Creating your own colour analysis drape set – a how-to guide to selecting the drapes you really need and the drape set options to consider before you buy.
When you first start offering seasonal and/or tonal colour analysis, you’re going to need at least a few colour drapes to demonstrate how different colours look on each of your clients, i.e., you simply ‘drape’ rectangles of material under or at the side of your client’s face.
I don’t run a franchise, so you do not have to purchase drapes, swatches, etc. from us. But I do recommend you take a look at our online catalogue where you’ll find the colour analysis tools that I have used myself for the past 40+ years. I highly recommend them.
This is your business so you can choose to buy a pre-selected set of drapes or create your own. But before you go mad and buy the lot (especially if you’re a Green personality type!), read this short article
Starting out
You also need to think about how much you want to invest in your drapes when you first start out:
- For instance, at around £600 the Improvability draping kit contains all the props you see me using in all my training
- 66 drapes
- 4 seasonal fans
- 6 safe tonal fans
- a colour wheel
- a cover-up cape
- If you would like your Improvability draping kit with colour analysis training, all in one package, you can have that too
- It’s called the Complete colour analysis training and draping kit
- A draping kit containing everything you need along with tried and tested seasonal and tonal colour analysis training designed for both beginners and experienced image consultants that works for every skin tone and skin colour
- For around £115, you could start with 22x drapes
- 4 lightest neutrals
- 4 darkest neutrals
- 2 gold and silver
- 4 reds
- 4 blues
- 4 greens
- A Cool & Warm drape pack is just over £65
- If you want every drape in our catalogue
- all 173 drapes
- you need the Complete Drape Set
- And there are simply loads of other possibilities, so let’s look at a few together
It’s a one-time investment
Your demonstration drape set is a one-time investment. I bought my demonstration set once, over 40 years ago, and I am still using the exact same drapes today.
Once you start working regularly with paying clients, you’ll probably identify a few colours that would help you better demonstrate seasonal/tonal colour. I recommend you invest some of your profits into adding a few drapes to your own demonstration set. You only have to buy them once, and they will work for you forever.
Drape sets to consider
1) Improvability Colour Analysis Draping Kit
This is the draping kit I would recommend because it contains everything I use in my training. The Improvability draping kit contains:
- 1x Seasonal drape set (60 drapes)
- 15 drapes for each season
- All drapes are standard size
- Each drape is labelled with both Tonal and Seasonal directions, see drape notation for details
- 1x Ladies seasonal fabric fan (4-pack)
- Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
- 1x Ladies safe tonal fabric fan (6-pack)
- Bright, Warm, Muted, Cool, Dark, Light
- 1x Antique drape pack
- 2 drapes silver and gold
- 1x Armani drape pack
- 4 drapes in Armani colours
- 1x Cover-up cape
- 1x Hand-held colour wheel
- 1x Transparent plastic drape case
1.1) Colour Analysis Training & Draping Kit
If you would like your Improvability draping kit with colour analysis training, all in one package, you need the
- Complete colour analysis training and draping kit
- includes the Improvability draping kit draping kit (above)
- with tried and tested seasonal and tonal colour analysis training
- designed for both beginners and experienced image consultants
- works for every skin tone and skin colour
2) 60x seasonal drape set
The Seasonal drape set contains:
- 15 standard drapes for each of the 4 seasons
- Each drape is labelled with both Tonal and Seasonal directions
- See full list of contents in the seasonal drape set chart
2.1 You might want to add these later:
- Antique drape pack
- 2 drapes
- Antique Silver, Antique Gold
- Armani drape pack
- 4 drapes
- Medium Bronze, Moss Green, Green Grey, Rose Brown
3) Cool & Warm drape pack
The Cool & Warm drape pack contains 12 drapes for Cool and Warm colour analysis. This is also the best set of drapes for
- hair & nail salons
- opticians
- for selling jewellery & accessories
anywhere that advising your customers about the difference between Cool and Warm will easily sell your products and services.
- 4x lightest neutrals
- 2x gold & silver
- 3x Cool drapes to demonstrate
the properties of light, medium, and dark Cool colours - 3x Warm drapes to demonstrate
the properties of light, medium, and dark Warm colours - Full list of contents in the special drape sets chart
Add more drapes later
You could then add any or all of these individual drapes later, but these are only my own personal suggestions and you are free to choose any others from the 173 drapes available.
4 Darkest neutrals
- Spring – drape # 126 Medium Golden Brown
- Summer – drape # 35 Charcoal Blue Grey
- Autumn – drape # 121 Dark Chocolate Brown
- Winter – drape # 133 Black
4 Reds
- Spring – drape # 9 Orange Red
- Summer – drape # 7 Deep Rose
- Autumn – drape # 12 Dark Tomato Red
- Winter – drape # 4 True Red
4 Blues
- Spring – drape # 34 Light True Blue
- Summer – drape # 36 Grey Blue
- Autumn – drape # 30 Dark Periwinkle Blue
- Winter – drape # 33 True Blue
4 Greens
- Spring – drape # 58 Light Yellow Green
- Summer – drape # 71 Pastel Blue Green
- Autumn – drape # 59 Yellow Green
- Winter – drape # 51 Emerald Green
4 Navies
- Spring – drape # 28 Light Clear Navy
- Summer – drape # 26 Grey Navy
- Autumn – drape # 27 Marine Navy
- Winter – drape # 25 Navy Blue
4 Yellows
- Spring – drape # 17 Bright Yellow
- Summer – drape # 22 Light Lemon Yellow
- Autumn – drape # 14 Mustard
- Winter – drape # 21 Lemon Yellow
4 Pinks
- Spring – drape # 88 Clear Bright Pink
- Summer – drape # 92 Rose Pink
- Autumn – drape # 99 Salmon
- Winter – drape # 93 Shocking Pink
4 Purples
- Spring – drape # 40 Medium Violet
- Summer – drape # 45 Light Periwinkle Blue
- Autumn – drape # 39 Warm Purple
- Winter – drape # 37 Royal Purple
4) Create a demonstration set as you go
Buying one drape at a time.
- Order individual drapes
- Full list of all 173x drape colours
full drapes list chart
Huge tip
To help you select your drapes I suggest you invest in a Colour Fabric Catalogue. It’s a professional swatch holder containing 1 each of the 173 precision-dyed fabric swatches from the entire colour swatch catalogue.
What’s next?
Swatch wallets/fans – Once you’ve chosen your drapes, you are much better equipped to decide which swatch wallets and fans you want to use, so here are the wallet and fan options:
- Seasonal & tonal fabric fans for men and women
- Seasonal & tonal swatch wallets for men and women
Knowledge Base
The answers to most of your questions are probably covered in our online
- Articles and Q&A
- Hints and tips about using your drapes, swatches, etc.
- Lists of contents of every fan/wallet
- Full list of every drape available
- Lists of contents of every drape set
- Quick links to every product in our online catalogue of colour supplies
- Quick links to every colour/style training course
Still have more questions?
It can be daunting when you first start your new adventure offering colour via tasters, workshops, presentations, and consultations. I’ve been there myself 40+ years ago when there were no professional drapes or swatch wallets.
So I’ve had the same questions you’ve probably got right now!
Therefore, contact me, I’m here to help.
