It is a thrill to introduce you to Bianca Calascibetta. When she enthusiastically called me to schedule a color analysis after seeing another client of mine looking pulled together, I knew I had to get her in for a consultation asap. Her excitement was infectious and it only increased when she saw herself in her colors and out of the drab bronzers and muddy cosmetics she had been wearing. Her BRIGHT personality and dramatic but romantic style suited the bold, saturated colors. When I had the pleasure of helping her edit her closet, I could see that she was used to toning herself down with dull colors so that she didn't stand out. How refreshing to see her in colors and styles that suit her personality and coloring. The affect is harmonious and draws you in. Learn more about her experience and unique insights in this month's blog.
Seeing Myself in Full Color
My Experience with Personal Color Analysis at Indigo Tones
By: Bianca Calascibetta (follow Bianca on Instagram, X and LinkedIn )
What if everything you’ve ever worn has been a lie – a betrayal of your true self cleverly disguised as style? I never imagined that something as simple as color could break the illusions I held about myself and revolutionize how I approach life.
It all began in March 2024 with a viral trend where people uploaded photos of their faces in clear daylight to ChatGPT for a quick seasonal color analysis. My result was Deep Autumn – completely off – but the experience piqued my curiosity.I wondered: Could something as seemingly surface-level as color actually align my inner essence with my outer expression?
Later that year, I spent two months traveling through Sicily, Milan, and Dubai. Inspired by Mediterranean hues, chic streetwear, and sandy neutrals, I packed a carefully curated wardrobe designed to blend effortlessly with my surroundings. On paper, it seemed flawless. In practice, something felt off.
Every day, I asked myself: Am I dressing to express who I am or just to match my environment? At times, I felt aligned; other times, disconnected, but I couldn’t pinpoint why. What was missing? Why did I feel so on one day and so off the next?
That’s when it hit me – my wardrobe wasn’t missing style or coordination. It was missing me.This realization opened my eyes. My wardrobe wasn’t serving me – I had been serving it! Clothes shouldn’t dictate who we are. They should reflect us, amplifying our energy rather than draining it. Wow.
Determined to reclaim that connection, I booked a session with Indigo Tones to start off 2025.From the moment I walked in, Kerry, the owner, approached the experience with intentionality and the expertise of someone who has devoted hundreds, possibly thousands, of hours to mastering her craft.
I quickly learned this wasn’t just about identifying colors but about uncovering balance and harmony. Kerry seamlessly wove together science and art, drawing on Munsell’s Color Theory and Johannes Itten’s philosophies to show me how color is more than a visual concept – it’s a living extension of balance, individuality, and the laws of nature itself.Kerry explained, “You and color are in a relationship.” That simple truth transformed my mindset.
Color wasn’t about arbitrary rules or forcing something unnatural. It was about revealing what had always been there – the truth of who I am, waiting to be seen cohesively. She often emphasized that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to color, just as there’s no single standard in nature.
When you wear the colors that align with you, something extraordinary happens. You embody that elusive je ne sais quoi – a quality people can’t quite put their finger on but are undeniably drawn to. It’s not magic; it’s the harmony of universal principles at work, reflecting the truth of who you are.
As the founder of UCO,a creative marketing firm where I uncover the essence of brands and communicate it visually, this experience felt like a full-circle moment. Approaching my 10th year in business, I’ve always understood that color shapes perception. In branding, it’s a language of its own. It speaks to our instincts, evokes emotion, and anchors meaning. The right colors don’t just catch the eye; they create resonance, forging a connection between a brand’s identity and the world it seeks to impact.
What I hadn’t fully realized until this journey was how deeply those same principles apply to us as individuals. On a personal level, it does something even more profound. The right palette doesn’t just complement us; it reveals us. This journey reminded me to do for myself what I’ve always helped others achieve: align with the essence that has always been there.
And it doesn’t stop with people.The Earth itself speaks in the language of color, echoing this same principle. The vibrancy of spring, the soft pastels of summer, the deep and grounding hues of autumn, and the crystalline clarity of winter – these shifting palettes are nature’s poetry. They remind us that harmony isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. It’s about alignment with what’s inherently true, a pulse attuned to the cadence of the natural world.
That’s when I understood that color isn’t about aesthetics. It’s about energy, flow, and alignment. All of us wear color, but how many of us actually see it?
Under the clarity of distraction-free lighting, color after color was draped against my skin, each one presenting its truth. And then, there it was – Bright Winter, a palette that felt like it had been waiting for me all along. When Kerry handed me the swatch book of meticulously curated hues, she said, “This is the truth of who you are.”
At that moment, it felt as though I had been handed a sacred tool to honor myself. It was a direct path to embracing my essence fully and expressing it with harmony, authenticity, and greater efficiency.
But the session unearthed a deeper and far more unsettling truth…It exposed the silent rebellion within the fashion and beauty industry – a system designed not to reflect us but to erase us. Driven by profit and fleeting trends, these industries thrive on conformity, standing in direct defiance of nature’s intrinsic order. They chase what’s marketable at the expense of what’s meaningful, pulling us further from the principles that sustain not just our individuality but the very fabric of life itself!
That day wasn’t just about finding my colors. It was about breaking free from a system that diminishes individuality and choosing instead to honor the harmony and truth that built everything in this world.
Um…WOW. Apparently, finding my colors came with an existential plot twist😂 It’s like I came for colors and left questioning why humans seem so intent on defying nature. Talk about going against the grain of life itself…
Returning home, I stood before my closet as if seeing it for the first time. The clothes I once cherished now appeared as relics of a life I no longer lived, fragments of a self I had outgrown. Letting them go wasn’t just decluttering. It was a quiet liberation, a ceremonial shedding of the versions of myself that no longer felt true. Piece by piece, I was making space for the person I was always meant to be.
In fact, it reminded me of a childhood belief I had: When TV shifted from black-and-white to color, humanity itself discovered color. That’s exactly how I felt. It felt as though I had been blind to the vibrancy of my own essence until that moment, as if I were discovering color and myself for the very first time.
It was as if I had initiated a long overdue software update, recalibrating my operating system to run harmoniously with nature’s original code. With each moment, it felt like my entire system was being restored to its intended default settings.
Restoring balance. Syncing system. Reboot complete.
The following week, I invited Kerry to help me reevaluate my closet. It was a consultation to refine what stayed, what went, and what begged for reconsideration. I admitted to her that some of the brighter shades in my palette felt too bold at times for someone who values modesty.
Kerry’s response was simple yet liberating: “When you wear your colors, you’re not being flashy. You’re being authentic.” That statement shifted everything. My palette wasn’t about standing out. It was about standing true – unapologetically, unequivocally me.
Now, every piece I add to my wardrobe carries intention and meaning. Shopping is no longer a mindless act of impulse but a quiet ritual of resonance. With my swatch book in hand, I can instantly see what colors harmonize with me and which don’t, making the process feel intuitive and almost second nature.
On a deeper level, this journey feels profoundly personal. My name, Bianca, means “white” – a color that reflects and holds all colors in its purest form. It’s always felt like a quiet metaphor, gently guiding me toward balance and harmony. Aligning with my Bright Winter palette wasn’t just about discovering a season; it was about rediscovering myself – coming home to the person I’ve always been beneath the noise.
It reminded me of a profound truth: the longer we ignore who we truly are, the harder and more costly the journey back becomes. As the saying goes, “The longer you stay on the wrong train, the more expensive it is to get back home.” And for me, this was the moment I finally stepped off at the right station.
After the closet session, I revisited my wardrobe with new clarity. It was as if I had spent years seeing the world in grayscale, and suddenly, everything came alive in technicolor. Clothes I had once treasured now felt like relics of someone I no longer was. Letting them go wasn’t just an act of decluttering – it was a symbolic release, a shedding of all the ways I had conformed, quieted, and dulled myself to fit in and lost touch with Bianca.
When I look back, color analysis taught me something far deeper than I ever expected: What we wear either amplifies our energy or dims it. Color isn’t just about appearance; it’s about alignment, authenticity, and truth. This wasn’t just a journey about clothes. It was about reclaiming who I am. Now, every choice I make feels like either a celebration of that truth or a distraction from it.
So, I’ll ask you: Are you ready to discover the colors that reflect you, or will you keep letting the world’s noise drown out who you are? If you feel the pull, I can’t recommend a personal color analysis enough. It’s a journey that transforms more than your wardrobe. It transforms you.
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It is my pleasure to introduce you to this month’s Dark Winter feature, eyebrow, skincare and permanent hair removal expert, Gia Pauldine. Gia was one of my first clients when I started my color analysis business nearly 20 years ago. It was around that time that she also founded her business, Restoration Electrolysis, LLC.
Gia was easy to analyze. Her deep brown hair worked well with black and dark brown neutrals that were then and still are so easy to shop for. A few pops of rich reds, deep greens and purples and she was good to go for many years. When she decided to go gray more recently and wondered how to incorporate it with her clothing choices, we had the pleasure of reconnecting and working on her wardrobe and closet. I was amazed at how gorgeous her skin looked and she introduced me to some of the skin revitalization services she offers now including light therapy. Learn more about her unique, wholistic eyebrow makeovers and skincare maintenance to the process she went through in letting her hair go naturally from a dark brown to a multi-hued gray and how it impacted her clothing choices.
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:
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