How to find out which colours look best on you

In 8th grade, I discovered a Xanga diary my friend was keeping (remember those?) In one entry recapping our semi formal dance, this is what I read: “Jen was wearing a pale blue dress that made her look like a corpse.” To my credit, I think the living dead look was more so the result of two coats of light nude foundation shellac’d on my face than the dress (I have a dark olive complexion to put things into perspective).

But that being said, the pale blue dress did make me look extra sickly and Yoko Ono-ish — because it’s not my colour.

As my sense of style matured, I discovered what colours look best on me — but not everyone has that innate ability. But trust me, it makes a world of difference when you start wearing colours that complement you.

For those who haven’t quite nailed down your personal colour scheme, it’s easy to do a quick and dirty colour analysis. (If you want a super thorough job done, a professional image consultant will dig deep and help you determine complementing colours based on a 12 or 16 seasonal colour palette, examining your dominant and secondary physical traits. Not everyone needs this magnitude of colour analysis but the option is out there).

Here’s the Coles Notes version that you can do right at home:

Step 1: Understand the four seasonal colour categories

Picture the colours you see around you during each season. For example, autumn is full of warm tones like auburn and chocolate brown. Winter evokes images of an arctic scene where you’d see dark blue, black and stark white.

Winter (Cool)

Winter colours: Navy blue, deep grey, black, stark white, fuschia

Celebrities with winter colouring: Liv Tyler, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Connelly

Spring (Warm)

Spring colours: Gold, camel, peach, yellow

Celebrities with spring colouring: Nicole Kidman, Isla Fisher, Kate Hudson

Summer (Cool)

Summer colours: turquoise, lavender, powder pink, pastel green

Celebrities with summer colouring: Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker

Autumn (Warm)

Autumn colours: Chocolate brown, gold, dark green, orange

Celebrities with fall colouring: Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Jessica Alba

Step 2: Determine whether you’re a cool or warm shade

Examine your own features and compare them to the colour palettes of the four seasons above. Most light blonds with blue eyes are summer folks. If you have jet black hair and lighter eyes, you’re more than likely a winter person.

Another little trick is to put a stark white (cool) piece of fabric against your face and follow with a cream coloured (warm) fabric. One is going to look significantly better — bringing out your eyes, minimizing imperfections in your skin and generally making you look brighter.

Step 3: Confirm results by conducting a wardrobe test

There’s room for mistakes with this approach, but it’s a good way to confirm or deny your initial thoughts after analyzing your features based on the seasonal colour palettes.

Sort your clothing into piles by colour. Place all the reds in one pile, all the greens in another, and so on. Then, put each garment up to your chin in natural light and observe how it affects your features. You’ll notice immediately which colours are doing you a favour and which bring you down.

This is also a great opportunity to clean and organize your closet.

What colours do you think look best on you? Let us know in the comments.