'I always know if someone will be in my life forever. It's all thanks to the "colour theory."'

You know when you meet someone and instantly click? Vibes are immaculate, there are no awkward silences, and your energy just matches.

It feels easy, like you've known each other forever, even if you only just met. You finish each other's sentences, you laugh at the same things, and there's this unspoken understanding that you get each other.

All it takes is one conversation, and you just know you'll be seeing that person again.

But what if you knew you were going to vibe with someone before either of you even opened your mouth?

Well, author Haley Hoffman Smith says it's possible, thanks to something called the 'colour theory'.

"I have a funny little theory that when you meet somebody who's going to end up being pretty significant to you, especially if it's your first meeting; like you're having a Zoom meeting with them; you're going on a first date — you guys will usually be wearing the same colour, or the same texture," Haley shared in a TikTok video.

Watch: The 'colour theory' for meeting someone new. Post continues after video.

Haley came with receipts, proving the theory happened in her own life.

"I wore this exact shirt the day before I met my literary agent on Zoom, and she was wearing this shirt on the Zoom. Lo and behold, she became my agent. We're also really good friends," she said.

In fact, there have even been times when Haley matched clothes with multiple people at the same time.

"Me and everybody else on a call were all wearing the same colour, and it's a super random colour, like red. And I'm like, 'Okay, we must be vibing'. It's just a cute little thing," she recalled.

The author's theory has proved really popular on TikTok, with fans sharing their own stories in the comments.

"Omg this happened to me twice," wrote one user.

"Me and my two best friends, (we wore uniforms in Catholic school lmao, but nonetheless those are my hgs)," added another.

"I love it. It's just another form of synchronicity," shared a third.

A fourth shared: "My boyfriend and I show up in unintentionally colour-coordinated outfits almost every time we see each other."

Then there were those who related a little too well, with one user writing: "Me and my ex both showed up in all black for our first date; he is pretty significant to me 'cause I'm now traumatised by him😂."

As for whether there is any science behind the colour theory, well… kind of? But it's not the kind you're going to like.

Clinical psychologist Dr Katie Kjelsaas says the theory might simply come down to confirmation bias. That is, our human tendency to search for, interpret, favour and recall info that confirms or supports what we want to see. 

"If this theory is meaningful to [Haley] (e.g., if she believes that wearing the same colour or texture is indicative of a better ongoing relationship) then her brain might preferentially attend to situations where this is the case," Dr Kjelsaas told Mamamia.

"The combined probability of two people wearing some item with a similar texture OR colour would be pretty high anyway, perhaps. If her brain then also remembers the significant relationships for which this happens and forgets the ones for which it doesn't, over time this confirmation bias may lead her to believe it's happening more often than would be expected by chance."

In fact, it turns out, we humans do this a lot.

"People do this with newspaper horoscopes too, right?" suggested the psych. "They read the usually fairly general descriptions and select things from the breadth of their life experience that fit, then tell themselves the horoscope was accurate. However, if asked to write down the important things occurring in their lives at that time before viewing the horoscope, they find far fewer matches with the content."

Confirmation bias or not, I do love a silly little theory.

Because sometimes, even if it's not "scientifically sound," it's comforting to believe in small signs from the universe. A wink. A nudge. A matching shirt.

So, needless to say, I will be on the lookout for similar fashion choices the next time I meet someone new. 

Feature Image: TikTok/@haleyhoffmansmith