The last several months have been an absolute joy working with Warm Autumn Erin Sirianni to get her closet completely refreshed and full of items that she loves. She was very focused and determined to only have things that worked and the effort she made was worth it! She completely changed her hair, passed along hundreds of items of clothing (see where some of them landed!), purged a huge percentage of her closet and shopped everywhere from the Indigo Tones Resale Shop, Panache Consignment Boutique, Goodwill to stores at the mall.
Erin is a Professional Development and Life Coach who gravitated to more structured, classic clothing as it felt the most professional but as we worked with her body shape and her personality we discovered she really likes a bit more drama and softer lines suit her shape. Read more and see all the incredible transformations in this month's colorful lives blog!
About 15 years ago I had my first color analysis and I was described as an autumn. I walked out with my swatch book of printed color sheets and attempted to add some of these elements to my closet, but not fully understanding the theory and process behind this determination. Fast forward 15 years later with my body and skin changing, I once again desired to understand color and styling for who I was today.
I was thrilled when I met Kerry at a class she taught at Rochester Brainery as she was by far the most in depth with her process. I learned this was more than just wearing my colors and that the seasons had more than one tone within them. Seeing how much more specific this analysis is.
As someone who loves fashion and doesn't want to spend thousands, I love understanding how purchasing items within my palette produces a natural harmony of the clothes and outfits that I wear. I have loved using the capsule wardrobe model over the years to look great and save on space and time of clothing coordinating. However, this is even better as it honed in on exactly what looks fantastic on me!
When I first came to Kerry, I had been dying my hair blonde for almost 20 years. She suggested that staying true to my autumn brunette locks, would allow the most harmony and vibrancy for my overall look. That same day I had a hair appointment and I was determined to test this color theory and go back to my natural hair color. I hadn't seen my eyes look that green in a long time and I barely had any make-up on. My skin looked brighter and I saw how much keeping my hair that color was naturally washing me out, I was sold! I quickly began the journey back to warm autumn from that day forward. 
My updated color analysis was in May which meant retailers were selling mostly spring colors! It has been so interesting to see how retailers really do sell based on the season of the year. I was grateful for Kerry's efforts to help me find my colors by shopping at the goodwill and other consignment boutiques to find my colors despite the season. It made this transformation so much more cost effective and the results are more amazing! Pairing outfits and the amount of outfits I can produce with just s few items is amazing since all of my colors truly harmonize and work together.
As I continued learning, I chose to hire Kerry to come over and purge my closet to help me understand all the seasons that I had in my closet and I quickly saw why I had to have so many clothes; I was trying to harmonize 12 color seasons! It was so liberating to donate to Kerry's shop and leave room for my colors.
I went from two closets to one and it is even shared with my husband. I cleaned out, got organized, and color coordinated the whole space with Kerry's help. I loved the decluttering and efficiency so much that I decided to invest in a closet organization system. The feeling of being this organized is just as liberating and exciting as the harmony of all the colors that fill the closet.
Getting ready in the morning has been a breeze as so many outfits can be paired quickly. This process of learning more in depth, the heart of this color theory and seeing what works and what doesn't, has lifted my confidence immensely. It has made shopping and dressing exciting again, and I am honing in on the style and colors I really love. When I find something that is the right color and style but something is a bit off, I can simply have it altered slightly and then it's perfect.
One of the key reasons that I am so passionate about my color analysis business is that I want to help more people experience the freedom from clothes that don't work for them, the joy in finding pieces that do and the flow of matching the right people to the right pieces. What a blast it has been helping Erin find the perfect pieces and passing many of them along to others who are so appreciative to have high quality items that are just right for them!
Check out more of the "Color Analysis Clothing Exchange" here.
It is hard to pick just one "page on my palette" that I love because when all paired well together, they are all so lovely. I have been enjoying the greens and purples as it compliments my hazel eye color so well.Even the blue against my brunette hair produces such a rich, warm look. It has brought my love for shopping and learning full circle and I could not be happier to be a warm autumn in all seasons!!!
Personal development focuses on increasing your self-awareness, looking at life goals, personal challenges and long-standing aspirations. My passion is using personal development coaching to evaluate these life changes, whilst assessing your strengths and weaknesses to improve certain areas of your life so we can co-create a life that you love. I believe Kerry's service does just that for style!
With the right tools and awareness anyone can have a thriving life; It is the same when it comes to fashion and looking and feeling great. You need the right awareness, guidance, and tools to observe and learn what feels like for you to feel amazing in what you wear and how you look. No matter your size or going gray, you just need to learn about what works best for you. Honing in on this in the physical space has created increased joy in my emotional life and confidence in what I do everyday.
My husband Danny and I did the color analysis with Kerry together. He is a Cool Winter and looks best in blue-based, deep rich jewel tones. Our coloring is different but we both have embraced our palettes and are living in perfect harmony!
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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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