I Mostly Wear Black—Here's What Happened When I Got My Colors Read

A couple years ago, my "For You" page became filled with videos of people fixating on their color analysis—trying to figure out if they were a “light summer” or “true winter,” draped in swatches, analyzing palettes, and breaking down what hues looked best on them. In the past month alone, I’ve continued to see people go to color studios in Korea, use Chat GPT prompts to get an answer, and using the latest TikTok filter.

After attempting to understand mine on my own, I kept second-guessing myself. So I finally booked an appointment at My Color NY, an incredibly helpful studio in Manhattan that offers Korean personal color analysis using the PCCS method (a more nuanced system than the standard four seasons—instead it's 25 color types).

With my session, I received the draping test, a digital PDF of my palette, makeup recommendations, and a rundown of my best, second-best, and worst colors. Here's what I found out.

Warm Tones

Turns out, I’m definitely warm-toned, which didn’t come as a huge surprise. This means gold jewelry looks best on me, and I should stick to wearing warm colors in both clothing and makeup. The two seasons that make up the warm color family are Spring and Autumn, where as Summer and Winter fall under the cool-toned category.

What did surprise me was that my top is Bright Spring (also referred to as Clear), followed by True Autumn. Basically: I look best in warm, vivid colors, rather than washed-out or pastels.

The hardest part of learning this is the fact that I mostly wear black, and my style has always been more chic and minimalist. So being told I should lean into more color felt… the polar opposite. At the same time, that's the exact reason I got a reading in the first place: to find out what actually looks good on me, not just what I default to.

Bright Spring

Ivory is my best neutral (instead of stark white), and I look best in warm shades that are bold and "high in chroma"—tomato red, salmon, coral, peach, hot pink, lime, kelly green, turquoise, aquamarine, orchid, violet. At first, I had no idea where to even begin shopping for these kinds of tones since they're out of my usual comfort zone. But once I started filtering by color on Ssense, Nordstrom, Mango, and Net-a-Porter, I started feeling more inspired.

I’ve always liked a little artful or playful twist to my outfits anyways, so maybe this is just a different approach to how I bring more of that in. Brands like Gimaguas, Brooke Callahan, Sandy Liang, Siedrés, Miaou, Rixo, Flore Flore, and Tank Air have a lot of options that align with Bright Spring. For more visual references, when I think of people who really embody this kind of style, Devon Lee Carlson and Iris Law are the first to come to mind.

Shop Bright Spring:

YanYan

Borlor Floral Ribbon Wool Slipdress

Cou Cou Intimates

The Long Cami Top

Brooke Callahan

Guest Dress

banana republic

Lightweight Cashmere V-Neck Sweater

Clarins

Lip Comfort Hydrating Oil in Strawberry

RMS Beauty

Lip2cheek in Beloved

Free People

In This Groove Mini Slip Dress

Réalisation Par

The Allegra ing Aura

MM6

Blue Light Silk Lace Camisole Maxi Dress

MAC

Lustreglass Sheer-Shine Lipstick in Business Casual

Paloma Wool

Red Omu T-Shirt

Simone Rocha

Pink Negligee Bow Slip Midi Dress

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna

Trace'd Out Longwear Waterproof Pencil Lip Liner

Kallmeyer

Blue Victoria Draped Maxi Dress

Paloma Wool

Red Milevo Miniskirt

Gimaguas

Orange Julia Camisole

Glossier

Ultralip in Fête

FLORE FLORE

Ssense Exclusive Blue Esmé Tank Top

Glossier

Generation G Sheer Matte Lipstick

Hunza G

Pink Short Upf 50+ Sarong Cover-Up Skirt

MATEO

14-Karat Gold Turquoise Necklace

DIOR

Lip Glow Oil Hydrating High-Shine Gloss

SIEDRÉS

Exclusive Riviera Fens Jersey Maxi Dress

Paris Georgia

Ssense Exclusive Orange Sjp Midi Dress

FLORE FLORE

Red May Camisole

Vivienne Westwood

Orange Sunday Midi Dress

Benefit Cosmetics

Benetint Liquid Lip + Cheek Blush Stain

Never Fully Dressed

Sol Lyla Dress

Never Fully Dressed

May Dress

Benefit Cosmetics

Benetint Liquid Lip + Cheek Blush Stain

PUCCI

Marmo Printed Silk Crepe De Chine Maxi Dress

True Autumn

True autumn—my runner-up season—was actually what I went in predicting would be my dominant. The colors are deeper, rich, and more grounded, such as brick red, mahogany, burnt sienna, terracotta, warm burgundy, forest green, mustard, pumpkin, and coffee.

Between the Bright Spring and True Autumn palettes, I like that I don't have to narrow myself down to just one. I can pull from both, while being mindful of the cool-toned, icy, and muted colors that are less flattering on me and tend to work better for Summer and Winter types.

While I'm not about to overhaul my entire wardrobe and get rid over every piece of black clothing I own, now I have a better framework for how to approach wearing color. Plus, if you're like me and tend to gravitate towards more pared-back clothes, it's not like you have to go all in or adopt every part of your reading—especially if it feels like too big of a shift.

You could just start small: do your makeup accordingly, wear your season's best neutrals, or add some of the more colorful choices with a bag or tank top. Since color analysis is really about what's closest to your face, you can still wear black or other darker colors on the bottom if that's what works for your season.

Whether you choose a full pivot, a few adjustments, or nothing at all is, of course, totally up to you.

Shop True Autumn:

MAC

Silky Matte Lipstick in Chili

ZARA

Zw Collection Tie Midi Skirt

MAC

Lip Liner Pencil in Spice

Paloma Wool

Tan Button Alone Cardigan

Revlon

Super Lustrous Lipstick in Toast of Ny

L'Oreal Paris

L’oréal Paris Colour Riche Original Creamy, Hydrating Satin Lipstick With Argan Oil and Vitamin E, Cinnamon Toast , 1 Count

MAC

Lip Liner in Mahogany

MANGO

Asymmetric Neck Knit Dress