Creating your own drape set – a how-to guide to selecting the drapes you really need and the drape set options to condider 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
How many drapes do you need?
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 £500 the Improvability Starter Set contains all the props you see me using in all my video trainings – 66 drapes, 4 seasonal fans, 6 safe tonal fans, a colour wheel, and a cover-up cape
- For around £100, you could start with 22x drapes – 4x lightest neutrals, 4x darkest neutrals, 2x gold and silver, 4x reds, 4 blues, and 4 greens
- A Cool & Warm pack is just over £50…
- And there are simply loads of other possibilities… Let’s look at a few together!
Remember: Your demonstration drape set is a one-time investment
I bought my demonstration set once, 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 set possibilities to consider
1) Recommended – Improvability Colour Analysis Starter Set
The starter set contains:
1x Seasonal drape set (60 drapes) – 15 drapes for each season
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 – 2x drapes silver and gold
1x Armani drape pack – 4x drapes in Armani colours
1x Cover-up cape
1x Hand-held colour wheel
1x Transparent plastic drape case
All drapes are standard size, and labelled with both Tonal and Seasonal directions.
2) 60x seasonal drape set
- 15 standard drapes for each of the 4 seasons
- Each drape is labelled with both Tonal and Seasonal directions
- Full list of contents – seasonal drape set chart
You might want to add these later:
- Antique drape pack
2x drapes Antique Silver, Antique Gold - Armani drape pack
4x drapes Medium Bronze, Moss Green, Green Grey, Rose Brown
3) Cool & Warm drape pack
12x drapes for Cool and Warm colour analysis.
Also, this is the best set of drapes for hair & nail salons, opticians, and for selling jewellery & accessories, where advising your customers about the difference between Cool and Warm will easily sell your services/products.
- 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 – special drape sets chart
You could then add any or all of these individual drapes later:
- NB: these are my own personal suggestions only,
and you are free to choose any others from the 173 drapes available!
4x darkest neutrals
Spring – drape # 126 Medium Golden Brown
Summer – drape # 35 Charcoal Blue Grey
Autumn – drape # 121 Dark Chocolate Brown
Winter – drape # 133 Black
4x reds
Spring – drape # 9 Orange Red
Summer – drape # 7 Deep Rose
Autumn – drape # 12 Dark Tomato Red
Winter – drape # 4 True Red
4x blues
Spring – drape # 34 Light True Blue
Summer – drape # 36 Grey Blue
Autumn – drape # 30 Dark Periwinkle Blue
Winter – drape # 33 True Blue
4x greens
Spring – drape # 58 Light Yellow Green
Summer – drape # 71 Pastel Blue Green
Autumn – drape # 59 Yellow Green
Winter – drape # 51 Emerald Green
And then consider adding:
4x navies
Spring – drape # 28 Light Clear Navy
Summer – drape # 26 Grey Navy
Autumn – drape # 27 Marine Navy
Winter – drape # 25 Navy Blue
4x yellows
Spring – drape # 17 Bright Yellow
Summer – drape # 22 Light Lemon Yellow
Autumn – drape # 14 Mustard
Winter – drape # 21 Lemon Yellow
4x pinks
Spring – drape # 88 Clear Bright Pink
Summer – drape # 92 Rose Pink
Autumn – drape # 99 Salmon
Winter – drape # 93 Shocking Pink
4x purples
Spring – drape # 40 Medium Violet
Summer – drape # 45 Light Periwinkle Blue
Autumn – drape # 39 Warm Purple
Winter – drape # 37 Royal Purple
4) Or simply create your own 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 own drapes I suggest you invest in a Colour Fabric Catalogue.
- Professional swatch holder containing 1 each of the 173x 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/fans you want to use, so here are the wallet/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.
