Does it really matter what Season I am?
Creating a palette for a beautiful Gypsy Autumn
Determining the Season is a complex and wonderful part of Color Analysis, one that connects you to Nature: emotionally, psychologically and physically. But it’s not always straightforward as it’s a very subtle process that needs a keen eye and a really deep understanding of the energies of color as well as what might simply look good.
Maybe you’ve met someone who’s had several color palettes done by several different consultants working with different color systems and you’ve noticed that while the colors may be similar, the Seasonal designations may be very different.
A Bright Summer palette in one system looks suspiciously like a Soft Spring in another system. Or maybe you’ve seen people typed as many different Seasons by many different consultants in the same system.
Or maybe that’s been your own experience and it’s left you confused and even a little jaded about the “Seasonal” piece of color analysis.
I’m here to help and explain how and why this might happen and what’s most important to focus on when finding clarity around your own season.
Why are the seasons important?
Many color consultants have eliminated the Seasons altogether, giving people numbers or archetypes or tones in place of the traditional Spring, Summer. Autumn & Winter Seasonal references. But understanding your deep connection to Nature is key to understanding yourself and the colors that support you. This is where the true magic of Seasonal Color Analysis begins. As Suzanne put it,
““When you discover your color relationship to the universe and begin to use the energies that flow from it, you set in motion authentic personal transformation. Within you is embryonic magnificence. You may learn to release it through the use of color as your medium, as the caterpillar emerges in its total beauty from its chrysalis.”
So how might you end up in the wrong season?
Someone may match your personal colors precisely but miss the quality of color that connects to your energy because they have not discovered your relationship to the universe. Yes, there may be many colors that you can wear, many colors you can “get away with”, and many colors that you get complimented on. But they may not be the colors that light YOU up, that make YOU shine, and that reflect who YOU are from the outside in. This is where the real magic of color analysis can happen and it’s a very subtle process.
So how do you get it right?
Within the color appointment, we start by finding colors that relate to your skin, hair and eyes – but this is just the beginning.
While focusing our attention on your personal color harmony, we watch how the color interacts with you and how your energy bends the color. Do you bring out the gray in a color? Does a color look too sour on you? Too warm? Too intense? By paying attention to how you affect the color and are affected by the color when the color swatch comes near to you, we begin to see your Season take form.
We watch how the color interacts with you and how your energy bends the color
Next, we notice that certain colors support very particular qualities in you. We know, in general, that wearing the right colors will support any person - but in a true Seasonal Color Analysis, the analyst will figure out exactly what inner qualities the colors support in you. This is a more abstract concept, but it is an essential part of determining your Season.
The magic comes from finding the colors that are true to you and support you in the essence of your being. In other words, the magic comes from the living and interactive relationship between you and your colors.
For example, if you are a Spring, the color affect is one of refreshment or buoyancy. The right colors will literally light you up.
This is a very important part and distinction. Spring colors can be on the cooler side, the warmer side or even be neutral – but they will always uplift and refresh a Spring person.
With Autumns, we find that the color primarily supports your inner fire in some way. Again, the Autumn palette colors may be cooler, may be very spicy, may be neutral and quiet – but what the color supports in the Autumn is fire, whether it be a spark, an ember or an open flame.
With Summers, there is a subtlety and a complexity of some kind. It will be found in both the color and in the person. Summer colors are not always muted with gray. Sometimes they are muted with complements. Sometimes the entire palette is muted with a soft taupe. Summer colors are not necessarily pastels. But, no matter what, there will be some kind of overriding complexity present. A Summer’s colors will support his/her complexity.
In Winter types, there is an un-compromised purity that the color resonates with. When the color comes up next to them, we feel the presence of some aspect of the undiluted, the un-compromised, the brilliance. It’s like the purity of fresh fallen snow and the way every other color contrasts with it.
Intuition and relationship is key
There’s no room here for formulaic approaches, no tolerance for pre-determined sets of colors. We are all so individual and so unique that we cannot be put into tidy little boxes.
As human beings, our personalities also vary. We each express a wide spectrum of personal qualities. Loud, quiet, introverted, extroverted, bossy, sweet, romantic, refreshing, thoughtful, brash, happy, creative, powerful, light, heavy, carefree to name just a few. Some of these traits we carry from birth and others we’ve adapted or picked up along the way.
A personality trait does not determine your Season but it may affect how you express your Season. So, for purposes of identifying your Season, a good Color Consultant will find the quality of particular colors that support an essential piece of your personality as well.
And, of course, if your Season and colors are true to you they will resonate with you at the very core of your being.
All of this leads to the revelation of your Season and your unique relationship to Nature. It will create an undeniable harmonic that informs the Colors you wear and the way you wear them.