colormatch

The light summer colour palette

Summer at its lightest, with a little of spring’s warmth let in at the edges.

Light summer is the corner of summer that sits closest to spring. It stays cool — soft white rather than cream, silver rather than gold — but it takes the gentlest shades of the season: powder blue, seafoam, soft rose and dusty pink rather than anything deep. Weight is what this colouring cannot carry, and a black jumper at the neckline shows that plainly.

Because it borders spring, three warm shades work here that no other summer can wear: golden yellow, peach and light moss. They belong in small amounts, as a scarf or a knit, and they are why a light summer does not have to shop from cold rails alone.

Light summer colours to wear

Seven shades from the summer palette, chosen for the quality this subtype is named for, and three borrowed from spring — the season it leans towards.

  • Seafoam#8AB8AD
  • Powder Blue#8FB3D1
  • Soft Rose#D4939F
  • Dusty Pink#C98F9C
  • Sage Green#8FA392
  • Lavender#A294C4
  • Periwinkle Blue#7E8CC4
  • Golden Yellow#E8B33C
  • Peach#F0A878
  • Light Moss#A3B56B

Light summer neutrals

The quiet shades to build around. These are shared with the parent season, because neutrals shift far less between subtypes than the colours do.

  • Soft White#F1F1EE
  • Cool Grey#9AA0A6
  • Taupe#9B8F87
  • Navy#2F4260

Shades to be careful with

Strong warm and very bright colours tend to overpower a soft, cool colouring and can pull attention away from the face.

  • Orange#E2601B
  • Tomato Red#D63426
  • Mustard#C8971F
  • Camel#B98B4F
  • Pure Black#000000

Signs this is you

  • Your hair, skin and eyes are all light, with little contrast between them.
  • Dark colours near the face look like they are wearing you.
  • Soft white suits you better than either cream or bright white.
  • Silver jewellery suits you, and gold looks heavy rather than wrong.

The one it gets confused with

Cool summer is the neighbour, and both are cool and gentle, so coolness will not tell you apart. The borrowed warmth will: hold peach at the jaw in daylight. On a light summer it lifts the face and looks like a reasonable colour to own; on a cool summer the skin turns slightly yellow and tired around the mouth.

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Wearing it

  1. Two light shades beat one dark one

    Powder blue with soft white, or dusty pink with cool grey, holds together better than a light top over a black trouser. When you do need a dark piece, keep it below the waist and let the light colour sit by your face.

  2. Treat the borrowed warm shades as accents

    Peach, golden yellow and light moss are real parts of this palette, but they work in the quantity of a scarf rather than a coat. Used that way they warm an outfit without moving it out of summer.

Questions about light summer

Is light summer only for fair skin?

No. Skin depth and undertone are separate things, and every season occurs across all skin tones. Light here describes how your colouring sits together — hair, skin and eyes close to one another with no great depth between them — which happens on deep skin as readily as on fair skin.

Does going grey change which colours suit me?

It changes the depth of your colouring, not its undertone. Hair that lightens takes the contrast out of a face, which is why people who wore stronger colours at forty often find light summer shades kinder at seventy. The cool or warm reading stays as it was.

These shades look weak on the rail. Am I reading them wrong?

No, and that is the usual complaint about this palette. Powder blue and dusty pink have nothing to prove against a shop wall; they only start working when there is a face above them. Hold the garment under your chin in daylight before deciding it is too pale.

Where this sits