Colour Me Joyful

Today is one of those perfect summer days we occasionally get in this country. There’s a cloudless blue sky, bright sunshine and a slight breeze. I am writing this looking out onto my small garden in which there are very many tones of green from the leaves of various plants with small splashes of purple from some flowering perennial geraniums and a buddleia poking above my back wall in a neighbouring garden.

The effect is both calming and joyful, probably because all the colours I can see are so harmonious and pleasing to the eye.

Which brings me to an adventure in colour that I had at the end of last week when I drove down to Chard in Somerset for a couple of events with Kettlewell Colour, a wonderful brand of clothes and accessories specialising in selling co-ordinated pieces grouped according to your seasonal palette of Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter. Their newly opened Colour Studio is the brainchild of founder Melissa Nicholson (see photo above with me in the colour studio) who had long wanted to create a space in which women could come to discover those colours which would “love them back” because they perfectly suited both their colouring and their personality. Melissa has created a joyful space which guarantees that you will look your fabulous best once you know the perfect match to your seasonal palette.

I first became interested in the concept of colour analysis years ago when ‘Colour Me Beautiful’ arrived on the scene. Like a lot of women I ‘had my colours done’ and was happy and relieved to discover that I was naturally drawn to those tones which suited me best, namely the cool, clear, icy tones combined with the deep dark jewel colours of Winter. My wardrobe was already awash in dark navy, very many shades of grey (if not actually fifty!), and black with splashes of pure white. I often teamed these outfits with a vibrant pop of fuschia or a vivid red lipstick and I was good to go for a life led mostly in a smart, formal and very corporate environment.

All very business-like and appropriate for the 80s and 90s when ‘dressing for success’ meant emulating that masculine aesthetic of the formal tailored business suit, and when jackets with huge shoulder pads were the sine qua non for women in order to look the part and a necessary component of being taken seriously. Then in the early 2010s, as I wound down my consultancy and management training business and decided to start a makeup brand with perfect products and colours for older faces, I needed to find a whole new way of expressing myself through clothes. And that’s when I started to really look at what women of my age (mid 60s) were actually wearing.

And what I began to realise was that many had embraced the notion that older age should be synonymous with invisibility by never wearing anything that would scare the horses. In the summer months I saw a lot of beige, cream, oatmeal (or porridge as I think of it) and in the winter time the predominant choice was for a black, grey or navy coat worn with black boots. Many of the women that I observed weren’t wearing much makeup and often had grey hair so the effect was very pared down, unobtrusive and bland. I realised that if I was going to successfully promote the idea that older women could look fabulous (forever) by wearing the right colours on their faces, then I needed to lead the way, both in how I dressed and also how I wore my own makeup.

I can still remember the day that I emptied my wardrobe of all those smart grey, black and navy trouser suits and packed them off to a charity which helps women back to work by giving them an outfit for an interview. I felt a huge sense of relief that my ‘corporate’ life was well and truly over whilst also being conscious that I would need to reinvent myself in a sartorial sense and that colour was the best way for me to do so. It was around that time (late 2013) that I first became aware of Kettlewell Colours to which I was introduced by Barbara Crisp, a style consultant who lives near me. Barbara offered to organise coffee mornings with her clients so that I could showcase Look Fabulous Forever makeup and she could also show the Italian clothes that she imports alongside the Kettlewell range. 

Gradually my wardrobe started to fill with more vibrant and zestful colours. I was still drawn to black, navy and grey, colours which were always ubiquitous in the clothes shops that I liked such as Cos, Zara and Massimo Dutti, but I knew that I’d need to balance those darker hues with the brighter accents of vivid accessories like earrings, scarves, shoes, handbags and, always, a nice punchy brightly-coloured lipstick. As I’ve moved into my 70s and my hair has become more and more grey and my face has gradually lost much of its natural colour and definition, I feel the need for more colour, not less. 

The result is that I have become more confident and bolder when it comes to wearing colourful clothes. At the moment I am particularly in love with cobalt blue, fuschia pink and purple. I also have several pure white tops - blouses and T-shirts and, as a ‘Winter’ I love the way that all these colours work brilliantly together because they complement each other so perfectly. 

So what would be my top tips to encourage you to do what I have done and joyfully embrace colour?

1- Open your wardrobe and be honest about what you see. Is it largely devoid of colour or is there a riot of both toning or clashing colours? Or maybe you already know which colours work best on you so that your wardrobe is a perfectly coordinated heaven?

2- If it's all a bit bland, start with something inexpensive and easy to incorporate like a scarf in a definite colour. Or a belt, or a necklace, or a bolder lipstick.  Try them with favourite items and admire how they ‘lift’ the whole look.

3- Shut your ears to any internalised dialogue about being too old to wear colourful clothes. Ditto your other half or any unhelpful offspring you might have who may not want you to change the way you look so that you suddenly stand out in that sea of ‘porridge’! 

4- Consider exploring ways to get more information in order to help you to decide which colour palette suits you best. The cheapest is to fill in a colour quiz like the one on our website and Kettlewell’s, although this may produce slightly different results (remember it's subjective rather than totally objective because you are filling it in yourself). 

5- A style consultant and colour analyst (Kettlewell may be able to help you to find someone in your locality) will be able to help you nail it once and for all, but this is obviously more costly. However I did find my original colour analysis invaluable all those years ago, and I still find it reassuring because I always know what to avoid in colour terms.

6- Alternatively, you might like to book an appointment at the Colour Studio just outside Chard in Somerset where you’ll get expert help and be able to see and try their fantastic range of clothes, scarves and belts. I can promise you that the whole experience is very much like being a child in a sweet shop!

7- Kettlewell also has little colour swatch booklets for each seasonal palette which are an invaluable addition to your bag when shopping for clothes. I never wear green because I have never known which greens work best with my cool skin tone with its blue (as opposed to warm, yellow) undertone - but now I have my Kettlewell swatches to guide me.

8- Clothes and makeup work together to create fabulousness, which is why we also group all our coloured products (eye makeup, blusher and lipsticks and lip glosses) into either warm or cool tones. 

9- The warm seasonal palettes are Spring and Autumn and the cool ones are Summer and Winter. And just remember that if you are Spring or Summer you tend to look best in a slightly softer version of the colours that work on those who are Autumn or Winter. For instance corals are fabulous for Springs whilst a bolder orange or deep rusty-red looks amazing on Autumns. The same applies to lipstick colour - so do be braver when it comes to the colours you choose for your face.

10- And finally anyone can wear any colour they choose because we don’t live in a police state! However if you choose to wear the colours that tone and complement your seasonal palette, you will gather many more compliments because you will always look and, even more importantly, feel, your absolute best.

The event in Chard last Saturday was both fun, joyful and the audience was a riot of colourful and perfectly coordinated outfits. There were twenty-five attendees, most of them members of the Kettlewell Colour Club who came to meet me and Melissa and to see Sally do a makeover on Marilyn (see photo above after the makeover) who had volunteered for that pleasure. The room was packed with so much life, vibrancy and joy, and as I surveyed the audience I thought how wonderful it is that we live in an age when older women are allowed to look bright and beautiful and, above all, visibly fabulous.

Tricia x

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