ABOUT US
Life is too short to wear
boring clothes.
-C U S H N I E E T O C H S
Brook Mercer
70% Lively Bright, 30% Earthy Rich
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35% High Spirited, 30% Romantic, 20% Natural, 15% Classic
Mariah Bishop
70% Earthy Rich, 15% Lively Bright,
15% Subtle Blended
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30% Natural, 30% Romantic,
20% Classic, 10% Angelic,
10% High Spirited
I have always loved fashion and color. I tried and tried to dress fun and wonderful, and had done the "Color Me Beautiful" in the 1970's and even taught classes on it. But as a natural redhead, I was always put in the "Autumn" coloring. Even though I tried and tried to get it right - I never felt beautiful in the Autumn colors. I felt okay, but I knew I was missing the mark. In 2014 I was looking to get my colors done professionally, and invited my two girls to do it with me. I was looking around at several systems, when I read a review saying - "If you want colors done right - go to John Kitchener." I had never heard of him, but just trusted my gut; and with my husband, son, and son-in-law added to the group, we took off for Oakland to see John. As we were entering California I turned to everyone and said, "I hope he is good!"
He was fabulous. He answered so many of my questions. He made my colors finally make sense. I am 70% Lively Bright (Spring) and 30% Earthy Rich (Autumn). At last I had colors that were brighter than I had been told I could wear, and I was set free.
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In the next year I took at total of 15 people personally to see John; either flying or driving. I would drink in all the information he was giving them. I could not get enough of it.
In addition, people were reacting to my outfits. They were perfect for my coloring and style. One time a woman in Costco walked by the aisle I was in - backed up - came up to me and told me I was in a most amazing outfit. She said, "I was going to pass by you, but I just had to come back and tell you!" Wow. I knew I was onto something at that point.
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Finally I asked John to train me. So began our 2 1/2 years of training. It is a complex system that gives you percentages of your coloring and your styles. We did some of it long distance, but John moved to Utah so we could train in person for the last 13 months. He is an incredible teacher. My daughter Mariah had been learning along with me, so when John moved here, she joined me and is now my partner in Personal Style and Colors.
John Kitchener
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70% Striking Contrast, 30% Earthy Rich
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40% Classic, 20% Romantic,
20% Dramatic, 10% Natural,
10% High Spirited
John was lucky enough to get his colors done by PSC as a Christmas present when he was 21 years old.
In 1942 Suzanne Caygil developed the idea of the Color Seasons. Her first student was Joan Songer who in 1964 started PSC in California. Joan took the ideas further and developed the percentage system and fine tuned the Style Analysis.
John was hired by PSC in 1978 and was given the reins of the company by Joan in 1999. He has done over 24,000 unique color palettes for, of course 24,000 people over the last 40 years. He is a Master of Color and Style. It is his life work.
He is exhilarated about this work and helping people achieve their most harmonious self. He has passed on his knowledge by training Brook and Mariah for 2 1/2 years. He is now located in LaGrange, Georgia (outside of Atlanta.)
My story with PSC began when I went to California on a vacation completely centered around getting my custom color and style analysis done by John Kitchener. I was so excited; my mom had found this “color genius” and I love color, so how could this not be the best idea ever? On our appointment day, I watched my mom get her colors done, then my sister. They both had bright colors that I loved. Then came my turn. As I watched John pull my colors, he kept saying things like, “rich, earthy, tapestry, gorgeous;” they were colors that were entirely foreign to me and it was even upsetting. My entire closet, at the time, would have been described as bright, light, fun, and vivid; I didn’t want to be rich, deep, or earthy. John could put all the nicest adjectives he wanted with my color palette but I knew old lady colors when I saw them. I thanked John for my colors anyway and held tight to my binder as we left his office, but then I burst into tears. I hated my colors.
The rich tapestry that John kept describing as my custom color palette was the oldest, dustiest, grossest tapestry I could imagine. My mom, being the brilliant woman she is, insisted that we go to the nearest mall to try on some of our new colors. We found a yellow, that was an awful color, but fell perfectly into my palette. It really was an awful color, but I tried it on, just to prove how horrible it really was. Then, I looked in the mirror, sighed, and said, "Well, shoot. I look really nice. Like, really, really nice." I couldn't hate this golden, brownish but definitely yellow dress when it made my skin look so good. That night, I sat at the table, and went page by page through my colors, and picked out one color on each page that I liked the best. If I’m being honest, on a couple pages I actually liked a couple swatches...and a couple other pages, I really didn’t like any of the swatches, but I would pick the best anyway. I pined for brighter, crisper colors like my mom and sister got, but I the more pieces I tried on in my colors, the more my appreciation grew for my “tapestry.” When I wore my newly acquired, right-for-my-skin colors, I felt so good! All the sudden it was like people could see me. I was being real and my confidence grew. It took me a year to become friends with my colors and even longer to fully embrace them, but now I don’t even think about the colors I originally wished I had.
When I first got my color and style analysis from John in 2014 it launched me into a year of change, self realization, and personal growth that took me by surprise. I had no idea that the colors I wore would have such an impact on my emotions, my confidence, and my life. I studied psychology and art at Westminster College, and until I started doing color and style analysis, I never really used my degree. I love this business because it is such a unique blend of psychology and art. I love that I get the opportunity to see people and their real beauty; it is a unique and harmonious beauty. Being in harmony empowers a person. When we are in harmony, whether that means wearing 4 inch glittery heels, ballet flats with little hearts printed on them, 6 year old Birkenstocks, or any number of options, it just feels good. That is why I do what I do.
