I found myself contemplating this question while perusing the comments on Suz's pink blazer threads. (Full disclosure: I adore mauve and dusty rose in all their variations, always have, always will.) I have many, many thoughts on the subject, but for me the short answer is no, with rare exceptions. My color preferences--not necessarily related to complexion flattery--have proven to be pretty immutable. And those exceptions have occurred for the most part when I have felt like I am discovering, or seeing, a color for the first time.

For example, when I first spent a great deal of time in Italy, in the late nineties and early oughts, there were very clear seasonal color trends that would absolutely invade the shops, especially shop windows, and which clearly signaled the color of the season. One fall around the turn of the millennium, that color was a deep, blue red. It was the first time in my life I had seen a true cool red--at least in clothes and shoes--and I was enchanted. As fashion has become more global in the past 15 years, those strong seasonal color trends have waned a bit, but just a couple of years ago I added another "new" color to my favorites list, a kind of deep, cool grey, lighter than charcoal but darker than steel, in Italian it's called piombo (lead), and is very distinctive (I'll leave the question of the role of naming in the conceptualization and specification of colors to another discussion!).

So, what about you? Have you found your color loves and hates--try if possible to put aside the question of flattery here--to remain constant over the years, or do you find your heart swayed by the colors of the season? Have you experienced the phenomenon of discovering, and perhaps falling in love with a "new" color that you've discovered by following fashion trends?

[Oh dear, I meant to keep this brief and I've written a tome. I'll have to save my thoughts on the recent (partial?) rehabilitation of pastels for yet another thread.]