Don’t write yourself off from colour!

The other day I went shopping with my mum (between us we were looking after my toddler son!).  I went into a shop and got into a conversation - naturally, colour and style came up!  This lady was absolutely convinced that red didn’t suit her and that purple didn’t suit her.  She had stayed away from these colours completely, because of some negative association she had built up somewhere that had led her to believe she couldn’t wear these colours.  And she was bothered about it!

I tried to dig into this with her and try to help, but we were a little short on time and there wasn’t enough space to be able to set it all out for her.  Hopefully she’ll look into colour analysis now I’ve mentioned it.

This isn’t an uncommon story.  There are plenty of people - and you might be one of them, I definitely used to be - who believe they can’t wear any blue, or any red, or any yellow, or any green etc.  This couldn’t be further from the truth!

In each seasonal palette, there are versions of every colour.  The ONLY exception to this is black, which appears only in the Winter palette.  It’s about understanding the characteristics and features of your season - this means that there will be a version of EVERY colour that you can wear!  Let’s take a closer look.

Here are some blues, reds, greens, purples and yellows, each labelled with the seasonal palette they belong to.

To the more trained eye there are significant differences between the colours here.  However, if you’re looking at this for the first time or you’re early on in your colour journey, it might look like there’s not much contrast between the four squares in each picture at all.  Trust me, there is.  In some cases the difference might seem subtle, but when you’ve got it on a person it’s those subtle differences that can make ALL the difference!  It is the case that you will appear drained and drab in one green, and radiant and youthful in another.  And you won’t just appear it, you’ll feel it too!  So if you’re basing any beliefs on one green you might have tried on once, think again!

Here’s the same colours again, shown in a different way together with the colours they harmonise with.  Yes they are obviously different colours, but they are all from within the same seasonal palette i.e. they all share characteristics and features.

The characteristics of the Spring palette are Clear, Bright, Light and Warm.  All of these Spring colours share those features.

The characteristics of the Summer palette are Soft, Blue, Smoky and Rose.  All of these Summer colours share those features.

The characteristics of the Autumn palette are Rich, Warm, Earthy and Vibrant.  All of these Autumn colours share those features.

The characteristics of the Winter palette are Clear, Bright, Vivid and Icy.  All of these Winter colours share those features.

This might be a different way of thinking about colour than you are used to.  It might seem a bit counter-intuitive to begin with.  But fear not, it’s based on decades of science and research and it’s a very solid model.  We’re not just making this stuff up!  

If you’re feeling stuck with your wardrobe, you feel nothing suits you, you spend ages in changing rooms to no avail, working out what to wear every day is a frustration rather than a joy, colour analysis is for you.  Maybe you used to feel like you had a handle on it all, but with age and as time has gone on you feel disconnected and it’s harder to understand the colours and style that make you YOU.  

Don’t undervalue yourself.  Don’t do yourself the disservice of staying in that rutty place.  Don’t deny yourself the gift of getting the right knowledge in your toolkit.  Everyone wants to look and feel their best and there is a very real, methodical way that you can get access to the information you need to do that - phew!

Please get in touch for a chat to see how I might be able to help you.  You can email, connect with me via Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn, or head straight to the bookings page.