Are you one of those people who owns the room when you walk in the door? You make an entrance, a statement. People notice. Sure, you can charm everyone with your self-assurance and magnetic personality but if others looked closely, they would realise that the colours you are wearing greatly enhance your appearance and thus confidence. First impressions count and you know the secrets to success. You are happy to share what you know about confident dressing so when you are invited to a colleague’s Big Day In you decide that your session will be about how to feel fabulous in your best colours.
Perfect.
You are not a colour consultant by any means but you had long ago identified what wardrobe works for you based upon your colour “season” (Jackson, 1980). So, you are excited about sharing these ideas in this socio-educative format of Big Day In. Your mind starts ticking over about how you can make this fun for everyone yet do it in such a way that it’s memorable and creates a positive difference in their lives. You wonder what colour season each of your work friends might be (as in Summer, Winter, Autumn, or Spring), if they know that themselves, and how you can all come together so that everyone looks and feels fabulous. You know that this session may help people to rethink what to wear on every occasion as far as which colour palette suits them best in creating their fashion style. This guide is about helping you to help others to find their colours, gather their colours, wear their colours, and more.
They too can own the room.
Let’s get started.
Find your colours
The concept of finding your colours by aligning with one colour palette from the four seasons is not new. It has worked for a long time, yet not everyone uses their best colours when choosing clothes to wear. The four seasons of Summer, Winter, Spring, and Autumn have some defining colours, although some colours suit more than one season, and other colours are not particularly suited to any season.
Looking at your skin tone is key to identifying your best colours. Check out your wrists and palms and compare them with other people. Having blue (think cool) undertones denotes winter and summer, and golden (think warm) undertones denotes autumn and winter. Looking at each other’s eye colour also guides colour choices.
As a general rule, think of each season like this. True colours for winter, soft pastels for summer, earthy tones for autumn, and clear and crisp for spring (Jackson, 1980). How lovely that the author related colour to our natural world. Remember, it may not be 100% clear for everyone which season palette colours suit them best, but if it’s a bit tricky, this session will give them some things to work on in the future to truly sort out what colours are their colours if that is important to them. You can see that many colours have variants (Figure 1) so it may not always be straightforward for people to identify their season from only sample colours. Just do your best, have fun and hope that everyone learns something new. You don’t have to know everything; you are starting them on an adventure to creating a fabulous wardrobe and a better way of living.
It’s up to the individual to take it further and make it a reality for themselves.
Figure 1 Colours for all seasons (Jackson, 1980)
Gather your colours
Bring a range of colours to work with in your session. Keep it simple with a basic set of scarves, as plain in design as you can get, in as many colours as you think will work best. For example, black suits winter people only, so that is straightforward, but you might need a few tones across other colours to separate seasons, such as blue-green (summer) and yellow-green (spring), pastel-pink (summer) and yellow-pink (peach) (spring). You can mix colour combinations, for example, dark orange and brown (autumn) or light orange and clear brown (spring). Have fun with colours. Ask participants to bring a few scarves along too so you have a range to choose from. If you want to do more, get a range of colour groups from the paint store or you can purchase fashion colour swatches online. Don’t worry if you are not fully sure of the colours, remember it’s not about you being the colour expert, it’s a collaborative group effort about exploring ideas that are of value. Everyone will help each other to find their best colours. Big Day In is about you having a passion for colour and sharing in a way that may inspire others to take further action for themselves.
Just give it a go.
Choose your colours
There are many ways to play with colour and finding what works best for each person. Remember people do often instinctively know which colours suit them best so build on that personal knowledge. Clues may be in the scarves that they brought along with them. People can drape a range of scarves across their body in front of a mirror and decide for themselves what they like. Use the knowledge in the group where people can pair up to talk about the colours that suit each other best. Share within the larger group. We at Big Day In have created this flow chart (Figure 2) as an example of how colour seasons may be identified using black, blue-green, yellow-green, and navy. You could do one too. As well, let people work with silver and gold accessories to help differentiate between spring or autumn (gold) and summer or winter (silver) seasons.
Figure 2 BDI#1 Flowchart for identifying colour seasons.
Wear your colours
Have fun with your chosen colours. Dress up. Laugh. Enjoy yourselves. Learn what new colours suit you. Perhaps they are ones you have never previously considered to be yours. Organise a fashion parade within the group where each person chooses their favourite scarf or two or three to model. Try several colours or combinations of colours. Notice and talk about how confident people are feeling when wearing their best colours.
More than colours
If you want to do more this time, or to do next time…
Once you have your colours sorted, see if you can decide on the fashion styles that best suit your body type. For example, necklines can be round or V-neck, ruffles or plain, skirts can be long, short, or medium, and sleeves can be raglan, inset, with various lengths. There is so much more to discover in finding your style. Are you someone that likes to dress in bohemian, romantic, dramatic, sporty, or even classic? Aim for everyone to have some ideas for taking that colour palette in considering one’s style for their body shape so that each participant can go home, review their current wearables, and create a fabulous new wardrobe.
Wear what you love to wear.
Colours for everyone
These ideas around colour seasons have been with us for a long time but they still work. Those who are new to these colour concepts will find them helpful in looking good, feeling good about themselves, boosting confidence and lifting self-esteem. No matter who the participants are or what the session type is, there is still plenty of scope to extend these ideas from the session activities into creating a fabulous wardrobe that works. You will help people to feel good in their favourite colours and to own the room.
Yes. You did that.
Reference
Jackson, Carole (1980) Color Me Beautiful: Discover your natural beauty through the colors that make you look great and feel fabulous. Acropolis Books, New York.
Colour note
This article was written to inspire anyone who wants to plan and prepare their Big Day In session about feeling fabulous in colour rather than getting into the details of all the colours for all of the seasons. There is enough information here as a guide to get started, to have fun, and to provide the space for people to learn more about themselves and each other through colour. If the aim is to be a little more serious in leading a session in a professional space, then one should take the time to plan and prepare what to share and how to do that. Check out the reference provided or find more information and resources to help with creating a more detailed and educative session by delving deeper into the specifics of all the colours and how they mix and match for each participant.
Enjoy!
Big Day In adventures Inc.
Big Day In adventures is a not-for-profit incorporated community association.
Registration Number IA58839
Our aim is to promote and foster personal and community growth and development through socialising education to increase human and social capital and capacity worldwide.
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