What is the Point of Color Analysis?

Doing It For Others

While it is nice to imagine a world where our characters are the only thing others judge—this isn’t the world we inhabit. Whether in business or romance, the perception of others matters a great deal. An attractive physical presentation can be the difference between getting passed over and being noticed.

Job interviews, first dates, presentations, conferences—all of these offer an opportunity for connection, but also an opportunity to be judged. And unfortunately, even before you open your mouth to explain what you are all about, people will have judged you based on your physical appearance. These judgments—which are made from surface level observations—will not be superficial. In fact, in a split second someone will make an internal note of your thoughtfulness, your confidence, and your competence based only on how you look. Is this fair? Maybe not, but humans can’t help it. How dirty someone’s hair is might communicate how happy or depressed someone is. An untucked shirt might indicate poor time management. And believe it or not, color is an enormous part of being perceived as attractive, dependable, and interesting.

Color is the first dimension through which our eyes perceive visual stimuli. We can orient ourselves in relation to objects by perceiving their outlines—colors distinct from surrounding tones. Color is uniquely imbued with physical, psychological, and emotional implications.

Wearing colors that are not in harmony with your own appearance is distracting and distressing to others–even if they don’t say so to your face. You may have found yourself being rejected or misinterpreted, and unable to pinpoint what went wrong in those interactions.

Yes, the overall effect of wearing good colors is looking attractive… and the alternative is to look unattractive. But the judgments others form often go much deeper than a binary beautiful/ugly call. When you are dressed in tones that are non-complementary to your face and skintone, others will not point it out to you. Instead, they will form a judgment (e.g. she is tired, he is sloppy, she is depressed, he is trying too hard) and hold it against you.

Wearing colors that are in harmony with your appearance allows your talents and personality to come into focus, enhancing and grounding you so that others can take you as you are.

Doing It For Yourself

Nobody feels their best every single day. Hormones, stress, and the inherent ups and downs of life often leave us feeling bad about what we see in the mirror. But the first judgment most people make is not that their clothing could be the issue—it’s that they are the problem.

In fact, the easiest way to give yourself a boost—without plastic surgery, weight loss, skin treatments, or any other drastic, expensive changes—is to wear your best colors on a daily basis. What you may have interpreted as a bloated face may simply be the effect of a color with too low saturation expanding your jawline. The undereye darkness you diligently conceal every morning could be the product of wearing overly cool, overly dark shades for your personal coloring—and wearing the right colors may eliminate the need for covering up with extra makeup.

I believe that people innately possess the ability to recognize the best in themselves–but that outside critique and cultural influences can dull that inborn intuition.

By the time we reach adulthood, many of us lose touch with our unique merits, preferring to hide behind what is acceptable or “normal” to avoid disappointment or failure. Over time, we come to see beauty only as an external standard to strive for, instead of as an existing quality to celebrate.

Color analysis offers a unique opportunity to appreciate and celebrate your own unique appearance with a fresh and invigorated perspective.