I am currently in the middle of a personal style overhaul. It’s a slow process and I am having a lot of fun with it. Today I want to share a bit more about what started me on this journey.

To catch you up, I have to start a few years back.

In spring 2023, I “had my colors done” virtually. I am sure you’ve heard of seasonal color analysis. It was a trend in the 1980s (both my mom and mother-in-law laughed and reminisced about their own seasons when I shared I was getting mine done) and seemed to comeback with a vengeance in my corner of the Internet algorithm a few years ago. I was excited to try. For my online color consult, I sent a few dozen photos of me in natural light, holding up various colors of fabric to my face, to an online color consultant who told me I was a light spring. I got the results and was perplexed. The warm, light, bright colors were not ones reached for and were not ones that I have ever put on and felt like myself in.

Before we get more into it — I hope it goes without saying that I think everyone should wear any and all colors that they want regardless of their “season.” A color analysis is only fun if you want it to be fun. I wanted it to be fun! I also wanted it to be right. I have friends who have done a color analysis and their seasons immediately felt right and clicked for them. When I heard “light spring” and put on colors from that palette, nothing clicked.

I tried though! I picked “light spring” yarn colors and knit sweaters. I purchased a couple light spring tops that sat in my closet. But mostly, I just stuck to neutrals — shades of white really — that didn’t feel great but at least they felt better than bright pastels.

Then in March of this year, Alice, one of my book club friends, mentioned she had just gotten her colors done by a color expert in our area named Theresa. Alice showed me the color swatches she had been given in her “bright spring” palette and talked about how excited she was to wear clothes in her season. I decided it was worth it to try again and booked an in-person appointment for early May.

When I went to the appointment, I told Theresa that I had had my colors done three years ago but I wasn’t sure if I had been placed in the right season and I was so curious if she would come up with something different for me.

In-person color analysis is done by draping different colors of fabric over your shoulders in front of mirror in a well-lit room. You wear no makeup and if you dye your hair, it’s covered with a cloth to get the most accurate result.

As we went through the drapes, Theresa checked different colors and patterns to determine a few things. First is contrast — I am “low contrast” which means there is little difference between my skin, eye and hair color. Second is undertone — I have a “warm undertone” because my skin has a more yellow tint. Third is chroma — I am “low chroma” meaning the saturation of my lips, eyes, etc. is subtle and muted. All of these traits plus some color drape comparisons, led Theresa to put me in the “soft autumn” season.

After we both agreed with her assessment she asked, “Did they put you in light spring?” and was not surprised to hear me say “YES!” Turns out light springs and soft autumns have a lot in common! Both are warm. Both are low contrast. But the big difference is that my coloring is so muted. When I put on light spring top (like a salmon pink or bright coral) it’s overpowering. It’s not that I can’t wear colors, but in wrong shades, it looks like my clothes are wearing me instead of the other way around.

However, when I am in a colorful autumn color palette? I feel right at home. My clothes feel like they are part of me in the best way.