Open the door to a world of hues and inject some life into your wardrobe at House of Colour
Have you ever opened your wardrobe and realised it’s monotonous? It’s easy to get into the habit of wearing black because it’s slimming or sticking to one colour and layering yourself from head to toe.
“People tend to wear 15 per cent of their wardrobe,” says consultant Sam Logan. “People have maybe two to four colours in their wardrobe. When they go shopping they look for something that they feel comfortable in and end up wearing the same colours all the time.”
This is where House of Colour comes in. The British franchise has a legion of worldwide consultants who take a fun and personal approach to finding out what suits each individual. Abu Dhabi-based consultants Kirsty Volpe, Sam Logan and Marcia Holland trained at the London headquarters for House of Colour. But even these stylish ladies know what it feels like to lose your sense of style.
“My perception of smart was thin lines with stripes; classic, nautical,” says Logan. “That’s what I thought I ought to wear. But after doing the class you just have more confidence to be creative and be who you are.”
The colour analysis class is the first step in your House of Colour journey. Taking a somewhat scientific approach, your consultant will look at your skin undertones using precision-dyed fabrics to determine if your skin is yellow or blue- based. From there, they can determine if you are a cool season (winter or summer) or a warm season (autumn or spring) before narrowing it down to one.
A framed colour wheel lays out each of the seasons with the 36 colours. And no, black doesn’t count as a colour.
“Once we’ve decided the season, we put makeup on with the House of Colour makeup, which is specific to each season,” adds Volpe. “The makeup for autumn will be more muted, softer colours whereas the spring colours are a bit more vibrant and bright but still warm.”
Your new colours are then rated according to whether they can be worn from head to toe (100 per cent), all over but broken up with a neutral colour (75 per cent), only on the top or bottom (50 per cent), or as an accessory (25 per cent).
“If you were buying a jumpsuit that you wanted to wear from top-to-toe, we would identify what is 100 per cent wow, red-carpet colours for you,” says Volpe. “While some of the colours that are in your season may flatter you, it may be that they’re best suited as an accessory.”
The final step is to identify your ‘capsule wardrobe’ – the minimum number of clothing items you’ll need to create the maximum number of outfits. This includes trousers, tops and accessories to give you a formal, smart casual and casual look.
At the end of the class everyone receives a colour wallet with all your season’s colours that acts as a ‘compass’ to help you shop.
But what if you can’t afford to throw out your entire wardrobe and go on a shopping rampage?
“We say start with a bit of lipstick, a bit of makeup and get your hair colour right, then focus on the top half of your body,” says Volpe. “It took me 18 to 24 months before I changed my wardrobe fully.”
The ladies also hold monthly ‘frock swaps’ for clients to sell on and buy used clothing.
The rest of your style journey continues with make up and personal style classes to complete your look. Kirsty, Sam and Marcia also offer men’s and teenager’s programmes, personal shopping trips and wardrobe review sessions.
Rachael Peacock
The verdict
Sitting down in front of the mirror without makeup is vulnerability at its best. But the ladies quickly put me at ease and get to work.
After determining my skin is yellow based, the ladies wrapped layers of fabrics around my neck to check if I was warm or cool. Alternating with varying shades of colours, I was marked as autumn. The natural soft tones of the autumn colours made my skin look more even and healthy, while the blue-based colours made me look washed out.
The consultants take their time to show me why each colour does or doesn’t work, stressing that I should be wearing the fabric, not the other way around.
After a basic make up tutorial and the rating of my colours, I feel empowered to make myself over. Since the classes are only made up of two or three people, it’s easy to see and learn from the transformation on others.
While we were slightly sceptical to begin with, it was easy to see the changes that a bit of colour could make. Armed with my colour wallet, I’ll be making small steps to jazz up my wardrobe and slowly introduce my 36 colours.
The colour analysis class costs AED 700 for three and a half hours or get the complete package with makeup and personal style for AED 1,750.
For more information visit www.houseofcolour.com or contact Sam 050 152 2161 or Marcia 050 596 4386
