Colour, when spelled with a ‘U’ means some serious business, don’t you think?! Meet House of Colour, Pittsburgh – a wardrobe stylist and image consultant who specializes in colour analysis. Her name? Julie Peterson. Ms. Peterson, originally from Scotland, settled herself here in PGH with her husband and two young children about 7 years ago.
Julie is one of a very few House of Colour representatives here on the Eastern Seaboard. And, what exactly is a colour analysis and what does it have to do with the clothes that I wear? Well, ladies & gents – it has just about everything to do with the clothes you wear, the colors of your skin and how the colours make you feel. Julie evaluates each of her clients and how they fit, individually, within the colour wheel. Matching each person to a specific set of colours.
How does she do it? Well, Julie is equipped with the knowledge and skills of the image and colour consultant trade, she graduated from House of Colour – after an intense, concentrated couple of weeks studying. She even had to make her way back across the pond to do so! Julie’s been practicing for over 12 years.
Julie sits down with her clients armed and ready with all the colours of the rainbow. Her goal is to categorize a client into the ‘Spring’, ‘Summer’, ‘Fall’ or ‘Winter’ colour season. Each of these seasons have their own hues, chromas and tones. And each of these seasons matches up best with a persons skin tone, making these seasons guides for selecting the best colours to dress yourself in!
I was lucky enough to experience Julie in her House of Colour element, my Mumsie and I spent an afternoon getting ourselves analyzed! Julie has a set of what looks like bibs of all different colours, she begins by putting a few colors down, right underneath your face. You look directly into a mirror as she layers different colours of different seasons. The object is to observe which colours look best, and most importantly – it’s to see what colors will make the outfit about you... and not about the actual ensemble.
“The colour of the object illuminated, partakes of the colour of that which illuminates it.”
Leonardo Da Vinci
After a few trials and errors, the season you fit best within comes freakishly to fruition. It’s amazing to see how the different tones and hues look entirely different on you than they do on another person. I am the ‘Summer’ season (which I can’t even explain how much I love! I’m all about the Summer, I’m a Summer gal – it was meant to be!) and my Mom was ‘Winter’. Julie explained to us that most of the time, mothers and daughters have completely different seasons, it’s rare that they fall within the same one.
Myself and my Summer Colours
Momma & her Winter Colours
Once Julie’s given her clients the initial Colour Analysis, her goal is then to continuously coach you as you adjust your thinking and move forward trying to find clothes in the seasons colours that are best for you. She recommends to be objective about ‘trends’ – just because its trending doesn’t mean its for you; have a true perception of yourself. Julie’s thought is for a person to be able to walk into their closet and dress themselves in the dark. As long as your purchasing clothing in colours of your season – all the hues, tones & chromas match and so, every piece of your wardrobe goes with one another.
Not only does Julie provide her clients with one-on-one color analyses, she also takes her clients on shopping trips to further the experience, comes to their closets to assist with clearing the clutter, teaches style classes and provides an entire line of H.O.C. make up – teaches you how to apply it and chooses colors that fit within your season, too!
So, you get a full colour analysis, options for specialized shopping trips and closet purges, style classes …and access to entire make up line through House of Colour and Julie Peterson, right here in Pittsburgh! How absolutely cool is that?
Want more information about House of Colour and Julie? Visit her on Twitter and Instagram @hocpittsburgh and hop on over to H.O.C.’s main webpage, houseofcolour.co.uk.
Happy Colouring, folks!
\\ xx, Alex
