Thursday, March 06, 2008

Color Blind

It's a overcast afternoon here in Houston and I'd been browsing through some old books when I came across my ancient Color Me Beautiful. Curiously I looked over my long ago decided season and also Autumn. I've always wondered if I was Autumn or Summer, but I concluded a while back that I am definitely Summer. Now, I'm not so sure. Could I have been stocking my wardrobe in all the wrong colors? Has my fascination with all things pink taken over my ability to see myself clearly? As I gazed at the list of Autumn's Do's and Don'ts, it clearly states "No Pink". Hmmmm. Yes, it could be that my love of pink had blinded me because a life without pink is entirely not possible. I looked down at the pink sweater I was wearing and went to put my makeup on. She says Autumns wear cinammon lipstick, not pink, so I put on one of my free gift with purchases and well, it kind of looked good on me. I was still wearing the pink sweater and it certainly clashed with that. I changed it out for a green and bronzey color sweater and hello, I'm alive. Here's and old picture of the sweater.



I'd just assumed since I have a pinky complexion and ashy colored hair that I fit into the description of Summer, but apparently I was wrong. I went back into my closet and gazed at all the pinks, blues with occasional caramel colors that will work as an Autumn. It's really a shame that I just bought this lovely pink sweater from Anthropologie. Now that I'm looking at it through new eyes, my proper hazel ones instead of my rose colored glasses, I can see that the other sweater is more flattering to my skin tone. Perhaps I can pair it with something brown to be more in line with the Autumn range. Here is my new sweater.



I really wish that someone, maybe Carole Jackson, the original author, would come out with a new version of this old standard. It's terribly outdated and I would like some new color role models and illustrations. Actually I found that she does have a website that is fairly updated and apparently I have the same coloring as Angeline Jolie and Julia Roberts. Well, that is a nice consolation if I do eventually have to give up pink. However, someone needs to tell Angelina that Autumn also says "No Black".

15 comments:

Genuine Lustre said...

It's wonderful to finally discover what looks good, isn't it? I'll bet you could wear a warm salmony pink.

For the longest time I thought I was a spring. My mother is an autumn and I think she discouraged my pink and purple tendencies. Lo and behold as a grownup I discovered that I"m a summer. Ashy hair, pink skin and bright blue eyes, low contrast.

I tore out the summer palette pages from my old Color Me Beautiful book and put them in a page protector as a reminder.

The Closet Therapist said...

Polly, Really? Salmon pink. Well, that is quite encouraging! Now, I can't wait to go shopping to embrace my new color pallette. I'll be saying, "This, or this" and driving my husband crazy on a whole new level.

Our mothers have quite the influence on us. I wore my Mother's clothes when I needed something dressy, but that just led me to never question what was "my" color.

You're so lucky that you are a Summer with your pinks and purples. I'll remember fondly my time as a Summer wannabe. :)

LJ said...

I did a post many months ago (August?) about "Color Me Beautiful" and I always was on the Summer/Autumn fence as well. I have ashy light brown hair, blue eyes (rimmed with brown) and freckles. I agree that the blues, pinks, creams, and wine colors look best on me - but I also look best with red hair or darker brown with lots of gold. Since re-reading CMB, I have added a lot more color to my wardrobe and I have found that I really like pinks in lipsticks and blush. Are red-heads "allowed" to be summers?

Leah

Anonymous said...

I have it easy - I'm one of those "Snow White" Winters (hair black as coal, skin white as snow, etc.). My mother definitely influenced my wardrobe choices; I was not the baby girl in pink, but I had lots of red and my party dresses were black velvet, not pink taffeta!

The Closet Therapist said...

Leah, I'm going to go back and look at your post right after this. Can a redhead be Summer? Why not? (It says it can be brown with auburn cast.) I believe if you have elements of both, then you can sort of go both ways as long as it's subtle. Then again, I've filled my closet with summer colors and all of a sudden realized that they aren't as flattering to me as I thought they were. Maybe the key is blending a favorite color with your best color. I wish we were closer and we could help each other figure it out.

There are several questions in the book to determine between Summer and Autumn-Do you look better in orange red or blue red? among others.

My problem is that I have warm eyes and cool skin. The real trick is someone giving an honest opinion. I am going to go check you out and diagnose you. :)

The Closet Therapist said...

Anonymous-Well you are lucky that you know you are a winter, unless of course you wanted to be Cinderella in yellow and ballet slipper pink. :)

LJ said...

I just read your post on my blog. My hair is dark brown/red now! I was just at Starbucks and I saw a mom that I know and she loves the new color - she says it makes my eyes pop. Almost all colorists say "red" when they see me - either that or dark golden brown. I think CMB says that Summers are the one season that almost always looks best when they color their hair, either lighter or darker. The one season I am NOT is Spring. I hate yellows and apricots.

As far as reds go - I look best in wine or plum colors - just like in the palette in CMB.

You look good in pink so I wouldn't get rid of it - although I think you probably are an Autumn from just looking at your pictures. I could see you wearing a rusty/orange sweater with rich browns. It would really show off your eyes.

I try not to stick to CMB colors too much. I love black and gray and will not stop wearing them but I have also started to add a lot more color to my wardrobe and I really like it. I am sticking to CMB colors for this added color.

Thanks for the help with the color analysis!

Leah

LJ said...

By the way... I love your haircut! Very cute.

Leah

nikki said...

i'm a mix... i have winter-y coloring with very dark brown hair (almost black) and very pale skin but hazel, more green than light brown, eyes. so i look good in jewel tones and light blue and very good in black but with warmer make-up. and yet, i also look good in deep brown, dark olive, or orange but not in khaki or pale yellow or pale pink (i disappear). i never understood why the cosmetics professionals would try to put winter color-cosmetics on me but i'd look painted, garish, like a kewpie doll, as my mother would say. i always look better in warmer toned cosmetics i guess because of my eyes. so i don't think it's as easy as saying a woman is definitely one "season" or another, as seen by the comments above. we need to play around with color to find what looks good on us.

The Closet Therapist said...

Leah, Thanks! I finally found a hairdresser who cuts my hair well and doesn't cost a fortune. $20!

MdMom, I rarely trust the makeup artists because they are always pushing the latest colors. I think part of our season might be our personality and I just feel pink. We do have to wear what makes us smile. :)

Denise Kiggan said...

I have recently found out that I am a Spring - after living the rest of my life thinking I was a summer. I was completed committed to pink too - but I have replaced that with apricot now. It was quite a shock at first, but quite refreshing to think completely differently and I know I look better in these colours too!

The Closet Therapist said...

Freshly found-I've also been taking a new look at apricot. I still love the shocking pinks but admit that the oranges and apricots and corals are more flattering on me. We're always learning...

Anonymous said...

There is an updated version of the '4-season color analysis' - the '12-tone color analysis' . I just had mine done yesterday and am thrilled with the results. My colorist says that 2/3 of people don't fall clearly into the 4 color seasons that were made so popular with Carole Jackson's book. This new version splits each season into 3 - a "true" season, then one that's sliding toward the season before and the season after. In the 80's I was typed at a salon as an Autumn, but the colors just didn't seem quite right to me. Using the new method I am a Dark Autumn - Autumn sliding towards winter - the palette is not as bright, the colors deeper and muted, and slightly cooler than a true Autumn palette. Every single color drape the colorist tried on me made me look amazing - and the thing was almost NONE of these colors were things I would have thought to try (honey, orchid, tomato red?! Never! And yet, they're fantastic on me).

Concerning the black - it IS in my palette, but my colorist said if I wore black next to my face to make sure to wear makeup, at least some lipstick, or else I'll look washed out. Turned out she was right about that, too.

The Closet Therapist said...

Pinkzinnia-Where are you located? I would love to have this done. I think this would be a much more effective system and it sounds like it really works for you. Knowing is half the battle, but the other half is finding the clothes in your colors. Thanks for the comment and info!

Anonymous said...

I'm located in central texas - the colorist is in Schertz Texas, and her company is KM Impressions.

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