Color Analysis in the Hudson Valley

*Let me apologize in advance- I wrote this (not A.I.) so please forgive the bad writing and/or grammar errors lol)

Hi friends!

Today I thought I would visit a topic that personally fascinates me, which is the history of color analysis- and specifically in the Hudson Valley. The history of color analysis in the Hudson Valley is somewhat a reflection of its history in the the US (and world!) so I'll touch on the general history too.

But first- my personal history of color analysis. I first heard of color analysis from a library book. Throughout my life, it has always been a mission of mine to have a closet full of clothes that I love and I look good in. So I always loved looking for books that gave me clues on how to "look stylish" and "have the perfect closet" etc etc.

Anyways, I found the book "Color Me Beautiful" by Carole Jackson and a lightbulb went off in my brain. I suddenly realized that there was a reason that I looked good in some colors and bad in others. Crazy right?! I became fascinated with this idea and I knew I HAD to get my colors done.

And therein lie the first challenge. No one knew what I was talking about when I mentioned the words "color analysis" or "personal color analysis."

Believe it or not, as recently as six years ago, color analysis was NOT the TikTok/ social media phenomenon it is today. I tried to find a color analyst in the Hudson Valley to no avail. When I asked in different groups on Facebook about getting a color analysis done, people thought I meant something to do with paint color or interior design.

I didn't.

Because I couldn't find anyone locally, I ended up getting my color analysis done online (by a human!) and found out I was (am) a winter.

I became so into color, color theory and color analysis AND after realizing that there were not any color analysts in the Hudson Valley at the time, I thought, hmm... maybe I should get trained in color analysis.

Thus began the beginning of my color analysis business. Since then, there are now more color analysts in the Hudson Valley, but I feel some pride in the fact that I created my business before color analysis was really a "thing."

Ahhh, BUT, was I correct? Had it never been a "thing" in the Hudson Valley before?

Guess what, it had. It definitely had.

As I mentioned earlier, color analysis had been big since the book Color Me Beautiful hit the shelves in the late 1970s. Color Me Beautiful was the first US company that popularized color analysis and made the draping process HUGE during the 1980s.

Throughout the 1980s, it was common to see color analysis happening both in department store makeup counters and at color parties in people's homes.

My history of color analysis specifically in the Hudson Valley comes from anecdotes of clients and people I've met since starting my business. As well as an old NY Times article from 1983 about color analysis in Westchester.

From my clients, I learned that Sari Martin (one of Carole Jackson's original partners) was based out of Westchester and specialized in Color Parties. According to the 1983 NY Times article, a color party was a "cross between a Tupperware party and group therapy." I hold color parties as well, and I find this comparison absolutely hilarious.

Elsewhere in the Hudson Valley, I met someone who's mother knew a color analyst who had a booth at the Poughkeepsie Galleria mall for years before retiring to Florida.

I get clients occasionally who still have their original color swatches from the 80s and early 90s when color analysis was popular the first time around. I LOVE seeing these.

An original color swatch book

From what I've learned from clients and read, color analysis seemed to go "out of vogue" in the late 90s, before making a comeback on social media about 3 years ago. These days, most people know what I'm talking about when I mention the phrase "color analysis" And these days, there are additional companies that train color analysts across the country (in addition to Color Me Beautiful), including TCI, Image Institute and House of Colour (just to name a few).

Because of the cyclical nature of beauty and style trends, I often wonder, what is the future of color analysis? Color analysis has never "gone away" since its inception, but it has definitely seen periods of popularity and obscurity.

If you are in the Hudson Valley (or a nearby area like Western CT/MA, NYC or Northern Jersey and are looking for an in-person color analysis, be sure to come visit me in Cold Spring!