How We Discovered Our Signature Styles and Colors with House of Colour!
Every year, our team sets aside time to take a break from our cozy home offices and get together for an in-person retreat. Although Evelyn, Emily, and I are related and see each other a handful of times a year for family events, we schedule mandatory fun to spend time together as a company.
Last year, we spent a 3-day weekend organizing, strategizing, and planning our 2023 marketing goals with our resident witch, Michelle Mercurio, at Gretna Hollow, her magical home in Irvington, Virginia.
We pride ourselves on having top-tier organization and editing skills in our professional roles. Still, it was our turn to hire a professional to help us style, organize and upgrade our wardrobes!
In 2019, Evelyn and Emily got their colors done with Melany Carlos from House of Colour after Emily won a color analysis appointment. This was an eye-opening experience; Melany’s expertise helped them discover their seasonal color palettes and what color values would bring out the best in their features. After realizing what a game-changer it was to understand one’s best colors, Evelyn thought it would be an excellent idea for me to get my colors done, too.
Melany also offers style sessions where you learn how to dress for your body type. I can find it overwhelming to go into a store and find clothes that make me feel comfortable AND stylish, so I was excited to have some direction and learn what to look for (and maybe even more importantly, what to stay away from)!
Thus, the 2024 Design Powers retreat was planned—we would all attend a styling appointment, and I’d be getting my colors done, too!
A little background about color analysis…
Never done a color analysis before? There are a few things you need to know about it.
Seasonal color analysis takes your skin tone, natural eye, and hair color to formulate your best color palette. It uses your undertones (hues) and the values (light vs dark) of those three factors to determine the colors you look best in. Your hue can be cool or warm, your value is light or dark, and you look best in muted or brighter tones.
These values are divided into seasonal color palettes: cool colors are summer and winter, and warm colors are spring and autumn. Through this system, you can also ascertain which metals look better on you; we learned that cool-colored people generally look better in silver, and warm-colored people look better in gold.
Since Evelyn and Emily had their color analysis done and were familiar with the House of Colour system, they came into the style session knowing their ideal color palettes: Evelyn is an autumn, and Emily is a winter.
Left: Before color analysis. Right: Evelyn is an Autumn.
House of Colour Seasonal Color Chart
Left: Before color analysis. Right: Emily is a Winter.
Some pre-style session prep
You have to do a few things in preparation for the style session…
Melany emailed us a few months before our in-person appointment requesting mailing addresses, photos of our faces, our bodies from the front, side, and back, and outfit photos. In the outfit photos, she wanted pictures of clothing we love wearing. She also requested that we send photos of clothing we don’t like or don’t find ourselves wearing very often.
I love to take pictures of my outfits before going out, so this was not difficult. Emily and Evelyn found this part a little more taxing; they both are in transitional periods in their closets and don’t take many outfit pictures. It must be the Gen-Z in me—selfie, selfie, selfie!
In addition to the photos, we filled out an intake form where we talked about our style goals, celebrity fashion inspirations, and words we wanted our fashion to embody (how we wanted to be perceived in the outfits we chose). Melany mailed us style workbooks we would use during the Zoom and in-person sessions so we could look them over ahead of time!
Pre-prep before our in-person session
A few days before the in-person appointment, we met on Zoom to do the first part of the style class together. Melany introduced herself to me, and we dove into the workbooks she had sent us.
Melany began by sharing a few statistics about the language of clothes—did you know that over 60% of first impressions are based on appearances? Melany taught us that everything we adorn our bodies with sends a message to others, so it’s essential to use clothing and accessories to capture how we want to be seen and understood.
“Knowing who you are and how you want to show up allows you to take control of the message.”
Based on the photos of our faces and bodies that we sent, Melany assigned shapes to our bodies. Most people’s figures are usually not able to be described with just one shape; you generally have one shape on your top half and one on your bottom half.
For example, I have very square shoulders and broader hips, so I am a rectangle on top and an oblong on the bottom. I have a straight body on top and a soft-straight body on the bottom. My face is also oblong, with a soft jawline and a long neck. All of this is important information to learn because combining the right garments with your body architecture will help you maintain a perception of proportion and balance.
After we discussed our body proportions, we completed a checklist together to learn more about our individual personalities. There are 6 different types of clothing personalities:
Dramatic | Classic | Natural | Gamine | Ingenue | Romantic
You can be distinctly in one category or be a combo of several. This information lets you determine which structures, patterns, necklines, scales, and accessories will help you look your best.
Ultimately, your clothing personality is about helping you feel more confident in your appearance. It helps match your internal personal qualities to your external clothing and enhance your wardrobe!
Melany had already prepared some recommendations and helpful information concerning our clothing personalities using the outfit photos we sent. However, she told us she would have to see us in person to make the final analysis.
Emily is a Natural, Evelyn a Dramatic Gamine, and I was a Natural Ingenue (or so she thought…keep reading to find out if that's who we REALLY are). We wrapped up the Zoom call shortly after, impressed and excited to learn more!
Give me drama, give me color!
Vanessa experiencing the magic of color analysis.
Evelyn and I arrived an hour earlier than Emily for the color analysis portion of the meeting. Honestly, the color analysis was the part of the session I looked forward to the most.
First, Melany covered my clothes and hair with a white apron and bonnet. Since I color my hair red, she didn’t want it to influence the analysis results from my natural strawberry blonde color.
She asked me if I had any preconceived notions about what season I might be in. I had my hopes pinned on being an autumn. It is my favorite season, and it’s the color palette I have been buying most of my clothes in thus far.
She held up a few cool colors to my skin, and I immediately saw how it highlighted things I didn’t want people to notice. I am very fair-skinned, so the cool color palettes picked up many blue and purple undertones under my eyes and lips. We both agreed—this is not it!
Melany then held up some warm colors from an autumn palette. They were good but weren’t making me pop like I thought they would. She then mixed in some colors from spring, stacking them on top of each other and quickly pulling them off, showing me the difference between the Spring and Autumn palettes.
Left: Before color analysis. Right: Vanessa is a Spring.
With her guidance, it was immediately apparent—the bright colors of the warm spring palette brought out the blue in my eyes and gave my skin vibrancy instead of making me look a bit too pallid. We also tried on a few shades of makeup so I could get an idea of what color mascara, foundation, and lipstick to get.
The verdict was in and was unanimous among the team: I am a spring! With each color analysis from House of Colour, you receive a guidebook for your seasonal palette that includes a color guide, makeup tips, and information about all the products I tried with Melany.
You also get a gorgeous pocket swatch book with all your colors that’s easy to carry in your purse when shopping.
“It’s not about the clothes, it’s about how you wear them.”
Learning about our body types and personal style character archetypes
Once my colors were finished, we moved on to the styling portion of the day. Then, we pulled out our workbooks, answered questions in the book and listened to Melany review our clothing personalities.
She changed her initial assumptions after meeting me in person and seeing how I dressed that day. I was a Natural Gamine, NOT a Natural Ingenue. She kept her initial discovery of Evelyn’s Dramatic Gamine and added Dramatic to Emily’s Natural, making her Natural Dramatic. We’re all dual combinations of clothing personalities, the first being the most prominent.
She gave us handouts for our specific personalities that would provide a guiding framework for our best style! “These notes will be finely tuned for each individual according to personality, age, lifestyle, and even seasonal colors, which can influence how we adapt our style. It is a balance of all those elements.”
Evelyn getting her measurements taken by Melany.
The handout gave us tips on structures we should look for, how to style our hair, accessories and scale (size), jackets, coats, lapels, skirts, pants, other bottoms, dresses, jumpsuits, patterns, fabrics, and things we should avoid.
Melany then called us individually and took our bust, waist, and inseam measurements for our body's proportions and balance. Clothing, like bodies, comes in all shapes and sizes. The measurements help us determine more of the features and details we should look for regarding the scale of our clothing and accessories—lapels, bags and belts, fabrics, and patterns.
Once we all had our clothing personalities and color palettes figured out, it was time to get into the nitty-gritty of what clothes we should get to revamp our closet. After all, all this new information is useless if you don’t know how to put it to work!
“Your closet should reflect your lifestyle.”
A wardrobe to last a lifetime
Melany teaches us about how to divide our lifestyle and make connections between how we live and our wardrobe.
Building your capsule wardrobe isn’t just about style and color; it must also be functional!
We were directed to a page in our workbooks with a pie chart where we would need to divide our lifestyle into slices, determining where we spend the most time and creating a link between our lifestyle and our wardrobe.
A planning grid is included in the workbook, which you can use to mix and match pieces of clothing in your closet. You want pieces that can work with several different options and occasions.
Melany made specific notes and guided us on buying clothing items and what textures, shapes, and cuts look best based on our sizes and styles.
We then covered how to shop for new clothes, which is a proper investment.
You want to organize your closet into three categories:
Classic pieces: timeless, everlasting clothes.
Trendy clothing: clothes that might trend now but won’t last more than seven years. Most retail stores carry trendy clothing, so it’s not terrible to have them; it’s best not to have your entire wardrobe consist of them. Also, some trends are not for everyone; resist the Instagram ads!
Fads: don’t spend too much on a fad, but have fun! Fads are here today and gone tomorrow.
Melany gave us some great tips for what makes your clothes a great buy and how to budget for shopping. It’s recommended that you spend 10% of your income on clothing.
Start saving money for clothes, and keep track of how much you spend. You can tally it up at the end of the year, and you’ll have a great idea to budget for next year.
Melany making notes of what specific pieces to shop for based on our measurements and clothing personalities.
She made a solid point that if you buy an investment piece, the cost-per-use will be much less over time since you’ll always wear it. Instead of buying more clothes regularly you never wear, buy less higher-quality items you love and use daily.
Shopping is meant to be a fun experience, but so many people find it daunting and draining. We learned that it’s best to shop regularly, as most stores get new clothes every two to three weeks. You don’t always need to buy every time you shop; looking more often and knowing what to look for in color and style will help you find those perfect fits.
She highlighted the importance of wearing makeup and doing your hair before shopping, making you feel more confident when staring yourself down in the dressing room mirror. Perhaps most importantly, don’t look at the price tag first! Figure out if you genuinely like something before trying to see if you can swing it in your budget.
“Give yourself permission to buy quality pieces.”
Evelyn pulls out her handy House of Colour swatch book to double-check the tonality of the shirt with her recommended palette!
Melany mentioned that if we had clothing in our wardrobe that we wanted her opinion on, we should bring it to the appointment, and she would give it a look. We spent the remainder of the appointment letting her go through the piles of clothes we brought and taking her advice on things that are good to keep based on our color palette, style, and things that it’s time to part ways with!
Emily brought a duffle bag of items…a few items she loved the style, but the colors were not in her season, and Melany suggested dyeing them, which was a fantastic idea! Evelyn was able to let go of a bag of clothes she had held onto for years…Melany will use them for her upcoming clothing swap in May 2024 (date TBD).
Ultimately, it was a really fun day; we all got to share as a team and walked away with much new knowledge and awareness about ourselves. Now, the three of us like to guess what color palette someone has when we meet them (although we aren’t stylists, maybe we should stick to what we know)!
One Month Later…
Evelyn and Vanessa in their new digs!
We’re over a month from our session with Melany, and we’ve taken her advice to heart. So, what are some things we’ve tried to implement into our lives?
We have gone through our closets and donated clothes we were holding onto (but not wearing) that didn’t fit our colors and style. Melany suggested keeping track of the garments of clothing that need to be replaced when making a donation bag.
I can get very nostalgic about clothing, even if it is something I haven’t worn in years. Having this newfound knowledge gave me the confidence to get rid of clothing like dresses from high school and old tight pants that I had been holding onto.
The main thing I wanted to update was my jean selection—which, thanks to Melany, I now know the right kind of wash (Spring palettes should go for medium to dark wash jeans) and style (I’m trying my hand out at wearing flare jeans for the first time)!
I also purchased brighter-colored clothing, bringing red back into my wardrobe for the first time in a decade. I also learned that gold jewelry is better for a spring palette than silver, so I’ve been purchasing new gold accessories to replace some of my silver jewelry (although I may not be able to fully part from silver)! I work from home and don’t attend many formal events, so considering the “lifestyle to wardrobe” pie chart, I’m mainly focusing on replacing and revamping casual clothing.
Evelyn recently went to the mall to purchase a few new outfits, reflecting her newfound awareness of Dramatic Gamine. She often has in-person networking and business events to attend, so she wanted to update her style and her wardrobe.
Thank you to Melany Carlos from House of Colour for everything. We could not recommend her services more!
If you’re planning a new custom brand photoshoot, we recommend you get your color analysis done first…We’ll have a new custom photography style and shoot guide coming out soon with helpful info on how to get the best photos for your website (stay tuned)! In the meantime, check out our other free guides and blog posts.
FAQS
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The cost of a color analysis and style session with House of Colour is set by the consultant. Please reach out to Melany Carlos to inquire about pricing.
Services are available in the USA and other locations! Visit the House of Colour website to find a stylist near you.
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Yes, this is for all budgets! Learning your color palette and style personality will save you money over time because you won’t be buying clothing that you won’t wear. Your stylist will provide you with tailored tips on budgeting for shopping.
It was recommended to spend around 10% of income on clothing and invest in higher-quality pieces that have a lower cost-per-use over time.
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Yes. Melany provided email follow-ups with style personality notes, a wardrobe lookbook with images and shopping links, and a list of brands per style archetype.
Melany also invited us to her upcoming clothing swap in May (date TBD) and we can send her clothing to review via email.
Follow-up consultation sessions are available for booking. Stylists also sell seasonal color palette make-up, swatch books, and accessories.
