-white designs of her blouse go with the red-white combination of the containers which have almost the same shade as the red-white board outside the shop.

[Below: Episode 1] The setting is a very pretty candy shop. Here, Mi Young is wearing a colourful scarf to match the lollipop which matches the the shop's name card. 

[Below: Episode 1] I was particularly impressed that Mi Young's colleague is holding a cup with stripes that match the candy shop's name card. Though a brief scene, the stylist actually paid attention to such a minor detail, hinting at the big budget allotted for this drama. 

[Below: Episode 2] The makeover scene in a hotel in Macau.
Very clever of the stylist to draw the curtain such that the folds of the curtain show alternate shades of blue and dark blue, thus matching Lee Gun's two-toned striped vest nicely.

[Below: Episode 4] Multi-coloured clothes can't go wrong if you are matching a colourful background. Mi Young's sister's colourful skirt matches quite a things. Notice how the yellow tier of her skirt matches the food, too.

[Below: Episode 4] Both are wearing navy blue clothes which match the blue lighting and the stylist actually got them yellow pillows to match the yellow light behind.

[Below: Episode 4] Lots of green leaves to match the green chalkboard and noticeboard. If you look carefully, you'll notice that Lee Gun's grandmother's hanbok, and the mauve and bright blue ribbon match match the purple and blue notice on the noticeboard. The amount of preparation that went into this and other scenes!

[Below: Episode 4] Green is the theme for Mi Young's brother-in-law--his check shirt matches the greens behind him and the stylist added a green wine bottle since he is drinking with another man.

[Below: Episode 5] Mi Young's blue floral skirt comes in very useful in a few scenes as its colours are easy to match. In this scene, the skirt matches the blue railings beautifully as the shades of blue are very close. 

[Below: Episode 5] Are the two of them wearing white tops so as to match the adorable white dog? Not only does Mi Young's skirt match the blue wall and blue signs near the table, the floral prints also match the yellow and red umbrellas. Even Daniel's red pants serve a purpose--they match the red umbrella! Very clever.

[Below: Episode 5] I don't like guys in red pants but when I looked at this scene carefully, I realised the red pants are actually to match the red flowers on her skirt! He can't wear a red shirt as he has to wear a white shirt to match Mi Young's white blouse. Her blue skirt matches the workman's blue jeans and the yellow floral prints on her skirt pick out his yellow top.

[Below: Episode 6 ] Mi Young's bag is the central prop here that matches the flowers on her skirt, the posters and art exhibits.

 

[Below: Episode 17] Good matching of Granny's vest with the flowers, the leaves of which match those outside the door.

Part 1: Colour Influences From Almodovar's Movies

Part 3: Why Not Match All The Way in FTLY?