Lately, I’ve been thinking about ways to add a little more colour to my wardrobe. When I first created my capsule wardrobe I stuck to a very simple black, white and grey colour palette, which although was the right thing to do at the time I’m now craving some colour in my wardrobe again. I struggled to find many coloured items for the photographs for this post so clearly need more colour in my life. I recently received a lovely comment from a reader about how she feels colour suits my personality better than lots of black. Which has got me thinking that I do need to have a little more colour in my wardrobe, I’m never going to stop wearing black but a pop of colour here and there can only be a good thing.
I think the thing that puts me off wearing colour is it can be tricky to get right, a slightly off shade can completely drain your skin. But how do you know what colours you should and perhaps, more importantly, shouldn’t be wearing? I have recently experience 2 separate colour consultations at blogger events, which has got me thinking about colour analysis and whether or not it works. Colour analysis is something stylists are always talking about, but if I’m honest I thought it was a load of nonsense. To a certain extent, I’m still very sceptical about it as it can be quite limiting saying you can only wear certain colours. But in the interest of finding the perfect colours for me and my wardrobe, I’m trying to keep an open mind. I’ve done a little research into the topic and wanted to share 3 types of colour analysis with you. The best part is you can do all of them yourself at home free of charge, no need to book an expensive appointment with a stylist.
You may remember a few months ago I attended an event organised by Colour Elements where I had my colours read. I was told I was a water element which means I can get away with wearing bright, bold colours. Colour Elements is an Edinburgh-based company which aims to help women make the most out of their wardrobe by showing what colours suit them and giving them tips on how to wear colour. Colour Elements categorise colours by elements: fire, water, air and earth you can be a single element or a mix of 2/3. To find out your individual element you just need to send your picture to the team and they will get back to you with your colour element. They will also send you weekly outfit ideas based on your colour element to help you add colour into your wardrobe. They also have an app (only for apple users just now) which shows all the colours for your element - so useful when you’re shopping.
Colour Elements understand that wearing colour isn’t just about the clothes. You can add colour into outfits through makeup and accessories, which is great for anyone on a budget (or just doesn’t want to buy new clothes). In fact, at the event, I was complimented on the way I wore a bright pink lipstick with a black dress. Personally, I think this is a great way to get into wearing more colour as pink nails are far less scary than a pink dress.
One idea which keeps cropping up is colour seasons, similar to Colour Elements 4 elements (water, fire, earth and air) you identify whether you are a spring, summer, autumn or winter and each season has its own colours. So how do you identify your season?
The first step is to find out your skin’s undertone. Your skin will either have a pink undertone or a yellow undertone. One of the easier ways to find this out is to look at the veins on the inside of your wrists, if you have green veins you have a warm undertone and if you have blue veins you have a cool undertone. Cool undertones will either be a winter or summer and warm undertones will be spring or autumn. To identify your season you then need to look at your hair and eye colour. If you have cool undertones with dark hair and dark eyes you’re a winter. If you have a cool undertone with light hair and eyes you’re a summer. If you have a warm undertone with dark (or red) hair and eyes then you are an autumn. If you have a warm undertone with light hair and eyes you’re a spring. In To Mind has a great post breaking down the colours for each element and there is loads of information on Pinterest if you’re interested in finding your seasons colours.
According to this method, I’m a winter colouring which like a water element means I can wear bright bold colours. Obviously, I should be wearing more bright and bold colours and staying away from too much black and grey.
One thing I’ve noticed is all the colour analysis methods had very similar results for me, so maybe there is something in it.This is a massive topic and you can really narrow down colours and shades which suit you, but I think keeping it simple is best. You only really need a guideline of what colours to look for when shopping. As I’ve already said I don’t think colour is set in stone and you should wear colours you love and enjoy wearing. But for people like me who lack colour in their wardrobe, it certainly is helpful in getting started. I know I will be thinking about colour when planning my autumn capsule wardrobe and finding new ways to incorporate it into my outfits.
If you find the idea of adding more colour to your wardrobe overwhelming, read my post on adding colour to your capsule wardrobe for easy tips which aren’t overwhelming.
You are labeled a winter (I was too) which means bright and cool colours. I can see how Water would fit in with that. However Numba recommended warm colours for you, which is the opposite of Winter. So what sort of colours are you going to look for?
I'm thinking reds, bright blues and maybe a little green. Will definitely try everything on when it comes to colour to see if it suits. What colours do you wear most?
Grey, navy, white, teal and also colours I know are not my best. I just love them.
Hey Jessica,
You're very welcome to enjoy a free Colour iD with Colour Elements. Send a selfie headshot taken in natural light to [email protected]
You'll receive your iD and Colour Script plus you know which element of colours to use on our app which is free to download for iPhone and iPad.
Jen, thanks so much for this excellent post. Brilliant to hear that you're enjoying your water element and don't forget your shots of earth element too!