Spring in the fashion world is known for it's bold bright colors, floral prints, and fresh stripes. And as the cold weather moves out we're all energized by the idea of freshening up our wardrobes, our color palettes...our lives. But what if it's spring but you're not? Or you're not sure what you are?You've heard of seasonal palettes and color analysis but you don't know which season you belong in. That makes finding the right things in spring even harder. How should you begin doing your spring closet cleaning when you're not sure what looks best on you?
Seasonal Color analysis has been around for decades but it's having another moment because no matter how much we all want to wear what we love (and we definitely should!) it can get overwhelming with the unlimited choices available to us today. We're not comparing a few bolts of cloth to use for our only new dress pattern. We have s o m a n y c h o i c e s ! So many. And sometimes that can lead us to overstuffed closets and understuffed wallets.
I've been learning about seasonal color analysis for about 5 years now, plus of course the times as teenager that my seventeen magazine touched on it. I'm still lost. It's not that I don't understand the theories it's that I don't know how to apply it with confidence to my seemingly unique circumstances, Rosacea, central heterochromia, and color oxidation to name a few. No this post isn't a science lecture but I do hope to cover all of that in it's own posts one day. The point is, I'm human so things don't always fit tidily and easily into their designated boxes. And they probably don't for you either. What should we do?
Well, I'm getting a professional color analysis!
Yay!!! (I've lost myself in glee because I never use multiple exclamation points.)
Yay!
There I fixed it. But y'all know now just how exciting this news is. It's the perfect use of my birthday money. And I can't wait to share it all and what I learned from it. In the meantime, I want to share a few thoughts of how I've learned to deal with colors when I didn't have pro advice in case they are helpful to anyone else.
Take Selfies. Use a mirror, prop your phone, do your best with poor lighting if you must. You don't have to share (though sharing in fashion groups can be helpful) but something about a picture tells you the truth in a way your mirror,mirror on the wall likes to lie.
Get inspiration from yourself. What color is your skin. What color is your true neutral and actually blends in with you as your perfect nude? Mine turns out to be a version of "blush" and not what's usually labeled nude at all. Cool emerald green and warm Rust/Spice both seem to work well on me because they're both in my eyes. If you can't know your season know yourself.
What colors do you like? There may be a reason why. It's also helpful to take note of what colors others like on you but consider carefully. I've noticed my loved ones are most likely to like their own best or favorite colors on me rather than noticing what harmonizes. Strangers can give great clues but sometimes people will comment on colors that really stand out exactly because it doesn't harmonize and that draws it to their attention.
Experiment. Try dressing completely as a particular season for a day or two. Or even a month. Then look at those pictures and compare them to your best pictures. Thrift stores and poshmark are great places to get pieces of different seasonal palettes to try. And if you decide it doesn't work be sure to pass it along to your friends, reposh, consign or otherwise find it another great home. If you have similar sized friends or family members exploring this together could work really well. Maybe even style it as a party! Using everyone's collective closets could eliminate the need to buy anything. You can borrow or swap.
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