The 'power' of colours

Last week I decorated the new main bedroom in our French home. I have papered the wall behind the bed with a wonderful Sanderson wallpaper, a reprinting of a wondeful 1950s pattern, all big bunches of overblown roses in pink, red and pale yellow.

It is the first thing you see as you walk into the bedroom and for the last two days we were in France, every time I walked into the room my heart sang; the warmth of the colours, their promise of summer that also warmed a cool winter day. The rest of the room, including the furniture, is pale cream or pale green. Once the carpet is down and the furniture is in, it is going to be hard to get me out of the room - and all because of the glorious wallpaper.

See what colour can do to one!

I love wearing a multitude of colours but my uniform at work is a beige skirt with navy polo top and navy cardigan or fleece in winter. I wear a rainbow bead necklace and rainbow striped socks with it...nothing in dress code says I can't I totally agree that the colours we wear have an impact on the way we think and act and on our confidence.

I like browns, navy and black but I love creamy white tops. They go with anything and can always be topped with coloured scarves. We went to a colour expert where I learned that my colours were bottle green and brown but NEVER navy. I wasn't convinced, but I'd paid so I did try it but it never really felt right and I soon reverted to navy. She was right about the brown though.

As a qualified colour therapist, I know that colour can have a major impact on our health and well being, whether it's any colours we choose for our home decor, or clothes, even down to the colour of the food we eat. Each colour has an energy and an association - This can be on a global level, a national level or a personal level. For instance in the Western world, white is a bridal colour to signify purity, in the East they wear red as white in that part of the world is the colour of mourning.

Shades and tones of a colour for the purpose of decor or what we wear is a very personal thing. Depending on our own colouring, we will suit some shades and not others - I can wear emerald, or forest green but not olive or apple green. I'm better with strong jewel colours as pastels/ nudes have always washed me out.
We are all different and that should be celebrated.

Going back to the original post by Imperfect27 yellow is the colour of confidence and also mental activity, so great for the classroom & office - bad for a bedroom as it keeps the mind stimulated instead of allowing it to calm down.

Seeing myself in photos makes me resolve to never wear the outfit or the colour again. I'm definitely not a 'selfie' person.

I have a lot of black and white and love to wear it,the colours suit me with me being so blonde I dress everything up with bold scarf's tied loosely around my neck so they fall full at the front (they hide the fact I am top heavy in that department) I love golds and deep red scarf's and chunky bracelets of the same colour this seems to be my staple work wear and I always feel quite good,when not working I am a jeggings/jeans person but always wear John Lewis as they fit me well,loose tops in bold colours are good for me and I have a clear out of tops every year or so,its difficult sometimes as I always seem to think "I will wear that again" and never do.

Love to wear colours, any colour except yellow or pink as they do drain me. Best colours tend to be anything in the blue, purple, green zone and I love pattern shoes. Have a pair in all the peacock colours that will drop to bits one day because I have worn them out!

I love autumn colours, and jewel colours. Black makes me look as if I am attending my own funeral.

I love colour, almost every outfit I possess will have an element of colour. Currently I am wearing a dress with a dense pattern in warm colours over a burgundy coloured sweater. It looks and feels warm.

I have noticed that many women tend to 'freeze' clotheswise in their 40s. A lot of my friends, in their 40s in the 1980s still wear jackets over floral skirts for 'best' and other styles I remember from that decade, that I stopped wearing before 1990.

The colours we wear are important, particular as we (well I ) grow older. I think we all have a tendency to stick with what we know, but the problem with this is that as our natural colour; hair, skin,eyes fade...strong dark colours do little for us. Adding 'pop's of colour in scarves, handbags, jewellery is a brilliant way to lifting an outfit. I had a colour consultation some time ago; this was very useful and more than saved the cost as the advice focused on buying and wearing make up and clothes that suited me. Money saving in the long run.

I feel more confident if I have something bright, could just be a scarf or handbag, sometimes head to foot. Colour cheers me, so why not? I always remember my Dad saying about his own clothing choices 'if they don't like it they can look the other way'. Maybe I inherited more from him than I realised. .

I am a winter colours person.
It made a big difference to me after I went to a session with three friends. we all turned out to be different "seasons" and when I saw the effects of skin tone on the colours the others were wearing I understood how it worked and could see what the other's colours were.

I really don't do sludgy browns and greens or oranges and yellow.
I wear very little blue but navy works.

Bright colours are good! I am determined not to fade into the background as I get older! (too many exclamation marks?!)

As a child I wore lots of blue, then boring brown as school uniform. I hated it and have never worn brown in the intervening 50 years. Whilst I was working I wore fairly neutral colours but since I retired I wear what I like. I now wear bright colours - I love fuchsia pink and bright red - but I've really gone back to blues. I have 11 different shades of blue tops which I wear with different necklaces, all of mixed shades. I finally have the self confidence not to bother about what others say and just to please myself.
I did a colour session some years ago, don't remember anything much about it except I shouldn't wear yellow or green. The yellow I can understand as it has always made my skin look sallow, and the green I can't but interestingly I have never worn green at all.
I remember about 15 years ago coming across the poem "When I am old I will wear purple" by Jenny Joseph. (If you don't know it, do Google it.) At the time I shuddered and thought "never". Now I am pushing 70, I know exactly what the poet meant and I do, occasionally, wear purple.

I love to wear navy blue and white, cerise and occasionally green but one colour I dislike is beige I remember reading it screams old lady.

Love black as it shows off my platinum hair. Sludgey suits me too with hazel eyes but not bright block colours, just on scarves etc.
No chance of me becoming invisible tho - don't let it happen ladies

I am a "winter" colour type - dark hair (well, it used to be), brown eyes, pale skin. So I feel better in striking, dark colours.

Olives, Turquoise, Puce, Black, of course, Red, Emerald (but no other shade of green). I wear browns and olives mainly at this time of year, with jeans, usually, but I feel more feminine in pink, which I like and have plenty of, pastels and shockers - anything that doesn't veer too far into orange (e.g. salmon).

I think colour does have an effect on you. The idea of a whole school of children in sunshine yellow jumpers sounds really cheering.

My mother always put me in yellow as a little girl and to this day she says it suits me, but I feel most uncomfortable in any version of yellow.

As a child I was always dressed in pink and my 2 year younger sister in blue ... same clothes, different colours much to our disgust!
Amazingly though, we are still the same. I am drawn to pinks/reds and she to blues/greens.
I love yellow too but can only wear it in summer with a holiday tan or I look ill.

I've got to the point where I'm going to wear whatever colour I want! I love colour and if one doesn't suit me it's not the end of the world.

I love the way Mary dresses on gogglebox. It's so individual and she carries it off really well.

I know someone who used to talk about a 'sartorial time clock' whereby people keep up with the fashion until one point in their lives when their clock stops and they wear the same thing from then on. I have noticed that teachers often wear a variation of school uniform all their lives.

I wear jeans and predominantly navies and blacks. A little dull, methinks.

i'm dressed in my normal black trousers and usually i team these with various colour tops. however i'm in a black and white top today as it would have been my best friend's birthday and i'm going to visit her grave to take her some flowers. decided subconciously i suppose that maybe this top [which i've just realised i wore to her funeral] would be the one to wear today.

when i get home i'll probably change out of it and go back to one of my more colourful tops.

however - dare i say this - i've got a rather gorgeous orange bra on which is trimmed with turquoise and has darker orange, white and turquoise flowers on it!! just thought it suited my mood.

I love green and blue, dislike yellow , orange , red - but do wear a red rugby shirt, hate black and white

Downtoearth, I am also a Capricorn and recognise the traits, made me smile. Now I am retired I dress more colourfully. Blue is my colour but I wear a variety of colours but with blue tones. I never thought I could wear yellow or green but it depends on the shade and those blue tones.

I had my colours done ages ago kitty, and it threw up some surprises too, especially yellow, which i love in nature but not on me. i've since found myself almost unconsciously veering towards yellow and I love the effect it has on me (and the complements I got).
One of my schools followed a programme of colour therapy, can't remember the name, but it had remarkable results, especially on children with behavioural difficulties.

I would definitely recommend it roses. I got on well with my 'consultant' and she was very informative giving good suggestions too. She actually lives in the next village and uses the library where I volunteer - so a bit daunting but she always breezes in and says something like 'looking good today!'

And the things I have bought go together much better than the random stuff I had before. I doubt I will stop wearing black trousers but I have no end of black t-shirts cluttering up my wardrobe.

Interesting! I have been waiting for your report, so it was worth doing it.