When we all got color draped in the 80s, we thought we'd found the answer to all our shopping dilemmas. We took unusual pride in saying "I'm a Summer", or "I can wear JEWEL tones!". Noone questioned why a supposedly blue-based skin tone looked good in Salmon, or why flattering your ash blond hair didn't necessarily help your peach complexion. We had identified our "true selves", and would be able to look beautiful for the rest of our lives.
It wasn't until I apprenticed to a color expert that I realized most people had been misdiagnosed to sell beauty products. Most Americans fall into the Spring/Autumn category; warm undertones. There are very few true "Summers " or "Winters" in our country; it's a genetic thing. And the cosmetic folks know this; you'll rarely find a foundation color here, that doesn't have an orange base.
But God help you, if you ever try to correct someone who's been mis-color draped. "Autumn" (cholerics) are going to buy whatever they've -decided- they look good in, and damn the facts! "Springs" (sanguines) buy whatever looks irresistibly cute on the rack -at this moment-, rarely holding it up to their skin to see the effect.
Autumn clothing colors in the Valley of the Sun are relative. We tone down the neon yellows and pinks, and bring in rust and wine, to try to look "professional" to our Northern and East Coast visitors. But we don't fool anyone. Life's a Fiesta down here, so why hide it?
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