If your closets are bursting and you still have "nothing to wear'', or an outfit that looks great on a friend looks horrendous on you, then the "first lady of colour'', Ms Carole Jackson, might be able to help.

For the past decade, she has spread the word about colour analysis -- choosing clothing and accessories to suit each person's unique skin, hair and eye colour.

Ms Jackson, who has appeared on such television shows as Phil Donahue, Good Morning America and People Are Talking with Oprah Winfrey, is visiting Bermuda to put on demonstrations at a Front Street store.

Her book, "Color Me Beautiful'', which taught women how to choose and use colours to best advantage, rocketed Ms Jackson to fame in 1980.

Like nature's four distinct seasons, people are categorised as autumn, spring, winter or summer in colour analysis -- each season having its own palette of ideal colours, shades and tones.

The book's overwhelming popularity -- it was on the New York Times' best-seller list for four years until the book's trade paperback category was pulled from the list -- was due to it's practicality, Ms Jackson said.

Once a person's seasonal palette is established, there is no danger of them wasting money on hit-or-miss shopping because they need only zero-in on the clothes which are in their shades.

Ms Jackson said the biggest plus of the system is that no matter what is purchased, a person's entire wardrobe automatically co-ordinates because the colours on their palettes are based on the same undertones.

"You have to stick with your palette when building a wardrobe especially if you're on a budget,'' she said. "Everything you buy will go with everything you own. It's like a miracle that starts to happen in your wardrobe.'' She added that some people may be able to wear colours from each season, but when buying an outfit, they must keep in mind that it won't co-ordinate with the rest of their wardrobe.

Different shoes and accessories would be needed to complete the outfit. Ms Jackson went on to publish "Color for Men'' and the "Color Me Beautiful Makeup Book'' and video, both of which have sold more than 250,000 copies.

"I first started getting into colour through decorating my first house,'' Ms Jackson explained. "I hired an interior designer, and was terrified because I thought I couldn't afford one, and secondly I thought they were going to impose their taste on me.'' She said to some degree, there is some truth to such fears, and advised home owners to find an interior designer who is the same season as them, or who has similar taste in colour schemes.

"You can ask designers if they've got favourite colours they work in, and if they're not yours, then it's really not a good match. You will be wasting your money otherwise,'' Ms Jackson warned.

Luckily, the designer she hired all those years ago turned out to be a perfect match, and Ms Jackson was able to learn the first basic principles of colour while painting the walls of her house.

A small crafts business also influenced her relationship with colours. "I had a little business making salt dough ornaments, so I started decorating these little people for Christmas ornaments,'' Ms Jackson said. "But I did learn a lot, then I began studying colour.'' In 1973, while visiting her home town of Los Angeles, Ms Jackson was introduced to the world of personal colour analysis by her sister, who took her to have her "colours done''.

"It was just like a light bulb went off,'' she said of the experience. "It tapped into my intuition. I had never really thought about colour specifically before.'' Ms Jackson became fascinated with the field, and "paid a small fortune'' to undergo formal training in colour and its application to clothing, makeup and hair, although she had two young children to care for at the time.

For seven years, she taught women of all ages how to use their seasonal colours to dress themselves from head to toe.

"I did not invent the seasons,'' Ms Jackson interjected. "No one really knows who did, although there are a lot of people who claim they did.'' Her book outlines the principles of colour analysis, defines the different colouring people have, and presents each of the colour palettes.

"I just kept thinking someone was going to write a book about it and nobody did, so I thought, `Well, now I know why my parents sent me to Stanford','' Ms Jackson said. "I often wondered when I was changing those diapers why they wasted all that money on me.'' An updated edition of her book is very probable, since new, refined techniques have been developed to more clearly define a person's season.

Each category now has three distinct traits which are determined by the subject's hair and eyes: Winters are dark, clear and cool; summers are light to medium, muted and cool; springs are light, clear and warm; and autumns are dark, muted and warm.

Ms Jackson explained there is more flexibility using this method, because people with only one dominant trait are generally "between seasons'' and could expand their palette, adding extra colours to their range.

If a person has two or all three traits of a particular season, however, pretty definitely that season only.

Ms Jackson has also begun writing a book which uses her some of her colour principles for interior decorating.

The book is expected to be on bookshelves by spring 1995.

"I love to just teach and help people feel good about themselves,'' she said.

"I really believe our own personal environment is just so important.'' Numerous studies have shown that different colours of decor can affect many people's moods.

"I remember when I was a young bride, pushing furniture in a million different ways and wanting it to be pretty but not really knowing how,'' she recalled. "I think there are a lot of people ... who don't know what to do.'' Ms Jackson said five seconds should be allowed to make a selection from a group of samples, such as carpet swatches or paint chips.

"That will probably be the one you will most enjoy having at this moment in your life,'' she said.

"Or just think of a room you've been in that you've liked somewhere, in someone else's house or some hotel ... it could be anything you were struck by that makes you happy.'' Ms Jackson said generally, a cheery atmosphere can be created using "clear'', stark colours from the spring palette: yellows, corals, medium blues, warm pinks and beiges.

If the person has a more excitable personality, "muted'', powdery shades are best.

What ever the final selection, Ms Jackson said people should remember a painted room is not "an end all'', and can be easily changed if it doesn't work, unlike wall paper.

"It's a good way to experiment with colour,'' she said.

QUEEN OF COLOUR -- Ms Carole Jackson.