You must have seen the TikToks: different coloured fabrics are draped over someone in a chair while a colour analysis professional harshly rejects their opinions. No, they don’t look good in “true winter” colours. Can’t you see? They’re clearly “dark autumn”.
Swamping my explore page, these videos always leave me feeling righteously arrogant. Despite never having studied colour analysis, I convince myself I know better than the seasoned professional behind the chair. I needed a reality check so I decided to have a proper go.
“This seemed like another iteration of humanity’s obsession with categorising ourselves” Admittedly, I went in feeling dubious about the whole thing. Colour analysis is expensive (anything between £150-£650), wasteful (what do you do if they say your wardrobe is wrong? Bin everything?) and long ignored the existence of anyone but white women. Devised in the 1980s, the technique now comprises multiple approaches, the most common of which divides people into four seasons, each with three sub-seasons, based on their complexion.
Each sub-season (e.g., soft summer) contains a range of colours designed to make the wearer look energised.
To me, this seemed like another iteration of humanity’s obsession with categorising ourselves, whether through astrology or BuzzFeed quizzes. Nevertheless, I dived straight in the way anyone would: googling “colour analysis” and choosing the first result ( ). After selecting my hair, eye and skin colo.
