What colours suit someone with this complexion etc?

[TheProvincialLady]

My mum has quite yellow, sallow skin, brown hair and green eyes. I want to buy her a cashmere jumper for Christmas but we have such different colouring (I am blonde and very pink and white) that I am finding it hard to choose a colour that will suit her. The situation is compounded by the fact that she doesn't know what suits her either, and often wears colours that look dreadful (mustard brown for example) so I can't go by what she normally wears.

So can someone suggest what might suit my mum? She is 55.

Clear red...how do I know if something is a clear red or another sort? Is this a clear red, please?

I did think of getting my mum a HoC voucher but I am pretty sure she wouldn't use it.

Can you try a green that is close to her eye colour? Or a warm brown that's close to her hair colour? That's a starting point, at least!
I have no clue about Summers and Winters and all that House of Colour jazz, but she sounds like she'd suit autumnal colours - as in rusty red leaves, warm greens, browns and the like. But maybe you could spend the cash on a book explaining colours and style... if not a colour consultation itself? (Tho that's $$$)

Oh sorry, you just said the thing about the voucher... must read properly....

PS note that the red you've linked is on a person with your colouring. It sounds like a more rusty red may suit your mum?

A book is a good idea - I hope it's not too offensive though (she does know I dont rate her style too highly). I can see olive green suiting my mum, its the same colour as her eyes. Autmunal colours, yes.

I had my colours done decades years ago. Great fun, though I admit I was a bit obviously spring.

My first thought was to suggest you get her colours done as a present. Just looked at the prices these days and was a bit as it's very expensive though!

(I was done via Colour Me Beautiful, here and they still sell their co-ordinated makeup as well. I had no idea they were still going so thanks for getting me to look!)

This is a good place to start at making a guess.
I would guess aubergine and olive might suit her?

Hmmmm...no.

It might be the choice of clothing DM buys in mustard that makes it look so bad actually. She buys an awful lot from per una.

:) Your poor mum.
How about a scarf or three (in olive, aubergine ;) and maybe a red) rather than a jumper? You could see whether any of these colours suit her. She could then wear them next to her face thus removing the focus from badly coloured jumpers and/or use them as a starting place for the rest of her (new) wardrobe.
Oh and keep the receipts and the two of you can decide what suits her and return those that don't.

Funnily enough though, she might not be a warm type at all. My DH looks Italian/Jewish/Greek with much yellower skin than me (I am like OP), hazel eyes and almost black hair but is actually a winter like me. He looks best in black, purple or blue and clear contrasts.
In conclusion... get her the book about colours so you can analyse yourselves and everyone else you know together.

Agree with Silk, impossible to guess. When I had y colours done my friend had sallow skin and is a Summer (a cool season), I have whiter than white skin and Im a Spring (a warm season). There's no point trying to guess

When I had my colours done in April the consultant told me that the colour that suits everyone is purple because it is mid spectrum. Try and pick a purple that's mid depth in colour density (so not a plum and not a lilac but somewhere in between).

Something in the middle of this colour block might work well

OP, your mum sounds just like me. I'd say pastel colours, greys, charcoals, deep raspberry, royal blue and white.

If your Mum looks yellow she will need to wear cool toned clothes to counter this. Do her eyes stand out or are they more muted?
At a guess she is probably straddling two seasons and I would look at the colours suggested for a dark winter.

Are you sure you really want to get her a cashmere jumper? Unless you are very careful with the quality, it might pill very quickly. I've got a few old cashmeres that are decent quality but mostly buy 100% merino these days because it's much less faffy to maintain.

If I were you, I'd scrap the cashmere jumper idea altogether and instead get her a voucher to have her colours done and offer to go with her - masquerade it as mother-daughter fun or something. If she is between seasons or a soft season, it's money really well spent to get her colours done by an expert.

Sorry to come back to the thread so late - I was stricken with a sick bug again (seems to be never ending at the moment).

I am going to give serious thought to buying my mum a colours voucher. She won't go unless I go too so it will be like giving myself a present, but that's not such a bad thing.

My mums eyes dont stand out, no, but they are very pretty when you look at them. It's hard to describe her colouring really so perhaps a book or a voucher is the way forward.

DonaAna I have heard a lot of people say that about cheaper cashmere but I bought a tesco cashmere jumper of all things, and 1 year on it still feels beautiful, hasn't pilled or gone out of shape. Was planning to spend about £100.

Thanks for the tip. Yes you're probably right about the right colours making her eyes stand out

Thanks everyone, you're really helped.