Everyone has their own designated colour traits based on their skin. Credit: Freepik
It might be good to follow the trend, but understanding your skin traits is much better
By Aliyah Difia Rahma
Spring is upon us, and what better way to celebrate spring than to ditch our thick, heavy coats and scarves, and trade them for skirts and linen trousers? After the bleak and cold winter this year, many are hoping that the spring will fill our lungs with sunlight and warmth to repel the coldness that we have experienced in the past few weeks.
One of the most exciting things about spring is the change of wardrobe, we can finally wear something more lighter and flaunt an outfit that is more spring-coded – maybe like florals (groundbreaking).
After the Fashion Weeks, it seems that magazines are predicting that petal pink and pistachio would make their way to the fashion mainstream. And after the brown craze of last year it’s nice to see a much more cheerful colours fills our fashion feed.
But the truth is much harder to digest, as we all know that not everyone will look good wearing those colours. Just because the fashion magazine said it, doesn’t mean that we should all be doing it.
Colour analysis
Most of us have seen those TikTok filters, where people use colour analysis to determine whether they are a summer or an autumn.
These filters analyse everything from your skin undertone to digital colour draping, which are practices that a colour analyst would do if you came to them personally.
But is it too good to be true? Can you perform a colour analysis on yourself through the internet – and then cross your fingers, hoping for the best result?
According to Julia Calliano, a colour analyst and personal stylist based in London, getting a professional colour analyst is recommended to get your colour analysed correctly the first time.
“I see a lot of people come after trying to self-analyse…they still come in the end because they had different results when they did it online.”
According to Calliano, seasonal analyses are not comprehensive enough to categorise people’s skin traits and colours.
“Even our hair has different shapes and the eyes as well … I can see a lot of different colours and shades…but most importantly we see an undertone,” she said, which is why she now works with a system called the tonal method:
Infographic by Aliyah Difia Rahma
Instead of shoving people into one seasonal category, the tonal method offers a much more thorough explanation to what kind of colours corresponds better with you.
Light, deep, soft, clear, warm and cool are the dominant categories the tonal system can produce from the analysis.
According to Calliano, you could describe anything with this colour method from pets, rooms or a landscape.
Tonal method also has their own subcategories within their dominant, making it more specific and individualised.
“Some people tell me: ‘I know that I am a true summer. And I want to see you to confirm that,’” Calliano said.
“I mean, what you think is not going to change what I see.”
Avoiding overconsumption
Colour analysis is one way where we can avoid overconsumption and sticking to colours that suit us, and not regretting spending £40 on a new shirt that we won’t wear again.
It also helps us to navigate fashion trends and how can we dress to better suit ourselves.
”For me it’s another way to help people, feel better about themselves and increase their impact upon the society around them,” Calliano said
“If we make the effort of looking after ourselves and making the most of our gifts.”
So how should we dress up for the spring season?
How do we know our colours if we don’t have access to a colour analyst? According to Calliano, it’s better if we can get a professional to help us, but there are other ways we can discover which colours fit us the best.
”You can start with observing the different impact of the different garments that you have,” Calliano said.
”You can take pictures of you in every colours and then observe in which picture we see your eyes most,” Calliano said.
Seasonal changes create a different scenery for clothes to be worn – but we still need to make the most of the colours we wear.
“The most important interaction is between the colours you wear and your face, so I would aim at aligning these two things…so that there’s a kind of beautiful harmony,” said Calliano.
“I think that when we enter into the spring season, we’re all looking forward to going out more, to spend more.”
”Colours that are quite earthy, colours that have warm undertones are also very spring…peach, apricot, salmon, terracotta colours, so for people with warm tones it would be easy to embrace that,” Calliano said.
Someone who is a true spring can embrace their palette colours even more during this season. Credit: Freepik
“For someone that is soft, cool and deep, it’s good for tones that are still quite light because it’s spring, and we’re happy to put aside all the blacks and the greys that we have worn previously.”
”I would be happy to add a handbag that is in the colour peach or shoes, so these colours are bright and warm but I don’t wear them near my face, I wear them a bit further from my face,” Calliano said.
It’s important to dress the way you want. But if you want to feel more confident in your outfit choices, it makes sense to know the kind of colours that work best for you.
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