Posts Tagged ‘what do we get out of color and style analysis?’

What Do We Get Out of Color and Style Analysis?: Line

In my first post in this series, I discussed the impact that knowing our best colors can have on our lives. When it comes to what is more important, color or lines, it is a bit of a chicken-or-egg question, and many feel that color is more significant. Perhaps because I’m a person for whom wearing an all-black uniform holds a certain appeal, I find lines a lot more important, personally.

Knowing my lines enables me to look over a bunch of garments and understand immediately which ones will work and which ones will make me look like a lumpy bowl of gravy. I no longer waste time with clothes that I know won’t flatter me, and I don’t have to feel bad about myself when I look in the mirror. I no longer wear things that fight against my body lines.

One of the major frustrations with being a type like Flamboyant Gamine is that things that are generally regarded as “universally flattering” for women everywhere don’t work all that well on a Flamboyant Gamine. Jerset wrap dresses are my sworn enemies.

2-Sherbert
(Source)

What I love about yin/yang systems is that they are all about stopping fighting with yourself. Systems that are strictly body-type based tend to focus on making you what you are not. If you’re short, you should look taller. If you’re curvy, you should look less so. Supposedly, with the “right” clothes, you will arrive at some kind of “medium.” Medium height, some curves but not too much, everything in proportion…

And yin/yang systems say it’s okay to not be a classic. I’m shortish and bluntly angular, rather than curvy, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s no point in wishing I had smooth curves that would look great in said wrap dresses. I can wear my short and sculpted dresses instead–which I like better anyway!

Knowing our lines improves our lives in two ways. First, it obviously saves us time because something like 90% of what is in any given store is going to be eliminated immediately, and we will only consider what we know actually works for our bodies. Second, it helps us to embrace our natural beauty rather than wasting time trying to become what we are not.

————————————————————————————————–
Know your type in several systems but having trouble putting it all together? My workbook can help.

What Do We Get Out of Color and Style Analysis?: Color

The other day, a friend of mine commented that it was the second time in our eight-year friendship that she had seen me wear lipstick. It’s true that I never used to wear lipstick, or if I did, the shade was so nude you wouldn’t even notice it. I would buy the pinks and reds generally recommended for fair-skinned blondes, but I would never wear them out of the house. When I did, I would get comments like, “Oh, you’re wearing LIPSTICK.” I didn’t understand how to choose lipstick that I would actually wear out of the house and feel comfortable in.

Same with colors in clothes in general. Most of my wardrobe was–and still is, since replacing an entire wardrobe takes time and money–black and gray. When it came to adding color to my wardrobe, I didn’t even know where to begin. How could I be sure that something would flatter me?

There were a lot of missteps along the way, and for a good reason. Most of what I’ve heard all my life is in line with the advice for Light Summer and Light Spring: turquoise, pinks, lighter colors. Nothing too dark. When I started looking at color analysis, I assumed that this was my fate. I resigned myself to bright and light spring colors.

light_spring_colors
(Source)

But once I actually had a Light Spring fan in my hands, it was clear that it was bad. Really bad. It was a long process, but I found myself staring at Dark Autumn.

It didn’t seem to make much logical sense. How could my leading characteristic be darkness when I was so light to look at? But the colors worked, even notoriously difficult colors like yellow. Putting together Dark Autumn colors is easy and feels right. Dark Autumn lipsticks, even some that look very dark in the tube, look right on my face. I’ve gone from never wearing lipstick to having it often be the only makeup I’ll put on.

dark_autumn_dresses
(Source)

The colors in the Dark Autumn palette are so unexpected for my natural coloring that, although they are colors that I am drawn to and appeal to me, if I hadn’t come to Dark Autumn through color analysis, I never would have reached for them myself. It would never have occurred to me that this is the color family that suits me. You’ll never find a picture of someone with my coloring as a celebrity example of a Dark Autumn palette–although blonde hair with a lot of depth, eyes that are a deep mix of green/blue/gray with spots of yellow, and pale skin are fairly common among draped Dark Autumns in 12-season analysts’ portfolios.

What color analysis has enabled me to do is understand how to use color. I have a fairly strong background in art, so I know how to use color more generally, but I was at a loss at how to use it on myself. It freed me from literal my-lips-but-better colors and always selecting black or gray.

Seasonal analysis can seem quaint and old fashioned to those whose only reference is something like this video. But contemporary color analysis enables us to pinpoint exactly which colors flatter us and bring out our best selves. It enables us to select clothing and makeup with confidence, and more practically, it creates a wardrobe where everything coordinates perfectly.

————————————————————————————————–
Know your type in several systems but having trouble putting it all together? My workbook can help.