Draping Day!

Day before my PCA, no makeup

This was the only day in recent history that I was thrilled to jump out of bed when the alarm went off. The winter weather and virus's going around my daughter's school didn't postpone my special day! Though the GPS got my Mom and I lost in Jersey (what's a trip to Jersey without getting a little lost?) we made it to Reveal Style Consultancy with one minute to spare.

I didn't come into this analysis expecting that I'd be a particular season. I just wanted the colors that were going to make me look my best, and help me build a cohesive wardrobe. I find all of the palettes exciting, and can spend hours looking at them. They each have their own beauty. In my next post, Ghosts of Colors Past, I'll show the clues pointing to Bright Spring as a strong possibility.  The recent 12 Blueprints article http://12blueprints.com/colour-equations-dark-winter/ featured a young girl with similar coloring to mine - brown hair, hazel eyes and freckles. Christine Scaman called that face 'the dance of Dark Winter'. Was Dark Winter dancing on my face? Maybe. My wildcard was a light season - either Light Spring or Light Summer. It was so unlikely for this dark-haired, darkish-eyed brunette, but would explain why I wear light colors so much better than darker ones.

After introductions, Maytee Garza, my analyst, looked carefully at my eyes, and said 'very interesting'! When I told her the 12 Blueprints Facebook group guessed my season to be Dark Winter or Dark Autumn, she said she could definitely see that, but let's see what the drapes tell us. She noticed how 'cool' my blue-eyed blonde mother looked, and wondered if I might be cool too.

I won't go into elaborate detail about the draping process, as I'm sure most of you are familiar with it, and have read about it many times before. I also won't discuss how difficult it was to look at my 42-year-old face without makeup under full spectrum lighting! I'll bring you to the point in time when things became very interesting.

Lovely light pink (I'm wearing
Bright Spring reveal drapes in
all of the pictures)

At this point in the draping process, we had determined that I was not a true season, but neutral. Definitely not deep. My skin had softened by this point, no longer showing the degree of pallor, ruddiness, or shadowy nasal labial folds that the worst drapes had accentuated.

I told Maytee that I could not possibly be a soft, because those colors grey me. She said, "We'll see!" Maytee does not assume anything! Surprisingly, the soft drapes looked very nice. Even soft autumn.  When asked to guess my season, one of the Facebook coloristas had declared: "Soft autumn, just because someone had to say it, even if it's patently wrong." Patently wrong, or probably right?  The draping process continued, peppered with Maytee's comments of "Interesting!" and "I didn't expect that!"

Maytee asked if I liked to wear light colors. Yes, I do! I always had the feeling that I was a light person, but that my apparent darkness is just an illusion, a transparancy or smoke and mirrors effect. When you look close enough, the darkness dissipates. A genetic after-image donated from some distant ancestor.

Healthy-looking coral

Light spring brought out peachy, rosy tones in my face. My lips turned pink rather than blue. I looked healthy, younger and bright. Interesting yellow-amber tones appeared in my eye, and drape after drape looked wonderful. The drapes were so much better than the soft season drapes. I could not believe it: A dark-haired, dark-eyed gal that seems deep on face value - being considered for a light season! Light summer looked nice, but it did not have as much connection with my coloring. Maytee kept seeing the eyes, cheeks and neck as being separate entities in the face, rather than being a united whole.

Next, Maytee asked, "Did you ever think you were Spring?" I was smiling from ear to ear at this point. It felt like such incredible validation. The Bright Spring drapes also brought out a healthy appearance in my face. Every one of them looked and felt just right.

We went back and forth between the Bright Spring and Light Spring drapes several times, and it was hard to choose. They both looked great, and there was nothing that stood out as being significantly better. "You're hard!" Maytee said. We took a break to rest our eyes, and went through the Spring personality traits. I don't put a lot of stock in the personality traits. It feels like astrology to me, but it's fun enough to be the topic of a future post.

Feeling confident in my
favorite color!

Maytee tried a new tactic: to test the drapes that are two seasons away from True Spring in either direction. This may give us a clue as to which season was better. The Bright Winter drapes weren't bad. Maytee said that I could wear almost all of them, although they looked cartoony. Light Summer washed me out completely. My coloring was more in tune with a Bright season. The entire group of Bright Spring drapes were laid on my right shoulder, and Light Spring on my left. Bright Spring was more relevant - Bright Spring won! My skin is very light, but I can still take a lot of contrast. Though Maytee preferred me in color, black was also a good neutral - worn as a smaller block against a brighter color, or as a jacket or accessory.

I can't express how happy I am with my Bright Spring tone. Though people often think the palette is composed of neon or very strong color, there are several lighter colors, and many beautiful neutrals. It is possible to put together outfits that are professional, serious and elegant, as well as fun or sporty. There is so much variety within the palette that I don't think I will ever tire of using it.

Black as a smaller block,
with a bright color

I couldn't be more pleased with Maytee Garza's patience. She was not afraid to reassess several times, and went through many layers of testing. She looked at several drapes more than once, comparing them to different drapes, until she and I were both comfortable that Bright Spring was undeniably the correct season for me.

Only a Bright can pull off this
yellow-green!

Everyone who is seriously interested in color analysis should find a local Sci\ART trained analyst. I gave up trying to figure it out on my own. There really is nothing to compare to a great draping. The drapes will reveal things about your appearance that you never thought were possible. It's like a trip to Mecca for Coloristas. Something that must be done once in your lifetime.