I’ve had a lot on my mind lately and most of it seems to be color related. In fashion, having a strong understanding of color is essential. The wrong palette will ruin a collection. And so as my final semester at FIT draws to a close, it seems like the majority of my assignments depend on my color abilities. Now, I’ve always considered myself to be someone who is good – great even- when it comes to mixing colors but I’ve come to realize that throwing together a colorful ensemble is not at all the same as working with color.

During the job hunt, I’ve come across several positions that require you the FM 100 Hue Test. It’s a test of your color knowledge. Basically, you look at each row and arrange the colors by hue. Hue is a more scientific way of saying “color”. Each hue is the distinct wavelength frequency on the spectrum.

The color squares at each end cannot be moved and should be used as your guide. When the squares are all jumbled up at the beginning of the test (see above), the task looks simple. Looking at the first row, you can clearly see pinks, greens and tans. But start grouping them according to hue and it gets infinitely more challenging. If you’re up for it – go ahead and take the test for free at X-Rite. The first time that I took the test I received a perfect score of 0… my subsequent results have averaged around 7. The test is helpful because at the end it shows you the areas that you have the greatest trouble with, and if you’re interested in working with color you can work to strengthen your abilities in that area.

For my final project in Product Development, I will be creating a small collection of knits using the dress above, from Diane von Furstenberg’s 2010 Resort collection, as my color inspiration. This afternoon, I have an appointment in the color library to select my swatches. The color library is basically a brightly lit room that contains drawers full of fabric arranged in a somewhat confusing system of hues and tints/shades/tones. I am bringing a back up tear sheet, just in case I have difficulty selecting the right swatches or get home and suddenly hate my palette. Siiigh. Hopefully, I can make good use of my hour.

More info on color here.