Hi, everyone! Hope your summer was awesome. Mine was relaxing and rewarding. I'm sorry that it's over, but happy to have made a lot of memories for my kids. I also enjoyed a little extra time alone this summer. During which I was able to watch all three seasons of Downton Abbey on Netflix. In the first episode, Michelle Dockery as Mary declares "I hate black!" So of course I started wondering about her season. Now, Ms. Dockery's coloring - dark hair, ivory skin - had me immediately suspecting Summer or Winter. The saturation of her hair and eyes seemed to suggest Winter was more likely. But I had to agree with Mary that I didn't love her in all black. It just doesn't feel right, does it? I don't see it connecting to her. Since black wasn't lovely, I leaned away from Winter and started considering Summer for her. But I couldn't find any examples of her looking great in a Summery hue. For example, this dusty purple should work on a Summer, wouldn't you think? But it doesn't. Her hair and eyes are more intensely saturated than the dress, while her skin seems both colorless and waxy. As I got more and more sucked into the series, I'd periodically return to considering Ms. Dockery's season. I was stuck on the idea of a cool season for her, but couldn't find any examples of her looking fab in cool colors. They always seemed too meh for her. You would think that I would have gotten a clue at some point, but I was too absorbed by the drama to think myself out of the circles. "Must be Summer, but no... ok, must be Winter, but no... ok, must be Summer - wait, did Thomas really just do that?" After finishing the last episode of the third season (OMG!), I disn't consider the question again. Until Erin, a fan of my Facebook page and clearly a brilliant woman, posted a comment suggesting that Michelle Dockery of Downton Abbey might be a Bright Spring. ??? Well, that would explain a lot. Why Summer colors seem too muted but Winter colors don't bring out any healthy color. Why all black was more boring than overwhelming. And, hello, aren't Bright Springs often dark-eyed and dark-haired? Don't I love to point this out? Why didn't I think of this? Here's the pic Erin shared to support her case: Holy moly, that's good. A seriously bright red-orange, but the skin looks healthy, not deathly pale. Googling revealed that Ms. Dockery is almost always photographed in cool colors and Winter colors in particular. They're not great for her. As on the show, they make her skin seem colorless. But I was able to find a few shots of her in Bright Springy colors, and I thought they were fantastic. Here, the lip is too dark to be natural (better for Dark Winter, maybe), but I love the orange and the electric blue for her. That skin is alive, not pallid. This makeup is lovely; it's not a nude look, but it's harmonious, not jarring. And the colors on her cheeks and lips? Bright and warm. Just goes to show that even an outside-the-box color thinker like me can get led astray by lazily falling back on seasonal stereotypes. Dark hair + dark eyes + ivory skin does not always = cool season.
Thank you, reader Erin. :-) Don't have access to a color analyst? Try draping yourself at home.
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