How a Sussex colour analyst helps people dress their best – discover what colours you should be wearing

​I remember watching Trinny and Susannah in the seminal TV show What Not to Wear trying to get so-called ‘frumpy’ women out of the ‘dowdy’ black outfits they were hiding in and into colourful and therefore joyful clothes.

So now if I see that bright green is the colour to try this season, I’m usually inclined to give it a go.

But what I’ve never given much consideration to is whether a certain colour will actually serve me well and make me look my best.

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And that’s where colour analysis comes in. I was invited to have a colour analysis session with Michaela Sargeant, a colour and imagine consultant for House of Colour based in Horsham but serving clients from across West Sussex.

Michaela said: “Colour analysis is a process where we discover your optimum seasonal colour palette. It’s spring, summer, autumn or winter and it’s all to do with the way our melanin is formed and the way this radiates through in our skin. Ultimately, this means you will either have a more blue undertone or a more yellow undertone.

“We use a selection of drapes to identify, firstly, if you’re warm or cool, so either in the top half of the colour wheel chart as a warm autumn or spring, or in the bottom half of the chart, as a cool winter or summer.

“Then the second half of the draping process is figuring out what season you are. Each season has different features and characteristics which we talk about a lot during the session so you leave with a knowledge of how you then can apply your season and seasonal colours to your shopping and your wardrobe.”

Michaela’s studio is bright, airy and relaxing. You need to arrive make-up free or to take it off when you get there.

She starts her sessions explaining the history of colour analysis. The roots of it go back to Hollywood, where Robert Dorr, an artist who knew of Johannes Itten’s theories of colour groupings developed in the Bauhaus, observed how an actress could look wonderful one day yet tired and older another.

He recognised this was the effect of the colour she was wearing on her skin, and the beginnings of colour analysis were born. This developed quickly into a four seasons analysis framework.

It was discovered we all had a preference towards our own colours, but it can be distorted by the world around us, such as being around bright colours at primary school and then going into your teenage years and wearing darker colours, Michaela explained.

Our perception and understanding of colours can change as time goes on, but you can see it coming through in the colours we choose to paint our house in and colours we plant in the garden.

Itten developed the colour wheel based on the work of Isaac Newton and the colours coming through a prism, and tweaked it to what is used by House of Colour today.

The reasoning explained, Michaela got to work on my draping. Colour swatches, almost like bibs, are tied around your neck sequentially from a warm and cool season to determine which half of the wheel you’re in.

As they’re pulled off, or ‘revealed’, the juxtaposition of the two makes it clear which gives your skin the most glow and which are more inclined to wash you out.

The process is then repeated with drapes from either the two warm or two cool seasons to determine which you are.

I was clearly an autumn; the warm, rich and earthy tones making my skin look bright and clear, and bringing my eyes and face to life.

Michaela then applied a light make-up in autumnal shades to best enhance my features, and after a short coffee and biscuit break she got to work on my colour ratings.

This process sees each of the 36 colour drapes from your season places around your neck to determine which are the best of the best for you.

You’ll be told which are your ‘wow’ colours that can be worn over your whole body, your two-star colours – solid choices for you, and your one-stars, which are best used as a ‘pop’ of colour, maybe as an accessory or nail colour. You’ll also be advised what would work best as a jacket, what might look good on your bottom-half and what workwear colours would work best to give you authority.

There’s quite a lot of information to take in, but it’s really well explained and you’ll come away with a rating booklet and a colour fan, with small swatches of your colours to help you shop for the closest possible matches.

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It really gave me food for thought and is already changing the way I think about clothes and how to style myself.

Not only do I know have the ammunition to help me dress my best, shopping should be more of a streamlined process. I can’t wait to be able to zone in on those colours that I know are going to ‘bring me to life’ without having to wade through everything in the shop.

And having a bona fide excuse to head to the shops soon really is the icing on the cake!

For more information or to book a consultation with Michaela, call 07825 569563, email [email protected] or visit www.houseofcolour.co.uk/stylist-profile/michaela-sargeant

Prices start at £240 for a three-hour session, with refreshments included.