But Purple is My Favorite

When I was young my mother dressed me according to my color season. You remember the seasons don't you? You could be a Winter, a Summer, Spring or Autumn. It was all according to your skin tone. Not a combination of factors like hair or eye color- equally important in determining what colors make you pop- just your skin tone. My dominant skin tone is peach and according to the color seasons that makes me an Autumn. All this means is in order to bring out the best in my complexion I'm supposed to stick to all the colors you see in my corresponding season. In my case, golden hued colors- pumpkin, burnt sienna, brown, mustard yellow- are the colors I should stick to. And to my mother this meant I COULD NEVER WEAR A COLOR THAT WASN'T ON MY WHEEL.

My color analysis was a holy text to her. She only veered off course with blue- because my eyes are blue. And when we went shopping together she would never get on board with a new color. Like yellow. Or green. She would discard those colors with total disdain. My color palette was one of a dying season. It's okay I suppose. I do love Autumn. It's my favorite. And you know, in all my school portraits, my skin did in fact glow. Mom didn't let me down there. My skin is so pale people think I'm ill if I'm not wearing some make-up. So what she accomplished was no small feat.

I simply wish I stood up to her when I was older and realized the color analysis is a total croc. It's one thing if you don't wear colors that look bad on you, but it's another to base a woman's sense of beauty on what colors she wears. I would never wear red. Primary red. Because it looks bad on me. But I could wear purple. Or gasp! green. These colors really bring out my eyes. But the color wheel told my mother that my eyes didn't matter. I'm not sitting here cursing my mother- for once that statement is true. Just looking at these vibrant colors of the season reminded me of the years of wearing them almost year round. Maybe that's why I love them so much. I was imprinted at such a young age to love them AND ONLY THEM. Too bad I love others. But don't let Autumn know.