You may remember the buzz. “Having your colors done” was an early 1980s obsession.
Women and men paid big money to be diagnosed as autumns or springs. Or they sat in front of a mirror while a consultant held paint chips to their clients’ faces.
“Don’t ever wear gray.” “Don’t go near navy.” The experts’ credentials were sometimes foggy. But clients took the idea so seriously they couldn’t buy stockings without their “palette.”
The idea re-emerges with the publication of an update on an old book, “More Alive With Color: Personal Colors, Personal Style” (Capital Books, $30). It is by longtime color consultant Leatrice Eiseman, the author of four books and an executive with Pantone Color Institute.
Using hair, eye and skin color as a guide, she designates categories such as sunrise, sunlight and sunset. Then she adds “crossover colors,” which are most often found in nature and work well for accessories.
Overall, she addresses a wide range of issues including proper makeup, hair coloring, men’s business attire and a quiz.
– Knight Ridder Newspapers
