Nothing Rhymes With It

When I was growing up, that whole thing with the colours and the seasons was really big. You were supposed to look at your complexion and your hair and the colour of your eyes, and then you’d know what colours you were allowed to wear, or what you’d look good in.  My mum did it. She always looks great too, so when she told me I was a spring, or a summer or whatever the hell season it was, I totally believed her. I still do believe her – it’s just that the results of that test were so disappointing. I remember all the colours being blue and pink and god help me…teal.  There’s nothing wrong with those colours of course, it’s not like one colour can really be better than another – it’s all a matter of perspective. One person’s pink is another’s pepto-bismol Barbie-esque nightmare, and I remember being a little devastated that I was doomed to a life of wearing colours that I didn’t really like.

Then something happened. I… grew up. Is that the right phrase? Is it what happened? I’m not sure, but I remember waking up one morning and looking at my fushia blouse and my teal jacket and my pink scarf and thinking “Holy wing of a moth, I hate you” and something snapped, and I started buying stuff I liked. Sienna. Olive. Yellow iron oxide, raw umber, sap green, ochre, rust, brown, and (much to my mother’s initial shock, although I think she’s over it now) ORANGE.

cawithcoat 2014-05-21

I love orange. also happen to think that it looks fabulous on me, but truth be told, I don’t know if that’s a real thing, or if it’s just that I love it so much that I feel good in it, and therefore believe that it looks fabulous, when really it makes me look like an anemic mole rat.

I don’t care.  Spring, summer, whatever it is that I’m supposed to be, in my heart I am an autumn, and systems be damned, I’m happiest dressed like a tree in fall.

orangedetail 2014-05-21

This last Color Affection (and I think it might be my last, it’s possibly out of my system) makes me so happy I can’t even tell you.  It goes with my orange coat, my brown coat, my green shirts… all of my favourite tree garb, and it’s deliciously soft and bouncy to boot. (Oh. It also goes with all my boots.)

cadonefence 2014-05-21

Pattern: Color Affection, Yarn: Plucky Knitter “Feet” in (I think – the tags are long gone) Aperitif, Ever After and Sock Monkey.  4mm needles.  Knit with a few modifications. First, I did a yarnover between each first and second stitch, dropping it on the return rows to give a little extra length. Then I also continued the second section (short rows) until I was out of stitches. made it a little longer, and wider, which was nice with a fine yarn.

moreoutspread 2014-05-21

I am going to wear this all the time. Me and orange. Dark orange. Vibrant orange. Orange that’s dirty or cozy or bright. Orange like fruit, or maple trees in the sun, or monarch butterflies, or tulips or crayons or pumpkins or piles of persimmons.   Orange, orange, orange. It might be almost my favourite. Maybe.

cadonefence2 2014-05-21

You can keep peach, and melon, and palest apricot. I love big orange, and I don’t care if it suits my complexion. It suits my nature.

(Sorry mum.)

 

177 thoughts on “Nothing Rhymes With It

  1. And…
    “The rumor that “orange” rhymes with no other word is incorrect. Orange rhymes with Blorenge (a mountain in Wales) and sporange (a sac where spores are made). “

  2. I wouldn’t have thought it just looking at pictures of you in other colours, but I have to agree with Allison – orange looks awesome on you. (I’m normally horrible at seeing what colours are in someone’s skin and hair, so I generally have to go by broad rules to figure out what colours to use for them.)

  3. You look gorgeous in that ensemble…and I’m going to take some courage from the tale because I’ve always been told I can’t wear green, but, I love it so! I’m past 50 (can’t really say I’m grown up) and I’ll wear whatever the hell I want. Absolutely gorgeous, Steph!

  4. Love it! Orange is one of my favourite colours (although I must say that orange looks awesome with teal, if you feel the need to make another colour affection you could totally combine the two!)

    My mother’s thing was shoes, that grown women wear heels, said I was lucky since I’m short so I’ll be able to wear them no matter who I marry. I hate heels, I also found a wonderful man exactly my height who doesn’t like me to wear them. Wear what you like, I say! (And it looks lovely on you.)

  5. I think orange looks fantastic on you! Brings out the reddish tones in your hair.

    And the seasons thing has developed a lot and people are often not the season they were told they were in the old system (the new system has either 12 or 16 seasons, each of the original 4 is divided into 3, and in the 16 method there are variations for people who bridge the gap between opposing seasons).

  6. You look lovely in orange. But don’t tell the University of Tennessee folks – they’ll send you an avalanche!

    • I love Tennessee orange, but I’ll save it for football games. It’s too bright to wear anywhere but at a sporting event or on the streets of Knoxville.

  7. I love orange and all the fall colors. In fact fall is my favorite time of the year and my favorite time to decorate. But, orange–and most of the autumn colors look hideous on me. Everyone asks me if I am sick. So those colors are enjoyed in my environment. I will not say I will not knit another color affection but have knitted enough of them until that desire to do another one is gone.

  8. I have always thought of you as an Autumn! Your love of avocado, olive, autumnal oranges, light browns, tan included, all seem to look good next to your skin. Your latest Color Affection looks great – nobody could doubt it.

    Whereas I am definitely a Winter, but bright colours next to my face rather than the iced colours, and not the stone or taupe like colours either. So a white T shirt, and a brightly coloured scarf work well for me. I have found that it is often a variation of a colour that suits me better rather than what most people think of as a uniform colour (one with a lot of blue – cooler tones in it)

    I don’t know how why you would have ever been put in ‘pinks and blues’!

  9. Ahhhhh yes, colours/seasons/fashion vs. what one loves 🙂 I think I’m a… spring? I dunno, I’m also supposed to wear pink and blue a lot. I do like some pinks (especially coral) and some blues, but I love GREEN (avocado) and yellow (sunny mustardy yellow) best. They’re not the best for making my skin look great, or whatever, but they make me so happy that I don’t care! And, I’ll take your peaches and apricots, too 🙂

  10. I am on the exact other end of the spectrum and love purple and pink and red. And yet – I find your new Color Affection shawl absolutely beautiful! Even though I never would have chosen those colors in a million years. Beautiful – and you look beautiful in it 🙂

  11. On the other hand, my Mom always told me I looked good in red. I ignored her. For years. Then I grew up and realized that I looked good in red. And felt good in red. But I LOVE purple.
    Find the colors that make you feel good and wear them.
    I choose to not go with orange. I look downright ill in orange… But that’s me, not you!

  12. DOOR HINGE! (My DH remembers a Leonard Cohen interview where he nonchalantly mentions that nothing rhymes with orange except door hinge)

    • Not the way I say it!

      Which is part of the problem, of course. Words that rhyme in one regional dialect do not in another. Maybe nothing at rhymes with orange in Toronto-speak.

  13. Oh dear, I remember the Color me Beautiful craze, and the eager search for the season we were supposed to be. Methinks you’re totally an Autumn girl, which of course explains all the rust, orange, green and brown colours you love. I prefer the time of day scheme. It is basically organized around three moments of the day: sunrise, sunlight and sunset. It means you can wear all the colours, but not in all the tints. Sunrise colors are vivid and bright, sunlight are muted, and sunset colors are fiery and bold but not as bright as sunrise. And based on your picture, you would be a sunset, again, all the rust colours, vibrant oranges and so on… Anyway, most people say that the colors you’re attracted to the most are actually the colors that suit you the best, so there you go… Very simple, just go for what you prefer.

    • as i recall color me beautiful, teal was actually in the autumn palette, which ticked me off no end because as a summer, i wasn’t ‘supposed’ to wear it. i didn’t care. i wore it anyway, just as i wore blue and green together [my mother’s ashes must be sifting in their urn because she always forbade me to wear that because she thought they clashed.] then another book came out, always in style. i forget the author, but one of her points was that very few people are actually absolutely one season. very often one has a secondary season…i am summer going into fall. i think of myself as a september. i still won’t wear large chunks of either palette, from yellow green to yellow, through red to fuchsia, but the blues, greens and purples from both seasons all go well with the neutrals i love.

  14. Except for those olive greens, we have complete opposite taste in colors! Orange is my least favorite and teal is my most favorite. Teal everything, all the time, blue green purple jewel tones everywhere! Although, I have to say, the shawl is fabulous and looks wonderful on you.

  15. Most people are drawn to the colors that look best on them. Orange is perfect for you.

    I have a friend who tried pushing orange at me and I realized later that it was a color that looked fabulous on her and that she was just trying to share that feeling of wow I look good in this.

    You do. And that wrap looks fabulous. (As I vicariously miss the lost kidsilk one that went so well with that coat, too.)

  16. There you go, that’s as it should be, it’s how you pull it off and put together the whole package. 🙂

    I remember when “What’s Your Color” was a HUGE beauty concept. I also bought the wardrobe building companion book (what’s your silouette?). Still have them. I was very thankful for ideas as I was just venturing out into the job market.

    I’m like you, I love the earthy autumn colors, but friends told me “No, no, you are the bright jewel tones of winter, look what it does to your eyes and skin and hair!” I didn’t care, autumn colors were my fav.

    I LOVE orange. And was happy to find out it’s considered a power color like red, but for those who are more quiet in their power.

  17. I had my senior pictures taken by my mom’s friend who was a photographer. She gives all her portrait subjects a sheet that talks about makeup, what to wear, etc., and it includes a section on what colors to wear.

    What she says, and she’s taken a lot of portraits, is that most people look good in the colors they like best (our brains! They are so much smarter than we realize!) and that, despite the fact that I have NEVER heard anyone say their favorite color is salmon, almost everyone looks good in it (I was surprised at first but I think it’s actually true).

  18. Fall colors do suit you. The orange coat is great, and so is your color affection. I love all the spring colors you hate, however. My favorite oranges are peach and melon, and I love turquoise and coral. I didn’t discover my favorite colors until I became an adult and started knitting, and found that I enjoyed knitting with some yarn colors more than others. As a kid I never really had a favorite.

  19. I remember that seasonal/color fad. It told me I was supposed to wear pastels. I prefer rich, muted shades and earthy colors. I think most people can wear any color, they just have to find the right shade for them. For instance, I think I look blotchy in bright red, mustard yellow brings out the dark circles under my eyes, and peach makes me look washed out (yup, they were wrong about that pastel thing). But I love maroon and orangey-yellow and pumpkin/rust and look good and feel good in them too.

  20. You look wonderful in orange. All the “tree” colours. Your glasses look great too.

    Awesome idea about doing a YO between the first and second stitches, then dropping it on the return. I always have such an issue with tight selvages on scarves, wraps, etc.

  21. The orange suits you, and your latest Color Affection is wonderful.

    I, too, am an autumn. I love most of the colors…but NOT mustard yellow. I much prefer the spring and summer versions.

    And, if you love another color palette and it doesn’t love you back, you can use it anywhere…but not near your face. Personally, I love fuschia and emerald (maybe not together! hahaha).

  22. I’m with you! was never so happy as the day I banished pink, periwinkle blue, and teal from my closet! Sure, the 10 years of black, black, more black, the occasional charcoal gray (summer color!), and more black maybe didn’t do me any favors, but whatevs. Now I’m a walking 70’s appliance showroom and I’ve never been happier.

  23. You look beautiful in orange! I don’t know if it’s my color or not, but it’s my color this year – just bought a new shirt and fancy underwear in orange. It’s the color of the second chakra, the place of our personal power. Go orange!

  24. I made my Color Affection #1 in raspberry pink, cream and chocolate brown. My Color Affection #2 is teal, tan and a brownish-grey (it’s called Earl Grey). I don’t know what time of day or year that makes me, but I planned to wear the pink in spring/summer and the teal in fall/winter. I love orange, too, but every time I wear it, I think I look like The Great Pumpkin. You look gorgeous in orange. I look pumpkin-ish.

  25. Oh yeah – I hear you. I think I’m supposed to wear camel/beige – ewww – talk about looking like death warmed over.
    You know you’ve got it right when people tell you you look great. But then – we should be our own “style gurus” so who really cares what anyone else thinks!
    Orange does look good on you (but then isn’t it the new black??!)

  26. Stephanie, that coat and color affection look SUPER on you!!

    I always feel that people should wear what ever they feel best in. That being said, the reason those colors look so great on you that you ARE an Autumn. To me, that much is evident in the colors you wear which look so good on you. My sister, a green eyed blonde is one too.

    minm

  27. It looks great on you! Myself, I can’t wear orange at all. It looks all wrong. Sometimes I forget (usually in fall), but then I catch a glimpse in the mirror and am all, “What was I thinking?”

  28. Never mind Spring colors. You look great in orange (from a person who likes it so much we have a lovely burnt orange wall in our home) That orange of your coat is strong and confident and – people can find you in a crowd!

  29. I love your Color Affection. The colors are beautiful and that’s all that really matters. It looks lovely on you and you in it!

  30. Orange is definitely a great colour on you! I have developed a love of orange because both my boys have bright orange hair and it’s gorgeous. The 6-year-old recently had a nightmare that his hair wasn’t orange anymore. I hope he always loves it so.

  31. I think you were mislabeled. You look like an autumn to me. So, your natural instincts corrected the mistake.

  32. Having a serious case of coat-coveting (coat covet-age?) here. It’s beautiful! You look terrific in orange, too. And really loving the Color Affection, it looks great with the coat! I’m planning on using you as my alibi when my husband notices the pattern .pdf on my laptop. *runs off to check the stash for suitable yarns*

  33. My mom did the colour thing too…. and she figured I was an Autumn (nothing against your fave colours! Rock it, girl!) but I dislike browns… golds… orange…. I love jewel tones. So that’s what I wear 🙂 it’s great to wear what makes you happy!

  34. Oh….I remember all that season stuff too….but what my mom was taught along with that a lot of times we ARE attracted to colors that look us good on us. They could never decide if I was a winter or summer.

  35. It’s not orange, its pumpkin…Punkin! Or persimmon. If you put it that way, it has more “depth” or sounds exotic. I was always told at the Lancome counter stay away from orange. Then I said screw that, I like orange, and I’m wearing it if I want to. I am Latin, dark hair/med color skin, so I don’t know why it would’nt look good. But I love it paired with dk/blue or that really pretty vintage olive green, and my fav summer combo is orange & pink together. BTW, I have some Berrocco yarn that I’m going to knit a vintage shell from a Reynold pattern book. Perfect huh?

  36. My mother taught me that it doesn’t matter what color your clothing is, as long as you’re wearing lipstick and diamonds.

    You look great in pumpkin, not construction.

  37. My apologies to your mom, but she might have been wrong about the pink…I can’t imagine that it would be a good color for you. The autumn colors are wonderful for you.

  38. This is hilarious as my mother dressed me in her colours that are the same as your favourites in my childhood. My mother, like yours, always looked terrific. I ditched those warm, earthy tones for clear blues and jewel tones in my teens. Then the “seasons” colouring theories became big news and I thought, based on the book, that I was an Autumn so bought warm coloured clothing for a while. I hated them and envied my friend who thought she was a summer and was wearing the blues, pinks, etc. Turns out that she hated her clothes too. She went back to dressing in the Autumn colours and I went back to the Summer/Winter or whatever-they-were colours and we were both much happier.

  39. You look amazing in orange! I look best in dusty colors like rose, sage, mauve and gray. I don’t know what season that is (winter maybe?) but I just feel fabulous in those colors.

  40. I’m a winter that loves brown, orange and olive green sweaters so I get around looking sallow by wearing black , grey or white shirt, t-neck. If the color makes you happy I say wear it. I have always thought of you as an autumn also.

  41. I had a long, deep loathing of orange. I hated it for years. (I’m also Irish, which is Gaelic for ghost-white pale), so that bright sports-team orange looks positively dreadful on me.

    Then, I discovered copper. Rust. Burnt orange. Any orange that has a dollop of some muting colour, to make it rich instead of eye-searing. Orange and I have come to terms, at long last.

    Lovely Colour Affection.

  42. Well, I’m also a redhead (somewhat) and we generally are
    “Falls” not “Springs.” Orange, olives, umber, some deep teals, sometimes a pale peach and sometimes that warm sunflower yellow (that I certainly can’t wear. ) Think about what colors you get complemented on wearing. Some redheads can get away with deep purple! Whew!

  43. I don’t profess to be an expert in this department, but I do believe that you ARE an autumn! My Mom was and my sister is also beautiful in an autumn palette. Lovely!

  44. You know Steph, I used to look good in browns but as I got older and my hair color dulled, browns started to depress me. Even though I took care of the dull gray hair (I’m now eternally a light golden brown) I still feel better in vibrant colors. So wear what makes you feel good! I love you in orange and the new scarf is beautiful!

  45. Nicely put. You know yourself! And how hard (impossible?) to teach a 14 year-old. Beautifully written.

  46. When our Stephanie goes on a wool binge,
    Everyone in the yarn shop will sure cringe.
    On their stash she’ll impinge
    For fluff to spin, knit, and fringe.
    And she surely will grab all the orange!

  47. I think you look stunning in orange. What really matters is that you love the colour and you feel great in it. I do that too.

  48. AUTUMN. FALL. Whatever you want to call it, that’s YOU Stephanie! I have a dear friend who told me that really, “orange goes with all the other colors….think about”. Not every color all at once, but orange and red, orange and blue , orange and black, orange and yellow, orange and pink, orange and green, orange and pink. Now I may have to think about orange and teal……

  49. Must say that this is the best photo of you,Stephanie!You “glow” in these colours!
    “Absolutely fabulous,dahling!”

  50. I loved when my Mom told me something was good for my complexion. Then again, I loved almost everything about her. Love orange and always surprised when I wear it and people say how they hate the color orange. Mom loved it on me so do I.

  51. You and I are the same age, and what you described with the color ‘season’ thing is pretty much what I went through. I’m also now mostly in the earthy tones, and thankfully realized what you said: if it makes you feel good, you should go with it. Your Color Affection (and your coat!) looks fabulous.

  52. You’re definitely an autumn. Orange is not easy for many people to wear. Yellow is also like that. But you carry the orange and wear it, it doesn’t wear you and you look fabulous in it. The scarf / shawl is a beautiful knitting job.

  53. Go for the orange! I agree about teal (though to them as loves it, okay!).

    I too lived through getting ‘colours done’. A friend and I decided we were ‘plaid’.

  54. An undertaker (a.k.a. funeral home owner) of my acquaintance once told me to NEVER wear purple, violet, teal, or green near my face, especially in large amounts. As he said: “With your coloring (Anonymous, too), it makes you look sallow and sickly. If your family wanted you dressed in those colors, I don’t think our makeup people could make you look at all lifelike!”

    That’s me and not you, Steph. The autumnal colors look great on you, and I bet you look great in shades of rust as well. If you wanted more of a spring palette, try greens in shades of spring to emerald, daffodil yellows and golds, and iris-like shades of violet. Accent with navy, dark amethyst, and cream.

    • p.s. i love em, but moms aren’t always right. My mom always encouraged me to wear my hair short., which I did most of my life. Now it is just past my shoulders
      and at least once a week someone tells me it is beautiful

  55. I think that people should wear what they want, regardless of so-called fashionable colours, regardless of what they have been told when they “had their colours done.” You don’t wear makeup, so this won’t apply to you, but I’ve found that as long as you change your makeup to suit the clothes, everything works out fine. I have two sets of makeup – one for my jewel tone clothes or basic black, and one for my autumn colours and basic brown. I can’t wear orange or yellow, and pink looks really bad on me, but that’s a matter of experience and observation, not because I was told I shouldn’t. I LOVE orange, just not on me; and luckily for you, it looks fabulous on you!

  56. I grew up in a house that would have accessorized your wardrobe to fullest effect. Avocado green, ORANGE, harvest gold, brown, a smattering of yellow. Are you channeling The Brady Bunch?

  57. There’s no way you’re a spring or summer – you’re the most obvious Autumn I’ve ever seen! I’m a Spring (blonde with pink-toned skin) and the only shade of orange I look good in is a wild-salmony one. Your instinct knows what suits you and it’s right.

  58. My favourite colours are blues and purples. A touch of green is nice, too. I feel comfortable and sometimes even pretty in those colours.

    I loathe orange. One of the greatest expressions of affection for another person I ever made was to agree to wear an orange dress as maid of honour in my best friend’s wedding. Complete with orange-dyed peau de soie pumps! (It was 1968.)

    However, orange looks lovely on you. The wrap is fantastic. You look happy and content.

    Whatever colours make you happy and comfortable and feel beautiful are your colours.

  59. Its an outfit, not just clothes. Perfect.
    Orange is also my favorite colour so I just had to chime in because I am so exciting about no longer feeling like I am the only one.

  60. I never thought I could wear orange, but I got a hand me down orange top and when I wore it I got sooo many compliments. So, orange it is. I have no idea what season I am but I am totally with you that we should wear what we like and what makes us feel good. And now I have to make a colour affection shawl cause it looks amazing!

  61. Say what you will about your fashion sense, Stephanie, but to me, you seem to know exactly what works well for you. You look stunning in autumn colors! And your Color Affection is absolutely perfect! Great job on all counts! 🙂

  62. In the end what we feel best in looks the best on us, whether it be style or colour. I do love that jacket and scarf together, looks fabulous!

  63. That is absolutely gorgeous! I also this that you look very nice in orange.
    I might just have to knit one of those! Who knows when I will get to it (or finish it) but I’m adding it to my list anyway 🙂

  64. I remember my mother trying to get me to wear the whole rainbow, but I still won’t wear butter yellow, and I’m only just starting to explore pinks again.

    Personally, I think various colours suit various people, but the main thing is if the person actually likes the colours. Pinks and purples might have suited you, but you prefer orange, and you look stunning in it.

  65. I understand your viseral and psychological reaction to the colors you are wearing. Only I’m a pinky purple kind of gal. I don’t wear brown, and shades of brown, most olive greens, golds, yellows. Once in a while I will use gold as an accent. I find if I don’t wear a pinky purple kind of color and I lose my mental and physical harmony.

  66. i love orange too and now i may have to knit a colour affection just like yours – might help to tame down my orange coat, which has a hint of “boiled lobster” in there. you look fab in orange. the brick wall suits you too…

  67. You look wonderful in that orange coat! I also remember your fabulous post about dyeing with Tina and trying to get the perfect “dirty” orange.

    A lot of my knitting is orange because my kids loved it when they were small (it’s a great color for little boys). Have you checked out the Orange group on Ravelry? It seems to be populated mostly by Germans, but then, orange is much more of a popular color there: If you want to see a wide assortment of sophisticated clothing in orange, try to get someone to invite you to give a talk in Germany! I know some nice yarn stores in Berlin. I know, you’re a writer, you could go to the Frankfurt Book Fair!

  68. You look terrific in that orange coat and the Color Affection. I’m glad you found a shawl to make you love your coat again, since you seemed less enthused about it after the loss of the lime Birch. I’m not big on clothes myself (thank God you can’t see me), but it’s a treat to have something in which you feel good.

  69. I love this post.

    Life is too short to not be happy….in your job, relationship, clothes, etc. You get my point.

    ps, you look FABULOUS in orange!

  70. I love orange too (including lipstick!). You wear it well. If you’re happy and confident in a certain color, it suits you. Confidence. You rock! (Cannot see you in pink either!) 😉

  71. Stephanie,

    I think you do orange justice!!… Orange needs to be happy you have chosen it and you two look great together. I think its kismet that you found each other. Your hair’s light highlights bring out the best in Orange. Orange just needs to be happy that it is your chosen favorite color!

    Cheers!!

  72. Orange was my Dad’s favorite color. To be honest, I didn’t care much for it for years, probably because it was one of my school’s colors and I really couldn’t stand the place. My Dad felt the same way about blue (too much time in the Navy). Luckily, we do change and I love orange (and most shades of orange/yellow and blue/green).

  73. I remember this fashion of color seasons too, I think it was a party like atmosphere. I don’t remember the season I was but yellow and pink were supposed to be great colors for me, blues and greens were a no no. I hated yellow and still do and wear a lot of green and blue! One thing that helps these days is the variety of shades clothing manufacturers use. Oranges and corals are fine with me just no pink!

  74. So you’re not still following the 80s colour wheel (yeah, that’s how old that is, there’s a reason no one uses it anymore!). Big deal! I was told to stay away from dark colours, warm colours and pastels. Okay, I agree with the pastels. But the rest? I’ll wear what I bloody well please. 🙂 And if I think I look good in it? Then I will wear the HELL out of it!

    Personally, I think you look awesome in orange, and whenever we see orange/green/yellow/brown stuff at festivals now, we tend to refer to them as “Yarn Harlot colours” LOL (We is not the royal ‘we’, I do actually have friends! REALLY!)

  75. You must have suffered a colour misdiagnoses when you were young. Obviously you are a true autumn. Those colours look fabulous on you.

  76. Dear Steph,
    You are DEFINATELY an autumn. Whoever did your colors at first was wrong. You look fabulous in orange. I had my colors done when I was in my 20s and was surprised that every piece of clothing I owned was in my color palette. I think we pick the colors that are good on us. I was a vibrant summer, or something. I love pinks, blues, and reds with a bit of blue. I would look really bad in orange, yellow, or peach. (I have tried.). I think that you didn’t like my colors because they are not the most flattering colors for you!

  77. I have to join the “You’re really an autumn” camp. It is possible that you may have been a spring, when younger, if your color has darkened over the years (I’m a summer, now bordering on a winter, because of my hair darkening as I get older). Autumn is “warm and dark”, where Spring is “warm and light”. You look awesome in all the “70s appliance colors” that you love: orange, gold, olive, brown, etc.. (colors which incidentally look terrible on me. LOL) Disclaimer: I’m not an expert, here, but I read a book on it once, when helping a friend revamp her wardrobe, and I was fascinated to discover there was any kind of science to what looks good on a person.

  78. I can’t for the life of me picture you in pink! Just can’t. Scarf is bee-yoo-ti-ful, though I’m thinking of some greens and aquas I have, I seem to gravitate there. And peaches. go figure.

  79. Orange is definitely your color! I think you look fabulous in it! Also, I love this colour affection! I probably look best in blues and purples, but I completely adore the colors of autumn. Specific oranges I can pull off, but overall, not so much. I envy your ability to look cozy and autumnesk at any time! (Also, I may have a problem with exclamation points…but I refuse to believe it)

  80. The same thing happened to me! I LOVE all fall colors. I told my mom that pink rhymed with stink for a reason and I refused to wear ANY pastel colors except when we went to mass on Easter. And by the way….thanks a lot Milissa Leonard. Now I have that song stuck in my head. 😉

  81. I might have thought it strange that you are posing in what looks to be a wool coat and a wool shawl in mid-late May, but just a couple of weeks ago I flew from London, UK, to Washington, DC, and as we flew over the Canadian Maritimes, I looked down to find the whole thing still covered in snow as far as I could see. I checked a couple of times to make sure I hadn’t imagined it. We had a hard winter, but it’s over; yours, at least as of 2 weeks ago, was still going.

  82. Anyone who can wear Orange like you can is a Fall, m’dear. Whoever did your colors was wrong – only a fall can wear Orange like that. My friend Pat always wanted an Pumpkin coat but had to be happy with browns. You are supposed to be wrapped in tree colors & browns & rusts. Your latest scarf is a masterpiece of color. And so sensible when you think about it too. By the way, I’m a Summer – bring on the Magenta, Fuchsia, Raspberry, Watermelon & Turquoise!! Anything in Caribbean shades of the above – that’s what a Real Summer is made of . . . .

  83. I agree with everyone else – the orange coat looks fabulous on you as does the Color Affection. I love orange and it happens to be one of the colors of our San Francisco Giants!

  84. I’m not just saying this: You look great in orange. It is my favorite color, too, but I have to decorate with it since I don’t look very good in it. But you… you’re doing it!

  85. Maybe someone above said this already, but Stacy & Clinton of “What Not to Wear” always say EVERYONE can wear orange. I don’t know if it’s true, but I agree it looks really good on you!
    Love that color affection combo.

  86. Another thought–I had mild jaundice from a med a dozen years ago and it was startling to look in a mirror and look terrible in a color I’d worn all my life. I started not only wearing but actually liking more yellow-undertoned things for the first time in my life–it was quite the surprise.

    If you like it, it looks good on you.

  87. If you like a color and feel confident in it, you’ll look good in it – and you *definitely* look good in orange! Love the Color Affection – I may need to try one…

  88. Yup, that would be me, too. I…LOVE…ORANGE – mostly dark rusty oranges, and it’s all I instinctively look for when I look at yarn. I inevitably stop when I see an orange I like.
    I do differ with teal, though. Bright turquoise in the Summer, deep teal in the Winter. It’s actually one of my neutrals that goes with almost everything I have. Oh, and ALL the colors Mother Nature gives us in Autumn.
    The only tip I’ll pass on, if you’ve got “yellow undertones” to your skin like I do, stick with those shades that have a yellow base. (those yellow-greens look great!) We do look washed out in blue undertones, and white doesn’t work too well, either (although cream is wonderful)!
    Too much information?
    P.S. You look great in orange, IMHO…

  89. Back in the day I took a new-age woo-woo class and they said that orange was the chakra color related to fun, play, sex and money. The week I wore orange was the most profitable week I had in the entire history of my private practice. Just sayin….

  90. I’m the one who looks sallow in yellow. UGH. Can. Not. Wear. It.
    Give me white, bright pink (NOT pepto-pink), black, red, blue. I’m all over it. Well, it’s all over me.
    You look great in orange and dark yellows/golds, browns.

  91. You, a Spring? (Did anyone drape you with swatches to double check? You’ve always looked like an Autumn to me. (I know, I know. Easy to say. But it’s true. lol)

    I’m happiest in colors that aren’t “supposed” to work for me, but do. Really well. (I’m a Winter, but lots of Summer and Autumn colors really speak to me.)

    I’m so glad you found what makes you happy before you knit your whole life in teal and blossom pink. 🙂

  92. Orange is your color.

    Orange is not my color.

    I look hidjous–not hideous, but just plain hidjous–in orange. And yellow. And that wasabi green. I once wore orange near Halloween and people kept asking me how long I’d had the flu and if I needed a bucket (I was fine).

    My colors are eggplant, teal, emerald, forest, chocolate, cranberry, gray, lilac, and black.

    Guess what my university’s colors are (alma mater and current employer)?

    ORANGE. And brown. But mostly orange.

  93. You look fab in orange! With my dark hair, pasty skin, and greenish brown eyes, I feel happiest and think I look my best in the jewel tones — true reds, purples, magenta, deep teals, dark blues, greens on the bluer end of the spectrum, and black… I think that was winter, back in the day? I’d wear white if I could keep it from getting stained… such a klutz. I do love orange and yellow and yellowy/olive greens but they look pretty awful on me. They look great on my son though, so it’s fun to buy him clothes in those colours! (He’s 4 so I still have control of his wardrobe!)

  94. ah, something does rhyme with it. I got a Mother’s Day poem–a series of couplet wishes for me. The 9th couplet reads:

    May you always dress in orange
    May you run like you are soarin’

    a rhyme for orange? best mother’s day gift EVER.

  95. So glad you realized that you are an autumn. I always thought you were. It makes me happy to see you wearing it. Most people do feel happiest in their most flattering colors, but for those who look best in blue when they really love mustard, I say go for it. It’s temporary and no harm done. I just hope they don’t spend a trillion years knitting a shawl in it. Yours, however, is spectacular. And so true to YOU.

  96. You can have certain shades and such that suit you better than others, but everything I’ve read says that you are naturally attracted to the colors that suit you best, so enjoy your orange, it looks lovely on you 🙂

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  98. What’s you favourite colour? My husband always jumps in with the answer when I get asked. – Autumn. My favourite changes quite frequently, but is always either orange, red, yellow or brown. So I tend to dress like a tree in the fall too. Orange looks great on you.

  99. Orange does look great on you. I’m not a fan of orange but the colors you picked for your color affection are just wonderful and look great on you it makes me want to finally knit one.

  100. Ha, I remember those “seasons” well! Similar story, I was given “winter” because of my dark hair and eyes and although I do love those colours…I am an olive/brown/copper girl. It’s funny how much better I felt (and looked), clothed in the colours that I love most

  101. All of my life my favorite color was green, mostly olive green, but green nonetheless. Then a few years back, around the time I turned 52, suddenly I discovered I had a love for orange. Any orange from deep rust to Popsicle orange.

    I’m with you. People say I’m supposed to wear jewel tones. Pfft

  102. I volunteer to take anything in blues, pinks and teals off your hands, (or back) … Especially if it’s knitted 🙂

  103. I was a bit luckier with that seasonal coloring thing — I ended up a winter, and LOVE dark, saturated jewel tones and black and white, so that wasn’t too bad. I do love cheeto orange, but I have to admit I look horrific in orange and bronze. So I quilted with it until the quilting bug died out.

    Until then, I will happily drown in saturated jewel tones for the rest of my life. 🙂

  104. I remember when I was told I was an autumn instead of the summer I’d been buying clothes for. I was appalled! Who wants to wear lipstick that’s the color of terra cotta & look like Mexican tiles? Then one day I looked at myself in a lavender shirt and a gold shirt & said “Shit, she was right”. I was an autum. Now I wear the colors I like, (although I admit that pastels are rarely in the m.ix) & I only choose yarn colors in those lovely warm fall colors for whatever season I’m knitting for.

  105. I think you’ve found your true season or whatever. You look great in that scarf with your lovely orange coat!

  106. You definitely have a warm skin tone and I’ve always thought so, and orange looks great on you. I am emphatically a jewel-tone wearing winter, and look ill in autumn colors. I’ve followed your blog for a while, but seldom comment as I’m a crocheter but greatly admire your knitting. (And you’ve put me onto some awesome yarns.) But my inner thought is always “love the knitting–does that yarn come in purple or pink?” Wear the colors you love–they’re usually the correct ones. And a lot of moms assume their daughters will look good in the same colors/style they wear. Not always–we all have a whole bunch of genes that can pop up to make us unique.

  107. Stephanie, you belong without a doubt to the warm color group, whether anybody calls it Autumn or Spring. You were misdiagnosed before. Burnt orange, toffee and dark amber suit you to a tee.

    As a painter I study colors to exhaustion. I put in this plea for teal, turquoise. Maybe lapis. As the complementary color to rusty orange, turquoise will set your orange on fire. In clothing terms: the mere sliver of blue-blue-green –a button, edging, woven fleck, visible lining, camisole, or a string of turquoise beads –can be the foil that makes the oranges and caramels of the main color field shine.

  108. Pink?!? Now I’m going to have to try to find my fashion binder that told me those things as a teen (I am distinctly a winter), and see for myself, but looking at you I haven’t the foggiest idea where the idea came from that you should wear pink. A different definition of “pretty,” I guess. (At one point in history plump was popularly preferred over thin, unlike now, so you can see how these things do change, for better or worse.)

    I love this picture of you, and really love the orange.

  109. Our 3-year-old granddaughter loves orange. It’s been her favorite color from the moment she understood the concept.

  110. You are an autumn. I always knew that about you, from the first time I saw you. I’m not sure who thought you were a spring or a summer (me – fair, blond, blue eyed), but they were wrong. Sorry they did that to you!

  111. You are *definitely* an Autumn! Orange is *perfect* for you (I’m using those asterisks, because I am too technologically illiterate to know how to make boldface in my comments).

    Now I, on the other hand, have been typed as Autumn and it looks vile on me. Like an orange (the fruit) barfed (I won’t horrify you to describe what the colour chartreuse does to me. Or olive). But Winter colours – that’s another story! Give me ruby red, emerald green, sapphire blue, and royal blue every day and night!

  112. You and I have very similar colouring, and damn if it doesn’t curl the same too!

    I’ve always been in love with fall colours myself, and that’s what I always tend to knit as well. (I still love purple though)

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