Hi, all! (Please ignore if colour talk is not of interest -- I blather on a bit here!)
As many of you know, before I joined YLF, I had my colours analyzed according to the seasonal method. The verdict was true or cool summer, with some head scratching by the analyst, who switched out certain colours for some of bright spring's, and took away some of summer's softer hues.
I wasn’t too worried about that. I’d gone into it without many expectations. I saw it as a staring point. A basis for some general guidelines as I rebuilt my wardrobe. Because I already knew, essentially, what worked for me and what didn’t.
I’d always looked my best in anything in the blue and fuchsia family, up to and including a true red. The analysis confirmed it. Fab!
Still, it was a puzzle.
Back then, my hair was (highlighted) dark blonde with some ashy or charcoal undertones. Eventually, my hair turned grey, and I was even lighter toned, all over. Sometimes I wondered if I might be a “light summer” who’d been mis-typed.
But I look like dishwater in most washed out pastels.
In fact, with silver hair, I look better in brighter versions of “my” colours. Also in pure white. And — a first — neon yellow. YES!! I’ve decided I actually look surprisingly good in the silly high-vis safety vest I wear to bike in!!
What to make of all this?
After Sal’s recent analysis, and during my recent illness, I started down the internet rabbit hole with this question, and quite by chance I came upon a colour analysis system that does not depend on seasons, is much simpler than many, and makes better intuitive sense to me.
The person who seems to have devised it is less poetic (and also less rigid) than some of the other colour analysts out there, but she is charmingly authentic, and more inclusive than many. She looks at real women, not celebrities. She analyses women of all races and various skin tones..She looks at women of different ages. And especially if you have grey hair, I think you might find her discussion interesting and possibly helpful.
She works using colour theory alone — looking at 3 key elements — a person’s chroma (bright vs soft), their contrast, and whether or not they are warm or cool. By her system, I type myself as “bright, cool, light” — and this makes SO much sense to me! “Light” here would mean mid-tone (for the most part) as opposed to pastels. “Bright” does not equal “winter’s” extreme brights, again, for the most part — but does include brighter, clearer versions of “summer’s” typical colours. And cool is self-explanatory — undertones should be on the cool to neutral side, not warm.
Is it going to change anything? No. I have already (mostly) been buying and wearing my best colours, though there are some I don't like as well and others I seldom see at retail in items that otherwise fit my style, so I don't tend to wear, which must be true of us all. But this gives me a clearer explanation of why some things work and some don’t. And it’s also encouraged me to continue to experiment with brights that I may not have tried.
I'd love to hear your thoughts about your own colour conundrums and solutions!
