It was good to catch up with you today - and thanks for the opportunity to see the model! I have to agree with your first post that, thankfully, the color looks pretty good in person. Although I've been known to wear a blue sock and a black sock at the same time on occasion, I'm inclined to say adding a bit of black to the mix and you've got a winner there. Mark, you pretty much nailed it when you doctored the pic - nice job!
As for photography, dear Fran, my humble advice would be to either get someone else to do the lighting for you OR stick with your day job and do what you know best - designing/building some of most incredible cars on the planet!
Best,
T.
P.S. - if you happen to be doing a photo shoot of Christie Brinkley, please give me a call - I'm your lighting guy!