Colour analysis - is it REALLY worth it?

[CambridgeBlue]

I know there have been a few threads about this and I know a lot of people on here swear by having their colours done but I'm still not convinced.

I looked at the Kettlewell website to see the different season palettes and there was only one set of colours I'd even consider wearing - if I was told I had to wear any of the others I'd be very :(.

Then there's the problem of finding things in 'your' colours - I can't see how it would be very easy to find clothes that are both a flattering style and in the right shade, shops seem to stick to certain colours each year apart from the more 'classic' ranges or things like dresses for weddings. Day to day clothes don't seem to come in the brighter hues that are suggested.

To me style and a flattering fit seem more important than colour and I'm sure it's your overall look which would make someone say 'you're looking good' rather than the fact you're wearing a bright orange top - does anyone really look that closely at someone's face so they can see how 'lit up' they look by the 'right' colour?

Lastly (and I'm sure this doesn't apply to anyone on here) but everyone I know who has had this done just looks really obvious - head to toe in turquoise or fuschia because it's 'their' colour when most people tend to wear less in your face colours.

I'm prepared to be proved wrong about this and there's a bit of me that would like to have it done if it can make that much difference to how I look but at the moment I feel I need a bit more persuading.

It worked for me but I didn't want to spend £££s on seeing a consultant.

So I bought a book for a few quid and worked it out myself

I wouldn't mind betting that the colour palette you are drawn to is the right one for you anyway...

I'd like mine done, if they did them in a department store near me or something. I'd like to know what hair colour/make up suits me best. I agree with your comments about clothes, I couldn't stand it if I was told to wear brown or purple!

I suppose finding clothes in 'your' colours could be addressed by wearing neutral colours with a scarf in one of those colours?

I had my colours done a couple of years ago. I know what you mean about head to toe fuschia etc but I certainly don't do that and I've only bought a couple of things from Kettlewell.

I found it worth it 'cos, when I need something new, I often now buy it in one of my colours. It turns out that my wardrobe (small though it is), now has colours that I can mix and match better whereas before I'd have a top one colour, a cardi another colour and the colours didn't go well together. I'd end up with clothes that I couldn't mix and match. Probably just bad spending on my part though . I don't find shopping for clothes fun so it's helped me focus. I've also found that I do get more comments now such as 'That top really suits you' and they comment on the colour so I do think that sometimes certain colours do enhance a person's appearance. However, I'm not religious about it. I do occasionally still buy something 'cos I like the look of it even if it's not 'my colour' and my bottoms i.e. trousers and skirts tend to be black.

Maybe try what LaRegina says and get a book to get an idea.

You don't get told what colours to wear. You get given a wallet with 36 swatches in. It's about finding the right shade/tone of a particular colour to suit you best.

I've had mine done and I certainly don't wear head to toe fushia or turquoise. I wear my jeans as I always did and buy tops and accessories in my colours but I feel more put together.

It can be hard to buy stuff for example emerald is one of my good colours but I've yet to find anything in it but i've found plenty of pink and cobalt.

If you're not going to embrace it then there's probably no point paying for it but you may be pleasantly surprised!

I don't geddit.

I have a mirror. I can see which colours I look good in and which I don't. For free.

I think that's sort of how I feel Bunny but there's a bit of me that's curious to see what a professional would make of me.

bunny I always knew that blue suited me and that browns/yellows didn't but I struggled with pinks/reds. I found it really useful to sit there and have scarves draped around to see what looks really good. I can see it's not for everyone though. My dh was certainly about it

Everyone can wear every colour it's just the right shade/tone of that colour that suits you more than others.

The problem that I can see is that no matter what colour palette you are given, you can only buy what is on sale and if you have been given a particular shade of green then you could end up on a fruitless mission to track down a shade that simply isn't being manufactured in that season.

Like bunny, I can see what colours suit me and am guided by compliments. If I wear a certain colour and people mention it then I'm onto a winner.

However, some people don't seem aware and just wear any colour so the service would be good for them.

Personally I think a better service would be to find out what styles rather than colours suit your figure best.

I found it did make a big difference - I thought I should be wearing muted autumn colours, turns out I should be wearing bright cool colours. Which do make me look better. Similarly, I now wear cool toned makeup which looks a lot better than the warm brownish colours I used to wear.

In practice, day-to-day, I wear head to toe black with a scarf in the required 'contrast' / colour palette close to my face, or white/grey/pewter as a contrast colour... And I occasionally wear something like a teal top on the weekend.

So finding things in the right style isn't a problem since I generally live in neutrals. The difference is I now live in the right neutrals - cool greys etc instead of sludgy colours.

Well I found it worth it. It explained to me why some things in my wardrobe I kept wearing and others I avoided wearing. It gives me confidence to choose colours I'd otherwise be scared of and apart from anything else it's demonstrated how horrific I looked in the swathes of black I used to wear.

Ditto what flowery said (apart from the thing about black, cos I'm a winter :) ) I'm sure some people are great at seeing what colours suit them, but I personally couldn't tell why I felt all wrong and looked drab in certain clothes. To me, if I liked the colour then the colour wasn't the problem! But I was wearing things like cream and pastels and muted colours and looked ill. It's not an exact science, but helped me and was a fun day out with friends! Makes shopping much easier.

I had my colours done at the weekend. I'd been thinking about it for a while, and had done my research so I had a fairly good idea which season I was. I thought I would be a summer, and I turned out to be a brown summer under the HoC categories.

So while there were no surprises as to my season,I found the ratings of the 36 colours to be most useful.

It turns out that I do have some of my good colours already in my wardrobe, as I bought these over the last year or so during my research.

Same with make up: I wear Bare Minerals and have come across sites where people have created spreadsheets of warm or cool eye shadow, which I've found useful.

I went shopping with my swatches at the weekend & found it harder than expected, as the 36 swatches don't cover all the colour variations in the shops. So there's an element of judgement.

I still think I will end up wearing some black certainly in trousers as I find it hard enough getting something to fit.

I'm thinking of trying the style day later in the year.

So, I'm a convert and would do it again. It didn't change anything, more confirmed I was heading in the right direction.

Yes the ratings of colours was useful, now I know which few colours are my absolute best, so would always go for those for an occasion dress, for example.

Absolutely the best money I've spent - I did colours and style (with a colour me beautiful consultant). It totally changed the way I dress - I was never a frump or anything, but now I gravitate towards to styles and colours that suit me. I also judge people who think they're looking stylish but have chosen the wrong colour.

One of the biggest testaments I got was that, after having it done, four people went to the same person on the back of my transformation in style. People who didn't know me before now consider me to be uber stylish and always well dressed. Its almost certainly paid for itself, because I now don't have items of clothes loitering at the back of the wardrobe unworn because I don't feel good in them.

Twointhemorning - can I ask for links to the makeup sites please? I am a deep brown summer and am part way to sorting out the clothes but have just realised I have not started on sorting out my makeup!

I currently wear brown eye stuff which may (probably) will be totally wrong!! Thanks

What's the book you bought LaRegina?

Interesting to hear how it's really worked for some people while others are as cynical as I am!

What Cassiphone, flowery and some others have said is spot on. I agree that it's given me more confidence in what I'm wearing. It also means that when I wear neutrals, like Cassiphone said, it's the right neutrals. I had beigey colours but found I looked best in cool greys.

I was already drawn to some of the colours that are part of my palette anyway but I didn't realise how some other colours, such as brown, really didn't do much for me. I feel much less drab now and, as I mentioned before, I'm starting to find that the colours of my clothes are starting to coordinate better. I'm not fashionable but it makes me feel more stylish and I have received more compliments since I had my colours done - but compliments about me looking smart or nice rather than 'that's a nice top' if you see what I mean. Yet I haven't changed my style at all - just focused on tops etc with colours from my palette.

I am also very curious but I'm not going to spend £100 or whatever it is. I love clothes and colours, and the only time I have ever put something on and thought immediately that the colour was awful on me was when I tried a bright yellow jumper. It actually did make me look dead. I tend to avoid white and beige and pastelly colours, because I find them dull and they show every mark and I am what DP calls a midden but other than that, I wear most colours and think I look fine.

There probably is something to it; from a link posted on here recently I think I am a dark winter or a cool winter or some such thing. But I don't feel I need to pay someone to tell me what colours suit me, I have a mirror for that.

Having lived with my colours, for a long time, I can't imagine choosing clothes without them. I think the fact that so many people on these threads have been colour analysed, and think it is worth it, speaks volumes.

It's not for me. I go for cut, style and on trend as much as I do for colour. If a garment looks obviously garish on me or makes me look pale and tired then I would reject it for colour. I love clothes and shopping. I would not like feeling restrained in my choices.

I've never had my colours done and wouldn't personally as I think I can tell what suits me, same with style.

But I know a lot of people aren't confident in making those decisions and see why HOC etc do well, and people feel good after seeing a consultant.

I do think though that the 'only winters can wear black' is a bit off. I mean, I see Giselle, Gwynnie, Jennifer A all wearing black and looking fab in it, and I doubt they're all the same season.

I also suspect a lot of the suspicions people have of it is down to Bridget Jones, who can forget her mother with her swatches

For example, I have mostly white gold or platinum jewellery but I do like the odd bit of costume McQueen or YSL (now SL of course....) in yellow good style metal. It is fun to mix things up a bit and I don't really feel that silver or gold look bad on me.

Loved it, really loved it and have easily saved the cost in the last 12 months by not buying clothes that just don't suit me. No, not everyone can "see" colours and we do need some help. My consultation also included a style session which helped me with other choices too.

Worth it for me (not previously lacking in confidence either).