Younger generations are discovering the art of colour theory and applying it to their wardrobes in a bid to save money and make their clothing more sustainable – but how does it work?
‘GETTING your colours done’ was all the rage in the Eighties with the publication of Carole Jackson’s 1980 book, Color Me Beautiful, which kickstarted the movement of overhauling women’s wardrobes to compliment their seasonal palette.
Based on Bauhaus painter Johannes Itten’s work, seasonal colour theory states that someone’s hair, eye colour and skin tone will place them in the Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter palettes, so they will look their best in the colours that complement their seasonal group.
Colour analysis became passé over the next 30 years – Bridget Jones’ fictional mother famously badgers her to get her colours done to boost her confidence in the 2001 film version of Helen Fielding’s bestseller.
But a new generation has rediscovered colour theory and the movement is getting a boost thanks to social media platform TikTok, with hundreds of thousands of videos showing women and men getting their colours done – sometimes virtually, with analysts using AI tools to work out their clients’ season.
Fashion designer-turned stylist Louise Duncum, who is based in east London, says while the majority of customers coming to her now for colour analysis are women, more men are starting to come through her doors – and it’s the younger generation showing more interest.
“About six months ago, there was a flurry of young people who were just out of university and they were wanting to find out their colour season,” says Louise, of Weiz Styles, who quit her job designing high street clothing and retrained at the London College of Style before launching her own consultancy business.
“There’s been an explosion of colour analysis on TikTok and I think young people are excited about colour theory – they want to know themselves, they want to have a proper consultation and that social media element has driven this wave of popularity with a younger audience.”
The cost of living and soaring price of clothes has also helped drive the trend, Louise believes.
“When you’ve got less money in your pocket, you want to feel confident in your buying decisions,” she explains.
“And the great thing about colour analysis is that it does give you that confidence that what you’re buying makes you look your absolute best.”
Environmental concerns about fast fashion, made by people in third-world countries for pennies and shipped to the UK, could also be switching Gen Z over to colour theory.
“People do seem to be moving away from fast fashion, and becoming less trends-led,” Louise adds. “They want to invest in something that is going to work for them.”
Research from Mintel found the youngest Gen Zs – the generation born between 1997 and 2010 – are spending significantly less on clothes, with a quarter buying fewer items in 2025 compared to last year.
Those same young people are also driving a rise in preloved fashion, with online resale sites like Vinted and high street charity shops reporting greater sales.
And Louise reckons more of us are turning away from the idea of buying a brand new wardrobe every year.
“What I see time and time again is people will buy something because they see it on someone else and it looks amazing,” she says.
“And then when they try it on, they get that sense of deflation and their shoulders go down. They feel like, ‘what’s wrong with me?’ And there’s nothing wrong with them, the item just is not the right colour for them. So knowing your colour season is like giving them the tools to go out and shop with confidence.”
Keen to put colour theory to the test, I ask Louise to do my colours. Her clients usually arrive with a makeup-free face, but, not wanting to put our dear readers off their cornflakes, I go as natural as I dare.
Louise starts off her consultation with a personality test – which, she says, complements the ‘reading’ of a client’s skin, hair and eye colour. “People with warm colouring – the Springs and Autumns – tend to also be extroverts,” she says.
We then move on to the gold and silver shiny fabric swatches, which Louise holds against my face in succession to see which one better suits my blonde hair, blue eyes and deathly pale skin. At this point I’m regretting not packing on the bronzer.
“I’m looking at what the metals do to your under-eye area, the shadows by your mouth and under your chin,” she tells me as I scrutinise my face in her enormous mirror. Hang on, is that… toothpaste on my cheek? A gift from my toddler daughter no doubt – along with the dark circles under my eyes. “Does your season change depending on how sleep deprived you are?” I ask weakly.
Next come the colour swatches, which Louise has grouped tonally. A shade from each of the four seasons is draped around my neck and Louise asks what I think as she lifts each one to my face in turn.
The pale, icy colours that I thought would look good on me actually wash me out – and one particularly offensive khaki shade makes me look like a corpse. In contrast, the sky blue, pillar-box red and apple green make me look more glowy – well, as glowy as an exhausted mum with toothpaste on her face can look.
As we move through the rainbow, it becomes clear that I’m warm-toned, despite my ghostly pallor, and that I suit the brighter, bolder colours far more than the insipid pastels and sludgy neutrals. Black, it transpires, is an absolute no-no.
By the end of the consultation, Louise has categorised me as a Spring, and hands me my very own colour fan with the tones that will look best with my (toothpaste-free) complexion. “Stick with these and you’ll always have pieces in your wardrobe that work together,” she tells me.
So, has colour theory changed my life? I did buy a gorgeous yellow jumper that I would never usually go for, that has elicited at least two nice compliments. And, using Louise’s analysis, I did my dog Muffin’s colours and got him a new olive green collar to suit his chestnut-red fur.
“What a beautiful boy – lovely eyes” one fellow dog-walker said at the park. “Thanks,” I told her smugly. “He’s an Autumn.”
*Follow Louise Duncum on weizstyles.com
