Build a Wardrobe to Match Your Undertones: Inside a Color Consultation with Mindful Styling
BY EMMA GEARY - APRIL 18, 2023
If you’re anything like us, you love to experiment with color in your wardrobe. While we love playing with color in our spaces, brands, and designs, it’s not often that we turn that colorful eye back onto ourselves. That’s where Brenda and the masterful team at Mindful Styling came in!
Have you ever found yourself in LOVE with a piece but not sure if that hue of green will look good on you? Or maybe, you’re wondering whether gold or silver jewelry is best with your skin. Should you invest in an off-white dress shirt or go for classic white?
We took all of these questions and more to Brenda Iris and her team at Mindful Styling. Through her Color Discovery sessions, we could learn more about our seasonal color palettes and how to best build a wardrobe that makes our natural features shine.
Trends can come and go, but when you’re looking to build a closet full of pieces that stand the test of time, it’s important to consider what works for you, not what is rotating in and out of store windows.
The Experience
We joined Brenda in her gorgeous, light-filled studio in the North Loop to take a deeper dive into seasonal color palettes. When we arrived, we were greeted with mimosas and light French music playing in the background.
“Sometimes when my clients arrive for their consultations, they feel nervous,” Brenda shares, “I want everyone to feel comfortable and confident, so creating an inviting environment helps to put clients at ease and begin the session on a high note. This process is meant to make you feel confident in your clothing selection and feel equipped to create a look that is meant especially for you, so we want to have fun with it!”
Understanding Your Undertones
I didn’t know what to expect walking into our consultation. While I’m familiar with seasonal colors, I didn’t know what it all meant, and had even less of an idea of what mine might be. Since I have redness in my skin, does that mean I have warmer undertones? What about Kate, who has darker features? Mollie has blonde hair and green eyes–does that mean she’s on the warmer side, too?
Brenda brought out four different color palettes, one for each season. Within each, there are sub-categories, such as “warm autumn” or “cool summer.” We went through each palette and the differences were drastic as we swiped from one to another.
When I had the spring palette near my face, the redness and irritation of my skin seemed intense. Once Brenda swapped out the palette for summer colors with cooler undertones though, my skin immediately looked calmer and clearer, and my eye color felt like it popped more than before.
When Brenda held the winter palette in front of Mollie, the color seemed to leave her face, giving her grayish, washed out look. Once we moved to the autumn palette though, her face immediately brightened and her features shone with her warmer undertones. All with just a shift of a color!
“When you’re in the wrong color palette,” Brenda explains, “you’ll often notice the color before you notice the person wearing it. What we’re looking for is colors that draw your attention to the person first, and the piece they’re wearing second.”
Inside the Palette
While defining your ideal color palette is a tool in your wardrobe building process, it doesn’t mean you need to cut out your favorite colors completely. Brenda suggests, “If you’re a winter palette but love warm pinks, try using those in accessories or on the bottom half of your body instead, so they aren’t right up next to your complexion.”
Our Results
Take a peek at who shines in neon, and who’s best in baby blues!
Kate - Winter…No wait, Summer!
At first, we thought Kate would be a true winter with darker features and cooler tones, but as Brenda dug a bit deeper, she ended up deciding that Kate is a cool summer! As a cool summer, she’s the perfect person to rock silver jewelry and bright colors in the cooler tones.
Emma - Summer (light summer)
With fairer skin and muted features, Emma is a light summer. This means that whereas Kate can go for the bolder summer palette, Emma does best with the lighter summer tones and more delicate hues.
Mollie - Autumn (soft autumn)
With warmer undertones and muted features, Mollie is a soft autumn. Colors with a warmer undertone and more muted hues make Mollie’s complexion truly pop, and she is the perfect person to wear gold in her jewelry and accessories!
Erica - Spring
Erica is a light spring. She looks most natural in vibrant, springy colors, and is the perfect person for a vivid green or a bright pink. With warmer undertones and similarly muted features, she also does best on the lighter side of this palette.
If you’re curious about your own color palette, we encourage you to set time with Brenda. You’ll leave feeling confident in building your wardrobe, and ready to get creative with the unique colors that make you shine. We can’t recommend Mindful Styling enough!
*This post is sponsored by Mindful Styling, but all reviews and opinions are our own. We only recommend products and services that we truly LOVE and would use ourselves!
Emma Geary
Emma is a writer living in Minneapolis. When she's not checking out a new brewery with friends or blasting Taylor Swift in her car, you can find her dreaming up ideas as the Brand + Editorial Manager at LAB.
