Color Me BeautifulSidetracked Sisters

season Back in the early 1980s, a book was published called “Color Me Beautiful”. The inside flap of the book states “Using simple guidelines, professional color consultant Carole Jackson helps you choose the thirty shades that make you look smashing. COLOR ME BEAUTIFUL will also help you: develop your color personality; learn to perfect your make-up color; discover your clothing personality; use color to solve specific figure problems, and more, including full-color palettes containing the thirty shades for each season–pages you can cut out to carry when you shop!”Some common misconceptions are that all brunettes are winters, all blondes are summers, and all red-heads are autumns, but that is totally untrue. This book helped to show me what colors made me look my best.

I was 12 years old when Mom, her friend, her friend’s daughter, and I went to a stylist to each have our “colors done”. One by one, we sat in a chair while the consultant laid various pieces of fabric over our shoulders, took notes, and stood back to evaluate us. By looking at our skin tone and our eyes and comparing how those looked against each of the fabrics, she was able to determine what seasons we were. At the end of the process, the consultant informed us what colors looked the best on us. My best colors are aqua and fuscia.

She presented each of us with a credit card-sized wallet containing swatches of the colors that we should wear. I was informed that I’m a winter and I should only wear silver jewelry. From that day on, I have strictly followed my color palette.

seasons

Warm colors

Autumn: You look best in stronger colors with orange and gold undertones.

Spring: Your colors are clear, delicate, or bright with yellow undertones.

Cool colors

Winters: Clear, vivid, or icy colors with blue undertones make you look best.

Summer: Cool, soft colors with blue undertones are right for you.

I had some gold jewelry that I had received from both of my grandmas prior to this event and after my colors were done, I never wore another piece of gold jewelry. I also had a favorite brown striped sweater that I frequently word that never again saw the light of day.

The nice thing is that no matter what season you are, you can wear just about any color. Sometimes it’s just a different hue that is needed for the different seasons. For example, a cherry red is good for a winter, but an autumn needs an orangier red.

Now my wardrobe consists of a lot of black, but also numerous jewel tones. I refuse to wear something that doesn’t fit into my season’s color palette. There are no browns, olive greens, oranges, or even yellows. Lisa on the other hand is an autumn and doesn’t always follow her color rules. I think she just does it to irritate me. My jewelry is solely silver and my kids all know not to even consider getting me something gold.

One time, while working at the local bank, I encountered a beautiful red-head that looked amazing in the earthy tones of an autumn and I told her, “Boy, I think you are an autumn.” Her reply, “Well, my birthday IS in September!” I laughed to myself because I knew that birthdays have absolutely nothing to do with what colors you look best in. I didn’t say anything to her.

Looking at my kids, I have a very hard time visualizing them in anything other than winter colors. Maybe that’s just because after all of these years, I’m very partial to my cool, bright, jewel tones. Maybe they are all winters, afterall, they are the product of two definite winters!

When looking up the book “Color Me Beautiful”, it has now been republished and apparently, they have now gotten more granular and subdivided each season into 3 separate subgroups, thereby allowing for a more specific color palette. Wow, guess I need to have my colors done again!