Read this if you have a hard time deciding what colors look best on you but you’re still not sure how to go about it

“A colorful trend is coming back around and responding to today’s wardrobe crisis. Color analysis — or sharpening one’s personal style game using compatible colors from the color wheel — has been said to lead to more decisive dressing. The idea is that it takes the guesswork out of getting dressed, doing makeup or hair.” ~ Leatrice Eiseman, International Color Expert

Color is everywhere, we can’t escape it. But many times, you may not know what to do with it.

It’s especially stressful when you go shopping, so many choices.

How does one decide?

Color analysis has been around for a long time, making its biggest impact in the 80’s.

I was there. As I was entering the fashion industry in the 80’s I knew it was important to understand how to use color in my profession.

More recently, COLOR has led to illuminating ones “personal brand.”

COLOR plays a big role in your decision making. Everything from website colors to your wardrobe palette to meaningful branding colors. It’s all interconnected.

What is personal color analysis?

It’s a process where one learns what COLORS look best with your eye, hair, and skin tone.

1. You then receive a beautiful COLOR palette that takes the guesswork out of choosing new clothing pieces.

2. It helps you gain confidence and zero in on knowing your most flattering shades.

3. It is not only a confidence builder but gives you the know-how to use color with your wardrobe but in the illumination of your personal brand.

STYLE TIP!  Using personal COLOR analysis for clothing selection can simplify the shopping process and help you zero in on “your colors” and ignore the rest.

Sustainability.

I’m sure you have pieces in your closet you continue to keep because you love how the COLOR makes you look and feel.

Did you know, the average consumer throws away 81.5 lbs of clothes every year (that’s 11.3 million tons of textile waste that hits landfills!)?

STYLE TIP! When you love and embrace certain colors, you hang onto pieces longer.

What is a Colortime System?

I’m honored to be a certified color consultant with More Alive With Color, Color Clock System™.  It is not based on the seasons, but rather on the changing light at certain times of day. 

More Alive with Color, Color Clock System

“This is a more inclusive and international method, as many people live in climates where they cannot relate to “winter” colors; they simply do not experience those cooler color temps in their surroundings. 

Anyone, no matter where they live, can understand — through their own experience — the significance of the cleaner, sharper, jeweled tones of Sunrise hues, the sun-drenched subtlety of mid–day tones (which I call “Sunlight”), or the warmer drama of a beautifully striated Sunset painted across the sky.

Also included is a fourth palette called the Crossover™ colors that contains colors that are so apparent and prevalent in nature that they work with every palette. These include shades like Pantone’s Sky Blue, Sand, True Red, and Black.  Pantone is the most widely-used color system used worldwide, Pantone colors are used throughout the Colortime system.” Leatrice Eiseman

STYLE TIP! COLOR is the foundation of all fashion, and it makes us feel a certain way.  Why wouldn’t you want to understand how to use COLOR to put your best self forward?

Color for Confidence

My Color for Confidence program is a hybrid self-led / in-person, (via Zoom) bespoke customized experience to help women understand and discover her BEST and most flattering colors.  

Through the More Alive With Color, Color Clock System™, you will look at your unique inherent coloring, define your Signature Colors, utilize the goof-proof combinations, all of which allows you to create a wardrobe with ease, simplicity, and confidence.

You’ll then have an individualized 50-minute white-glove color session where we will clarify your best colors, mix-and-match outfits inside your closet, discern what colors are NOT good on you, and expand on how to use COLOR for your personal brand, and any other burning questions you might have about personalized COLOR for your business/personal lifestyle.

Personal Color Analysis: https://www.womenofdefinitivestyle.comcolorforconfidence

With Your Definitive Style in Mind,

💗Annette

Are you someone who loves adding new color each season?

do you tend to stay with your few favorites that you can depend on?

Color definitely has a personality.

And there is no one right answer.

That is truly the beauty of color, you have the opportunity to use it as a tool in your branding as well as your wellbeing.

And that is exactly how the Pantone 2021-22 Fall/Winter colors were chosen this year.

You're going to find colors that you can use to embrace personal expression whether sensible or quirky, color that embrace calm and healing as well as express a rainbow of hope and joyfulness.

“According to Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, “This season is offering a range of pragmatic hues infused with vivifying bright pops, and a plethora of possibilities that support our lifestyle of continual reinvention and convey a promise of reemergence.””

— Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute

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HERE ARE 4 WAYS I CAN HELP YOU DRESS WITH EASE, BE ON-BRAND, & GET NOTICED:

1. Capture my BEST style strategies and image advice that include secrets to honoring your inner beauty, to what style basics are a must, to creating a color wardrobe capsule – Get Your Ultimate Style Guide to Feeling Confident and Empowered with Ease.

2. Join my upcoming FREE 60-minute Style Strategy and Confidence Masterclass. Register at: https://www.annettebond.com/masterclass

3. Work with me privately to take you from questioning your clothing choices to creating a signature wardrobe that is uniquely you. Schedule a 60-minute Get Dressed with Ease Breakthrough session to share a little about your image challenges and what you’re envisioning for yourself, and we’ll devise a strategy, so you are ‘stepping into your excellence’ and showing up as the powerful woman that you are, dressing with ease. https://www.annettebond.com/contact

4. Join other like-minded successful smart women in my Style with Significance Facebook Group! This is a place to share personal styling ideas, get advice from a professional stylist, and meet other powerful professional women who value looking as good as they feel

Color has always been a fascinating subject to me. It's not just blue, it's what blue represents.

It's how people respond to the color.

It's how you feel when you wear certain colors. How it brings out your natural coloring. The compliments you receive.

Interesting enough, I've had quite of few clients recently sharing that building trust with their personal brand and/or company is very important to them.

The color of the year is not a random selection. The selection process requires a very thoughtful process and trend analysis.

To arrive at the selection each year, Pantone’s color experts at the Pantone Color Institute comb the world looking for new color influences.

This can include the entertainment industry and films in production, traveling art collections and new artists, fashion, all areas of design, popular travel destinations, as well as new lifestyles, technology and socio-economic conditions.

A timeless and enduring blue hue, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue is elegant in its simplicity.

Suggestive of the sky at dusk, the reassuring qualities of the thought-provoking PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue highlight our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era.

Imprinted in our psyches as a restful color, PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue brings a sense of peace and tranquility to the human spirit, offering refuge.

Have you ever thought about having a color consultation to discover what are your most flattering colors?

If not, think about it. It's a gift to be able to focus in on your BEST colors as well as helping you build a simple and streamlined wardrobe.

Nicer weather is tip-toeing in Seattle.  And if you're like me, you're craving a few new pieces to update your summer wardrobe. 

A few of the questions I hear a lot, "I want to add more uniqueness to my wardrobe." 

I look in the mirror and feel like something is missing? 

How do I create a put-together look?

If you shook your head and are thinking, yes that's me, help!

You're not alone. 

With the warmer weather upon us, I've had a personal "missing piece" dilemma myself.

You're about to witness how I turned my ONE new purchase into a treasure of outfits. 

Do you tend to focus your clothing purchases primarily on "work clothes" and don't always want to spend the money on weekend clothes - am I right?

Hey, I do the same thing. 

I've noticed is my summer lifestyle can be a little more casual.  And recognizing that certain pieces are missing.

With the weather changing here in Seattle to around 60-70 degrees, one doesn't necessarily need a coat, just an easy-going jacket to throw on. 

One of my favorite pieces to wear and purchase is a classy, luscious, stylish jacket. I love how a jacket can give an outfit instant polish! And adds that tad of warmth you're looking for. 

I'M a simple kind of gal, and a great jacket adds that "exquisiteness" to my simple pants, skirts and tops.

What I was encountering every time I put on my jeans, that "easy-going" casual jacket was missing that I so adore.  

It was absent from my closet.

Only to find out the next time I'm trying to execute my dressed-up casual look, I'm back to the same frustration. Where's the jacket I NEED!

Are you ready for what I found? 

What's so cool about this ONE new piece is it solved a multitude of my summer wardrobe dilemmas. 

What attracted me to this jacket: Simple and effortless, and the RED pizzazz!

• I value comfort when I'm dressing casual - the lycra in the fabric allows me to move.

• It was simple and solid - that meant I could add it to all my prints.

• LOVED the Red - fun and passionate for summer.

• It dresses up my skorts and jeans. Remember I like dressed-up casual.

• I can wear it with my white, black and navy jeans.

• I can pair it with my black, white and navy tops.

• I reluctantly paired it with my lonely floral shell that's been hanging around my closet for 5 years. Guess what, it looks great with the RED jacket.

• And, the most fun - wearing RED lipstick.

I've been attracted to RED from the beginning of 2018. It started when I declared my 2018 words - Bold Commitment. 

1. This RED jacket has put the lid on the "missing piece" ... at least for the time being until another missing piece manifests itself.

2. The RED jacket provides my casual summer wardrobe with a put-together look!

3. I've never had a fun casual RED jacket ... Love the uniqueness it's adding to my flourishing dressed-up casual wardrobe. 

Imagine... the outfits that I could create if I found a few more missing pieces.

If you're feeling like you have some missing pieces in your closet, let's hope on a quick phone call and find out how we can transform your wardrobe by filling in the missing gaps.  

For those of you who follow color trends, waiting for the BIG announcement from Pantone Color to declare the upcoming color of the year is a big deal.

So drum roll please...2018 Color of the Year is:

About the Pantone Color of the Year

“The Pantone Color of the Year has come to mean so much more than ‘what’s trending’ in the world of design; it’s truly a reflection of what’s needed in our world today.” – Laurie Pressman, Vice President of the Pantone Color Institute.

What I enjoy most about color is it brings energy to every party.

Color always brings about conversation.

So with that being said, What do you think about the NEW Ultra Violet?

There is not a doubt in my mind that Ultra Violet will bring intriguing conversation.

From my personal color experience, purple in it self always brings up interesting thoughts and feelings for people. Huskies vs. Cougs?

The good news is whether you LOVE the color or reject the color, you will see Ultra Violet in various schemes - designers takes on their own interpretation of the color whether they deepen or lighten the hue or just plain change it to their own liking.

If you're not sure about Ultra Violet - try it on for size. Give it a whirl in the dressing room.

Staying current and relevant each season is a question I am asked over and over. Adding a New Color to your wardrobe is one of the simplest and transforming ways to refresh an outfit.

Not just adding a new color but combining it in a new way.

This is your opportunity to begin thinking how might you incorporate an element of Ultra Violet to your wardrobe as we enter into 2018.

Keep in mind Ultra Violet could be the outfit itself or an element of the color such as a handbag or fabulous pair of shoes.

Click to see ALL my Ultra Violet FINDS!

I hope you've enjoyed me keeping you in-the-know of Ultra Violet!

Have you been in a state of confusion or struggle as to what colors are "your best colors?"

I encourage you to book a "Style Strategy Call" to learn how I can help you be a more purposeful when it comes to choosing your personal colors.

How many of you knew that EMERALD Green was the color of the Year?  For those of you who didn't know, every year Pantone Color, the leading color authority for fashion and home chooses a color that represents what is going on around the world with fashion designers, decorators, our economy and anything else that might influence our surroundings such as the upcoming Olympics.  In addition to the color of the year they also select 10 Top Colors for spring and fall that will be a big influence in the marketplace.

I am going to admit right now that I have never been a green fashion person although I decorate with it all the time.  Did you know that usually there is a reason why psychologically you don’t like a color? I encourage you to take a minute to think back on your past to discover if there is a reason why you don’t like GREEN.  In my color sessions with clients, I find a great deal of them who are not fans of green and some who love it. Be aware that there are at least 50 shades of green, so if you’re one of those who don’t like GREEN, experiment with a totally new shade. I hope you’ll also consider adding some GREEN clothing pieces to your wardrobe in the near future after learning a little more about the color.

What got me excited about EMERALD is the meaning of the color.  As you can see from above, there are a lot of standout adjectives such as magnificent, lively, radiant, and striking and so many more powerful descriptions of the color EMERALD. It makes me happy when I think of these words.

Green in general describes people who are usually stable, balanced types; kind, generous and can be a good listener from Leatrice Eiseman’ Book More Alive with Color®.  I did my own FACEBOOK survey and asked my followers what they thought of the color green and these were some of their responses:

• Love it, Vibrant, Alive.

• Nature, Crisp, Clean.

• Doesn't look good on me.

• I love green in my décor.

• Has to match my eyes in order to wear it.

• Looks good on red heads.

• It’s a color of healing, money and growth.

So what is your take on GREEN or the color of the year EMERALD? I would love to know!