When i saw you in that green dress, it became crystal clear just how much of a textbook spring you really are, Ana! You come alive in that color.

It's funny how you are drawn to colors that suit you. I love blue and it also happens to be the most reliable color for me in almost any shade, from periwinkle to navy.

Actually my favorite color since I was a little girl is yellow, but I am happy keeping it to bags and shoes and enjoying it on Ana instead

OK so I just went to the CMB website and they based it entirely on hair color. Only two questions and I still can't figure it out. If I say my hair color is warm, I'm an autumn. If I say it's cool, I'm a winter. I think I look more like their winter examples though.

I think you are a winter, Maya, based on how great you looked in that fuschia
H & M jacket - a cool color. What do you think?

What do I think? I have no idea what to think. I am still confused by the whole concept :p I'll believe whatever you say!

I think the deciding factor is draping fabrics over your shoulders to see what colors make your coloring look good or bad. When coral was put near my face it was a very bad sight. Through many of these tests they were able to put everyone in one of the 4 catagories. The teacher had 4 stacks of fabrics to match her 4 color wheels, one for each catagory which they name seasons (could have named them anything). She does this draping and then decides which catagory a person is in by which stack she draws the best colors for you. You are looking in a mirror and together you can see clearly what is good and what isn't. Color is very hard to remember so I think a person would have to actually do this draping to really know which catagory to be in. You have to actually see which of the batches make you look more pleasant. There are variances too, for instance a summer can borrow the blue from the winter but not quite as dark. So it is not all black and white! (Trying to be funny.) Then with age, for instance red hair probably greys similar to other red hair, black hair probably goes silver like other black hair, and in this way they have charted how the different groups tend to age colorwise. She made a statement about how the winters tend to get that striking silver hair. So it seems through doing these drapings they have been able to chart things mathematically. Right Ana?

Also now that I've had some time to think about this a bit, I think that springs have yellow/gold in their tones, summers have pink/reddish, autumns have orangish, and winters do not have to worry about tones in their skin and hair that clash with colors, they are sort of clear of those other 3 troublesome tones.
And this whole process is a tool to help us wear what is most flattering rather than wearing the colors that we admire on someone else. And yes this teacher did say that alot of the time we are naturally drawn to the colors that happen to be good for our skin tone. It is also a tool to narrow down the shopping selection, just like getting to know what shape of skirt is best for your figure.
I get the hint that in it's hey day this was much more involved and there were hours and layers of information to go with it.

Yes San, this all makes a lot of sense. It would be fun to take a color class like you did! Probably most of us already have some idea of what makes us shine. For example, I don't need to drape fabric to know I will look awful in yellow and orange and perk up in blues and greys, just from trial and error over the years. It now makes sense why I felt so blah buying brown when it was so "in" a few seasons ago (remember how much there was around - and no grey practically?).

One thing I never realized was that winter and summer can share colors, as can spring and fall. Now it all makes more sense!

My mom shares my coloring and I notice that she now looks great in some of the softer shades of "summer" - pink, for example - that I don't prefer. It's fun that there's a spectrum to choose from.

Some of us need more help than others with color. To me it doesn't come as naturally so I learned a lot.