The second edition of the book, Return to Your Natural Colours, will be at Amazon around late November and I will announce it here when it happens. Today’s post is a preview.
The voice is more experienced, I hope. If there were a theme, it might be that we are individuals within our Season. Season is where we begin, the formula that applies to all members of the group, the springboard from which each person builds the composition of their appearance.
The format is the same as the previous book, including a blend of what makes personal colour analysis (PCA) a powerful means of looking and feeling better and how I believe it works from this time in my own trajectory. The 12 Season chapters are still there, describing how each of the 12 palettes might be used to create the synchronized and harmonious outcome that expresses who you are most effectively.
A few segments have been added or deleted. The Persona sections are still there because people ask for them, with reminders from me that they are purely entertainment. An image classification system, however artistically applied, is unable to describe the nuances of a human being. Where the many systems intersect might begin to scratch the surface, and the river beneath is far deeper.
The Season Snapshots are new. As our clients begin shopping with their palette, and this was my experience also, an instruction manual would be mighty helpful. The Season chapters are essentially that, with picture and analogies to bring the palette to life. The snapshots are stories of real people and how they applied their palette, putting the theory into practice. The stories are compilations of several clients’ experiences and examples from my imagination to illustrate the role of a point of theory in how one person might use their palette. In some cases, the clients themselves participated in writing their stories.
Judy and I happened to reconnect during the writing stages of the book (it is now being formatted, meaning that a Word doc is being made into a book file and the covers are being designed). She recognized her story and wanted to share her journey with you.
Visit Judy's blog at fancified.ca to find more images of one woman's vision of True Summer. You will see how creative Judy is, with blog posts of crafts, including the skirt in the featured image.
In Judy’s words and mine, very near how the segment will appear in the book,
Brimming with Renewed Fulfillment
After working and raising a family during their 46 years of marriage, Judy and her husband, both in their early 70’s, have downsized to city apartment living for the last 10 years. Experiencing ethnic restaurants, attending film festivals and exploring nearby city park nature trails are all cherished. On neighbourhood walks, funky thrift and vintage shops inspire and provide materials for developing her self-expression. Grateful for good health and energy, each day is an opportunity for meeting with like-minded creative friends, sharing casual chic on her blog fancified.ca and living a True Summer stylish life. PCA and 12 Blueprints have been major players in her ability to fully embrace the early 70’s stage of life with inspired, optimistic elegance.
Way back in the MTV 80’s as a young woman, Judy had discovered the concept of Seasons and how it applies to human colouring. She knew herself to be a Summer then but felt a never-ending frustration while dressing as a Soft Summer. Here lies the key to her disgruntled fashion journey. The concept of the Neutral Seasons, which was added later in the history of PCA, was familiar to her in name only.
Looking back before her 12 Blueprints draping, the clothes in her closet for decades seemed frumpy. Living creatively, she always wore artistic vintage up-cycled, hand made, and stylish retail pieces, but the outfits seemed dowdy. Searching for clarity, she even looked at her husband who had the same blue eyes and silver hair as she did. Sharp and confident in his Winter wardrobe, Judy wondered if she might be a Winter as well. After briefly trying to wear black, pure white and bold clear jewel tones, these choices only washed away her vitality.
She then returned to wearing only Soft Summer grayed-blue, mauve, and gray blue exclusively, but found that her true beauty continued to fade away. Furthermore, she attempted to add elements that were eye catching in design while reapplying the same tired grayed colours. Dressing was a frustration, without the joy that she so desperately wanted.
After her hair turned gray, she appreciated the beautiful silvery colour but the cosmetic preferences remained minimal in dusty pink colours that she called Standard Summer. Eye makeup irritated her eyes so she wore only blush, lipstick, and a touch of eyeliner. Even though she had confidence that she was an attractive woman, was she to accept being a washed out wall flower in a reserved grayed existence forever?
Alas, the much-needed help was just around the corner. At the end of her 60’s, a friend recommended colour analysis by Christine of 12 Blueprints. Judy had high hopes that the PCA would help her bring life back to her disappointing wardrobe. She was also receptive to trying a few all-purpose lipstick colours in her Season while continuing to keep her silver hair.
Judy brought several items of clothing to the appointment, which she pulled out to illustrate her present colour situation. It was immediately clear they were all exclusively Soft Summer colours, in versions that were too muted and quite dark. This is quite common, since the True Season stereotypes of previous times are often found in one of the Neutral Seasons, or a True or Soft Summer person is wearing their wardrobe neutrals as colours.
After being draped, Judy finally discovered herself as a True Summer. The analysis was straightforward, as True Season analyses can be. The Neutral Seasons of Summer were easily eliminated. Judy viewed the Luxury drapes in amazement and saw clearwater green; pinkish blue and foxglove pinks that looked bright beneath her face; soft fuchsia, from light to dark, of which one became her new lipstick. Judy was most amazed by the elegant purples and blues, which were brighter than she would have thought possible, and saw the clarity of her eye colour in every colour she wore.
Every item in her closet, she kept. Where once, these grayed items were the entire wardrobe, she now considers them as the foundation to which brighter choices are slowly being introduced. For accessories, she always carefully hand picks designs in uplifting True Summer colours using her palette.
At the end of the appointment, we discussed how to harmonize the palette with apparel, cosmetics, and jewelry, including a stepwise and systematic approach that could be applied to any item. With every inspired retail purchase and handmade project, Judy is fine-tuning her sense of the boundary between Soft and True Summer, and True Summer and True Winter.
She looks more vivacious living this authentic life and says that the best reward from the PCA is feeling that her shopping is now entirely under her control, for the first time in her life .
-----
The voice is more experienced, I hope. If there were a theme, it might be that we are individuals within our Season. Season is where we begin, the formula that applies to all members of the group, the springboard from which each person builds the composition of their appearance.
The format is the same as the previous book, including a blend of what makes personal colour analysis (PCA) a powerful means of looking and feeling better and how I believe it works from this time in my own trajectory. The 12 Season chapters are still there, describing how each of the 12 palettes might be used to create the synchronized and harmonious outcome that expresses who you are most effectively.
A few segments have been added or deleted. The Persona sections are still there because people ask for them, with reminders from me that they are purely entertainment. An image classification system, however artistically applied, is unable to describe the nuances of a human being. Where the many systems intersect might begin to scratch the surface, and the river beneath is far deeper.
The Season Snapshots are new. As our clients begin shopping with their palette, and this was my experience also, an instruction manual would be mighty helpful. The Season chapters are essentially that, with picture and analogies to bring the palette to life. The snapshots are stories of real people and how they applied their palette, putting the theory into practice. The stories are compilations of several clients’ experiences and examples from my imagination to illustrate the role of a point of theory in how one person might use their palette. In some cases, the clients themselves participated in writing their stories.
Judy and I happened to reconnect during the writing stages of the book (it is now being formatted, meaning that a Word doc is being made into a book file and the covers are being designed). She recognized her story and wanted to share her journey with you.
Visit Judy's blog at fancified.ca to find more images of one woman's vision of True Summer. You will see how creative Judy is, with blog posts of crafts, including the skirt in the featured image.
In Judy’s words and mine, very near how the segment will appear in the book,
Brimming with Renewed Fulfillment
After working and raising a family during their 46 years of marriage, Judy and her husband, both in their early 70’s, have downsized to city apartment living for the last 10 years. Experiencing ethnic restaurants, attending film festivals and exploring nearby city park nature trails are all cherished. On neighbourhood walks, funky thrift and vintage shops inspire and provide materials for developing her self-expression. Grateful for good health and energy, each day is an opportunity for meeting with like-minded creative friends, sharing casual chic on her blog fancified.ca and living a True Summer stylish life. PCA and 12 Blueprints have been major players in her ability to fully embrace the early 70’s stage of life with inspired, optimistic elegance.
Way back in the MTV 80’s as a young woman, Judy had discovered the concept of Seasons and how it applies to human colouring. She knew herself to be a Summer then but felt a never-ending frustration while dressing as a Soft Summer. Here lies the key to her disgruntled fashion journey. The concept of the Neutral Seasons, which was added later in the history of PCA, was familiar to her in name only.
Looking back before her 12 Blueprints draping, the clothes in her closet for decades seemed frumpy. Living creatively, she always wore artistic vintage up-cycled, hand made, and stylish retail pieces, but the outfits seemed dowdy. Searching for clarity, she even looked at her husband who had the same blue eyes and silver hair as she did. Sharp and confident in his Winter wardrobe, Judy wondered if she might be a Winter as well. After briefly trying to wear black, pure white and bold clear jewel tones, these choices only washed away her vitality.
She then returned to wearing only Soft Summer grayed-blue, mauve, and gray blue exclusively, but found that her true beauty continued to fade away. Furthermore, she attempted to add elements that were eye catching in design while reapplying the same tired grayed colours. Dressing was a frustration, without the joy that she so desperately wanted.
After her hair turned gray, she appreciated the beautiful silvery colour but the cosmetic preferences remained minimal in dusty pink colours that she called Standard Summer. Eye makeup irritated her eyes so she wore only blush, lipstick, and a touch of eyeliner. Even though she had confidence that she was an attractive woman, was she to accept being a washed out wall flower in a reserved grayed existence forever?
Alas, the much-needed help was just around the corner. At the end of her 60’s, a friend recommended colour analysis by Christine of 12 Blueprints. Judy had high hopes that the PCA would help her bring life back to her disappointing wardrobe. She was also receptive to trying a few all-purpose lipstick colours in her Season while continuing to keep her silver hair.
Judy brought several items of clothing to the appointment, which she pulled out to illustrate her present colour situation. It was immediately clear they were all exclusively Soft Summer colours, in versions that were too muted and quite dark. This is quite common, since the True Season stereotypes of previous times are often found in one of the Neutral Seasons, or a True or Soft Summer person is wearing their wardrobe neutrals as colours.
After being draped, Judy finally discovered herself as a True Summer. The analysis was straightforward, as True Season analyses can be. The Neutral Seasons of Summer were easily eliminated. Judy viewed the Luxury drapes in amazement and saw clearwater green; pinkish blue and foxglove pinks that looked bright beneath her face; soft fuchsia, from light to dark, of which one became her new lipstick. Judy was most amazed by the elegant purples and blues, which were brighter than she would have thought possible, and saw the clarity of her eye colour in every colour she wore.
Every item in her closet, she kept. Where once, these grayed items were the entire wardrobe, she now considers them as the foundation to which brighter choices are slowly being introduced. For accessories, she always carefully hand picks designs in uplifting True Summer colours using her palette.
At the end of the appointment, we discussed how to harmonize the palette with apparel, cosmetics, and jewelry, including a stepwise and systematic approach that could be applied to any item. With every inspired retail purchase and handmade project, Judy is fine-tuning her sense of the boundary between Soft and True Summer, and True Summer and True Winter.
She looks more vivacious living this authentic life and says that the best reward from the PCA is feeling that her shopping is now entirely under her control, for the first time in her life .
-----