It is my pleasure to introduce you to Kelly McCarthy. Kelly and I first met over ten years ago when she came as a guest to my book club. We quickly learned that we had much in common. In addition to our mutual love of books and reading, we were both heavily involved in volunteer activities in our children's school district and the Rochester community. We are also both alumni of Syracuse University and Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority sisters. Kelly and another friend came in for a color analysis shortly thereafter and we have been enjoying our collaboration with colorful clothing ever since.
In the years since we met, I have expanded and evolved my color analysis business while Kelly established a personal styling business with Cabi, a speciality clothing brand that offers in home styling sessions for individuals and groups of women in person and now virtually. Kelly and I synergistically believe in the mantra “When women look good, they feel good, and when they feel good, they do good”. We both strive to help our clients feel confident and beautiful.
I asked Kelly to share how her personal color analysis has impacted her life and her work.
Wearing the right colors is life changing! I am a Bright Spring and my colors are bright and vibrant, no pastels or muted colors here. How can wearing these colors change my life you ask?
For years (prior to my color analysis) I had a love/hate relationship with the crisp white shirt or blouse hanging in my closet. It was perhaps the one piece that I always had but rarely wore. I would put it on and would almost always take it off in favor of something else. I never understood this until I had my color analysis with Kerry. I loved the look of that clean white shirt. BUT, that color was not right for me! I intuitively knew that white shirt didn’t look right on me but now I understood why. My best neutral is an eggshell or off white. It is the best color for my skin tone and I have since added many pieces to my closet and wear them more confidently than I could have imagined in the default black.
I am a personal stylist with Cabi, a clothing company that was founded by women for women 19 years ago. Cabi believes that clothes can change lives by giving women the opportunity to build profitable businesses, wear clothes that are designed to give them confidence and by sharing their success with women in need all over the world through the Heart of Cabi Foundation.
Understanding personal color harmony helps me to know those items in the Cabi line that will look best on me and therefore reflect the Cabi brand best. When I wear those pieces I feel great and people notice. Others want to know where I found the clothing, how I pulled it together and they want to do the same for themselves. I no longer purchase pieces that sit in my closet unused because they aren't quite right for me. I'm willing to spend a bit more on something that is right that I will wear over and over. My clients will do the same when we find the perfect compliment to their coloring, style and size.
Because I learned in my color analysis that a Bright Spring can wear contrasting bold colors successfully and that bright shiny fabrics work, I am now brave enough to try strong color blocks or more colorful chunky necklaces. I can also confidently help my clients who know their colors try things they might not have considered. I love when I have a group of women together and we personalize their looks based on the individual. They experience looking unique and at their best at the same time.
Utilizing all that I know about the Bright Spring season combined with Cabi’s attention to detail in maintaining a consistent color palette from season to season has made it so much easier for me to build a curated designer closet over time. It is the ultimate in mixing and matching opportunities. Making getting dressed every day not only easy but FUN!
Dressed in my bright spring colors in Cabi, I am ready to conquer anything. And, WOW the compliments that come are a natural by product of that confidence and inner beauty shining through. My friendship with Kerry is synergistic and so too are our businesses, making us a an empowered match.
View the current Cabi collectionand follow Kelly on Instagram @cabibykelly or join her private Facebook group cabibykelly for more styling ideas.
If you would like to continue reading about the Bright Spring journey, please check out the 2020 featured Bright Spring, Rebecca Leclair.
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It’s a treat to introduce you to this month's colorful lives feature, Soft Autumn Tim Stich who is also my son!! Tim’s experience with shopping for clothing and wearing color is unique as I become a color analyst when he was quite young. When he and his sister Clare were little, I tried dressing them in bright colors with strong patterns as was the style then.....but even before learning about personal color harmony, I started to sense that the clothes overwhelmed them and began dressing them in softer colors and solids. I was even shocked the other day to discover when I pulled out his school photos that every single photo (even before I learned of his color palette) was taken in a Soft Autumn color. You can see how his life has evolved wearing the soft, earthy colors that suit his ruddy hair, freckles and soft blue/green eyes.
Over the years, he has mostly been very eager to wear what suits him and looked to me to help him distinguish soft autumn colors from the two seasons nearby - warm autumn and soft summer. We enjoy shopping together, especially now that he lives in Manhattan and the shopping is abundant. It can be a challenge to find his colors in sizes and style that fit but when its perfect, it feels great and he knows it. Read on to learn more about what it’s like to be a guy whose mom is a color consultant!
I am so excited to introduce you the “entertainingly irreverent” (Associated Press) Soft Summer, Valerie Peterson. Valerie is an extraordinary storyteller in a variety of media including scriptwriting, screenplays, fiction, non-fiction and book publishing/consulting. I analyzed her colors years ago in Rhode Island at a girls weekend hosted by a mutual friend (color analysis and girls weekends make a great combo!). In the years since, Valerie has embraced her Soft Summer colors in spite of living and working in New York City where black is a standard and practical.
It was a thrill when her publisher chose a photo of my family for her wonderfully spirited book, Peterson’s Happy Hour. On page 46, you can find me with my family - brothers, Mike and Tim and my parents Marcia and J. Michael Jones circa 1970. The book features many more photographic gems and recipes for a fabulous social gathering!
In this month’s colorful lives blog, Valerie shares her journey with her color palette. As with all her writing projects, she is humorous, colorful and entertaining! She has kept in great condition and still uses the Sci Art swatch book that I provided back in those days!! Be sure to check out her large body of work on valeriepeterson.net and read more in the blog:
While doing color analysis in Boston in June, I had the pleasure of meeting Danielle Burton and giving her a 12-Season Color Analysis. Danielle had recently experienced a 4-Season Color Analysis with a House of Colour consultant and was told she was a Winter. I was skeptical that she was any type of Winter (in the 12 season system, there are actually 3 Winters - Dark Winter, Cool Winter and Bright Winter). Her light eyes, natural lighter and soft brownish hair and skin tone were much more consistent with my clients who fall into the lighter seasons, especially Summer.
Since her hair had been highlighted, we covered it with a neutral gray cap to do the testing portion of the analysis, ensuring that the lighter color did not sway the results of the analysis. It was clear from the beginning that Danielle was responding more harmoniously to the cool tones even some of the lighter cool winter drapes which was consistent with her 4 season color analysis.
But, while she contrasted with any drapes that were dark and bright, she was softened and balanced by the lighter cool tones, particularly Summer. The dark colors brought out shadows under her eyes and the brighter colors overwhelmed her and brought attention to themselves. In the end, she looked lovely and perfectly balanced and harmonious in the Cool Summer colors!
"While I had a great experience at House of Colour, I do think they are missing out on a ton of research and color science by not including the 12 seasons and variants. The added layer of cool vs bright vs dark was a huge difference for me and really solidified which category I best fit”.
Enjoy reading more about Danielle’s experience with both systems and her reaction to her diagnosis as a Cool Summer:
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