Color Your Wardrobe

Girls, do you like to color?

Color Your Style by David Zyla is like coloring for grown-up girls.

My coworkers and I have been studying this book for the last six months, at least.  We’ve been geeked-out on color!  That’s what happens when you work in a library.  You latch onto a book and don’t let it go, no matter its due date.

David Zyla, a New York native turned colorist to the stars, is an Emmy® Award-winning color expert.  His methods of color analysis are proven, and are used by some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

He believes that we all posses a unique pallette of our own best colors within ourselves.  He pulls color from a persons eyes, hair, skin, and even their veins, creating a vibrant, and extremely individualized pallet for each person.

One his website, DavidZyla.com, he says the following about an individual’s color pallette.

By honoring and wearing these colors, found in our eyes, hair and skin, we not only illuminate ourselves, but we build the confidence needed to attract love, enhance our power, restore our energy, make a lasting impression and show the world who we really are.

The Olden Days of Color

If you’re of my mother’s generation, and this isn’t a dig on how old my mother happens to be, you may remember the days of Color Me Beautiful.

I’m not extremely familiar with the “rules” of Color Me Beautiful, but I know that there is a whole generation of women thinking they are “springs” when in fact they are “winters”.  Lovely as I’m sure the consultants were, they (for the most part) were not experts.  It’s my understanding that they were the Pampered Chef ladies of their time.  Speaking from personal experience, we used “Chef” loosely.

Where has All the Color Gone?

Good news:  You are, in essence, wearing all your perfect colors within you.  You need only look to your eyes, hair, skin, and veins to find them.

Do I sound kooky yet?

I’m kooky over color.

Let me give you a visual example of how to find your “passion color”.

DISCLAIMER:  You MUST read the book!!!!  I’m not a colorist, stylist, or a beauty queen.  Read the book.

According to Mr. Zyla, in order for me to find my passion color, I need to look at the tips of my fingers.  If I pinch the tip of my finger (it’s easiest to get good color in your pinky finger), my finger turns a bright cherry red.

I actually photographed the tip of my finger and enlarged it for a good visual.  Yes, I’m embracing the kooky.  Humor me please.

This is my perfect color of red.

Now, your version of red may be more of an orange-red, or it may actually be orange.  It could be peach or pink or fuchsia.  I don’t know.  You have to pinch your finger to find out!

Similarly, if you photograph your eyeball (yes, I’m going there.), you can pull out all sorts of colors, even if you’re a brown-eyed girl, like myself.

From what I can tell, my best colors are a true red, black, a bright royal blue (like my purse), a mustard yellow color (like this sweater), and then I’d add green and purple into the mix, all in jewel-tone colors.

How Does This Help Me?

Here’s where the whole Conquering Forty theme works itself into the details of my life.  I want to learn to make wise, large and small, decisions.

It may seem silly to worry about whether or not my sweater is orange or red, but in reality, I won’t wear the orange sweater.  It will hang in my closet, and I’ll waste time in the morning whining about having nothing to wear.  It’s a waste of resources.  Even if I bought the orange sweater second-hand, money is money.  You fill a closet with $4 items, and it adds up.

I want to make good choices when I’m shopping, so I’ll love what I wear.  I’ll feel good when I get dressed, and I’ll look like the best version of me throughout the day.  That’s best case scenario.  I don’t always hit “best case”, but it’s good to have goals.

How much time do you spend shopping for things you don’t really love or want to wear?  How much money have you wasted on clothing you don’t even life, much less love?

If you’re not happy with your answers, you need to read the book.

The following is an Amazon Affiliate link to Mr. Zyla’s book.

So, what do you think?  I absolutely hope you’ll comment, because this will be a fun discussion. 🙂

Did you ever do Color Me Beautiful?

* My coworker and friend gets full credit for coining the phrase, “Coloring for grown-up girls”.  I simply stole it.