My colors didn’t 100% click for me until I started to incorporate my archetype.
After learning my season, my makeup looked great and my closet was harmonious. But my outfits were still kind of...blah. Certainly more blah than I'd envisioned when looking in excited awe at the luxury drapes during my analysis. I wasn’t fully getting that WOW feeling when I looked in the mirror, because I still didn’t know how to pull the entire picture together.
After learning my archetype, I saw how the shapes and design details of my outfit could combine with my seasonal palette to tell a story. I was more adventurous with my colors, and I knew which types of patterns actually looked good on me - a huge piece of the puzzle! I never really struggled after that. It was just a matter of asking myself questions about each piece as I bought it:
“Is this my season?”
“Is this right for my archetype?”
“Is this right for my specific body proportions?”
“What am I going to wear it with?”
Guesswork was removed.
For some, marrying color and archetype is an easy and intuitive process, especially if your season and archetype are commonly combined in the collective imagination (think Autumn Naturals and Winter Classics).
For others, it can feel like a battle when common seasonal and archetypal recommendations clash.
True Springs are often told to combine as many colors as they want in their outfits, because True Spring is lively and colorful. That’s true, it is - and this approach will work for many of the archetypes. But at the risk of looking chaotic, a True Spring Dramatic Classic may need to ignore this common True Spring recommendation. She’ll usually have more luck wearing one bold accent color, with neutrals (and maybe a smaller amount of another color) as supporting players.
Likewise, a Soft Summer Romantic Gamine may struggle with the monochromatic color combinations often favored in Soft Summer forums, finding that her outfits lack spark. She may prefer to create strategic contrast with pairings of the lightest and darkest colors in her palette, or the warmest and coolest. Still, she will need to be careful when harmonizing, to make sure she isn’t unintentionally exceeding the boundaries of the palette.
In personal styling, there is no one size fits all. Each and every Light Spring will have a different stylistic interpretation of her palette, and each and every Dramatic will have a different stylistic interpretation of her archetype. A Light Spring Dramatic will combine her colors and archetype differently from a True Summer Dramatic, or a Light Spring Romantic Classic.
The only way to discover your preferences is to experiment! Use the knowledge you've accumulated on your journey to take steps toward a style that feels fulfilling and exciting to you. And if you want my help, you know where to find me.