Colour Analysis: A Guide for Autumns

Have you recently had a colour analysis and been told you suit the autumn palette? Perhaps you’ve taken to it like a duck to water and you’re gone out and bought some wonderful rich autumn hues, or perhaps it’s taking a little longer to find your feet? In this months blog, we will explore the Autumn palette and help you make the most out of your beautiful Autumn colouring.

Colour analysis:  A brief introduction

Let’s start from the beginning incase you are not familiar with colour analysis or you haven’t had a consultation yourself yet. Colour analysis is when a trained colour stylist works with you to find a palette of colours that complements the natural colouring you have in your skin, hair and eyes. When we wear colour that is in harmony with our own naturally occurring colours, the overall look is more cohesive, and the colour enhances the best of our colouring rather than fighting against it. If you’ve ever tried on a colour in a changing room and instantly felt washed out, then you’ll know what it means to have a colour fight against you. The best colours for you to wear are based on finding harmonious tones that complement and enhance your natural colouring.

In seasonal colour analysis, we do this by using a base of four possible colour palettes that are named after the four seasons. Each palette has different tonal properties that are designed to work beautifully together, meaning they are great foundations on which to build your wardrobe, and your outfits. In this blog, we’re looking at just one of the four palettes: the Autumn.

Understanding the Autumn Palette

If you’ve had a colour consultation and been told you are an autumn, then we can assume that your natural colouring has an element of warmth rather than coolness, that you suit deeper colours rather than lights or pastels and that there may be something about the intensity of a colour that means that softer or textured colours suit you better than very bright. Your autumn palette might look something like this:

These colours are reminiscent of the hues found in nature; think of the leaves on the trees, the teal blue swirl of the sea, and the earthy tones of a deep forest. These colours have a grounded earthy quality to them, and always have an undertone of warmth.

Texture and Neutrals: Key Elements in Your Wardrobe

When it comes to your wardrobe, think about texture and blending colours to create a soft, cohesive look. The focus is often on texture over print, and you might enjoy experimenting with different fabrics. Your neutral colours should include warm marine navy, rich chocolate browns, deep khaki greens, and soft white or ivory. These neutrals will harmonise with the rest of your palette colours. If you do prefer black and white, or have a lot of it already in the wardrobe, consider adding a warmer colour near your face or keep black to the bottom half of your outfit. A green-tinged grey could also be a great addition to your wardrobe, especially if it brings out your eye colour.

In your colour analysis session, your stylist should have shown you which colours are your neutrals and how to wear them with your other colours, but they may also have shown you your very best colours - those absolute wow combinations that really enhance your eye colour and make an incredible first impression. There may also be a few colours in the palette that don't work so well for you and your stylist may have explained these or given you an outfit percentage of how much you should use in an outfit or print.

Make-up Colours: Enhancing Your Natural Beauty

Your makeup colours should complement your Autumn colouring. Here are a few suggestions:

When choosing a foundation, look for a neutral or yellow base (not pink).

Use a bronzer as a blush, like this one from Arbonne.

Hair Colour and Jewellery to Complement Your Autumn Palette

Your hair colour and jewellery can also play a huge role in enhancing your Autumn palette. For hair colour, consider warm red, golden brown, brunette, auburn, or red brown. It's best to avoid highlights or going ash blonde as it might be too cool for your skin tone. For jewellery, opt for antique gold, bronze, copper, amber, creamy pearls, or natural elements like wood or shell.

Getting started with your colour palette

Once you’ve had a colour analysis it can sometimes be easy to feel very excited and overdose on the colours, only to find it’s then hard to put them together. Start by seeing what you already own in the wardrobe in your colours and experiment with how you can combine those to make an outfit. As you come to replace things, build your neutral items and then add a smattering of your wow colours either as scarves or a top and go from there. It’s also a good idea to start looking for brands that really embrace the autumn palette: take a look at Fat Face, Seasalt, and Wrap London to get started. Even if you’re like us and prefer to buy clothes preloved, being able to search by some of your best brands is a great way to find preloved bargains online.

This Fat Face Dress is in Autumn Colours

Style overlay

In colour analysis very often I find that there are commonalities beyond colour. Certain personality traits, home styling preferences, hobbies, activities and style preferences can be similar within a group of people who share the same colour palette.

With autumns very often fabric choice is important. If something is itchy or pinches it won’t get worn as autumns tend to favour comfort and practicality over other factors. Autumns often prefer natural fibres and clothes with some texture, so the autumn/ winter is the perfect time of year for them as they might well love fabrics such as knits, cord, velvet and tweeds. As well as colours reflecting nature, style elements often do the same, so think about prints that have leaves, flowers or animals on, as well as natural elements in terms of jewellery - natural shell, wood or metals rather than shiny or sparkly pieces.

Often favouring a more relaxed, adventurous or outdoorsy style, some autumns might love their jeans and a waxed jacket while others might choose more eastern inspired prints and fabrics in rich spicy hues.

Further Colour Inspiration and Resources

If you're in search of additional colour inspiration and resources, check out https://www.kettlewellcolours.co.uk/find-your-colours/colour-combinations

where you can use their colour inspiration page for combination ideas.

We also organise preloved clothing on our website by colour season, so you can get a feel for the clothes we’d consider “autumn friendly” here: https://frankieandruby.co.uk/collections/autumn

For more tips on how to get started with your palette to create outfits, check out our blog post at:

https://www.frankieandruby.co.uk/post/2018/04/06/help-ive-had-my-colours-done-now-what

Next Steps: Making the Most Out of Your Autumn Palette

If you're interested in diving deeper into your colour analysis, consider these next steps:

For more details on these offerings, email victoria@frankieandruby.co.uk.

Wrapping Up

Understanding your Autumn palette can be a game-changer in enhancing your personal style and confidence. We hope this guide has provided you with a solid foundation, and we're always here to answer any questions you may have. Feel free to reach out at victoria@frankieandruby.co.uk

Thank you for reading, and if this guide has been helpful, we'd love to hear from you! Feel free to leave your comments below about your own colour analysis experience.