Add a little colour sizzle to your wardrobe!

Professional rainbow gazers say that the colour craze infusing the runways means more than another excuse to shop. For those who make a living writing, counseling and lecturing about the therapeutic benefits, of, say, opting for a pink belt over a black one, colour consciousness profoundly affects the wearer's physical and emotional well-being. And remaining faithful to those flattering hues can offer larger opportunities for people to alter their lives-on a personal, social and spiritual level. "Your favourite colour choices inspire your hopes and aspirations-ideals you pursue with passion," says Dewey Sadka, the Atlantic, Ga., author of The Dewey Colour System: Choose Your Colours, Change Your Life.

Julianne Bien, a colour light visionary with Spectrahue Light & Sound in Toronto, takes on a more practical tack. "If something doesn't feel right about you, don't wear it," she cautions. "It may be creating an energetic imbalance in your system. Your higher self knows what looks and feels best."

Beyond promoting wardrobe makeovers, colour theorists are wagering that fashion's bright palette signals the start of something better for the planet. Renowned celebrity psychic and colour consultant Carmen Harra says that trend-setters and designers, attuned to the female psyche, subconsciously selected iridescent blue, green, yellow, red and purple to reflect a common longing for the powerful, healing forces found within nature. Meanwhile, moody black -- erstwhile emblem of chic -- has been sent on post-traumatic stress leave. "We want to erase the darkness and enter an exciting, healthier era," says the New York-based Harra, personal guru for the likes of Courtney Cox and Jennifer Lopez. "This is the way the world should look. We live in colouful surroundings."

Lest the concept of colour analysis sound flaky, consider its respectable roots. During the Age of Enlightenment, dour dressers such as Sir Isaac Newton and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe devoted thousands of lab hours to studying colour's powerful physical properties and influence on the mind. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks, among them Hippocrates, used colour and light to promote healing. And, like the Renaissance masters, flapper-era artists Wassily Kandinsky and Johannes Itten were smitten by the captivating connection between colour and emotion.

In recent times, scientists have aligned with style mavens to create a colourful set of reasons to justify a healthy closet cleansing. Luckily, few women would ever paint retail rehab in black and white terms. "We have a tendency to wear what we need," Harra says. "So if a girl is missing a colour, she should go ahead and get it."

Find out how to mix colour into your wardrobe on the next page