colormatch

The summer color palette

Cool and gently muted — the palette of a garden after rain, where every color has a little gray mixed into it.

Summer is the cool, soft end of color analysis. Every shade in it has a little gray mixed in, and every shade stays in the light to middle range rather than going very dark or very bright: powder blue rather than royal blue, dusty pink rather than fuchsia, sage green rather than emerald. Held against a summer coloring, these gentle shades let the face stay the strongest thing in the picture.

The mistake worth guarding against is not spring or autumn, which are warm and therefore obviously wrong. It is winter. Both summer and winter are cool, so both suit silver and both look poor in mustard or camel, and people routinely sort themselves into the wrong one. The dividing line is clarity: winter colors are pure and full strength, summer colors are softened. A summer in a true red is not wearing a warm color by mistake, only one that is too loud for the face behind it.

Undertone: Cool (pink or blue)

Summer colors to wear

The shades that earn their place next to your face — tops, scarves, collars and frames. Every code is the exact color, so it can be pasted into a shop filter.

  • Powder Blue#8FB3D1
  • Soft Rose#D4939F
  • Lavender#A294C4
  • Dusty Pink#C98F9C
  • Sage Green#8FA392
  • Slate Blue#6F8FB5
  • Mauve#9B7F96
  • Seafoam#8AB8AD
  • Soft Plum#7A5A73
  • Periwinkle Blue#7E8CC4

Summer neutrals

The quiet shades to build around: coats, trousers, bags and anything you buy once.

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

Shades summer finds difficult

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

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

Is summer your season?

Summer is likely to be your season if several of these are true at once. One on its own proves nothing.

  • Your veins look blue or faintly violet in daylight.
  • Silver jewellery sits more comfortably on you than gold.
  • Soft white and oyster look better on you than optical white.
  • Your hair has an ashy quality — mousy, cool brown, or graying without brassiness.
  • A strong, bright color near your face seems to be wearing you rather than the other way round.

Get your free color report

Wearing the summer palette

  1. Keep two colors close in lightness

    This is the one palette built on gentle contrast. Powder blue with cool gray, or dusty pink with taupe, look settled because neither piece shouts over the other. One very dark piece with one very bright piece is a winter arrangement, and on a summer coloring it tends to look borrowed.

  2. Take the dusty version of any color you like

    Almost every color exists in both a clear and a softened form, and summer wants the softened one. Slate blue instead of a vivid blue, mauve or soft plum instead of a strong purple, seafoam instead of a sharp green. The shade family can stay the same; only the amount of gray in it changes.

  3. Let navy be the anchor instead of black

    Every wardrobe needs something dark for coats, trousers and evenings. Navy, charcoal and soft plum do that work on a summer coloring, where pure black draws a hard line under the chin and makes the skin look drained by comparison.

Where it usually goes wrong

  • Assuming that cool means winter. Silver suiting you narrows the choice to two seasons, not one — the second question is whether the color is clear or softened.
  • Adding one bright accent to lift a soft outfit. Tomato red or orange near the face overpowers a soft coloring and pulls attention away from it.
  • Reaching for camel as the safe neutral. It carries golden warmth; taupe and cool gray fill the same slot without fighting the palette.

Questions about the summer palette

What is the difference between summer and winter?

Both are cool, so both suit silver and both look wrong in mustard or camel — the difference is clarity. Winter shades are pure and at full strength, summer shades have gray softened into them. Powder blue and royal blue are the same color family at two different settings, and the one that lets your face stay the focus is your answer.

Does summer mean I have to wear pale colors?

No — it means gentle rather than pale. Mauve, soft plum and slate blue have real depth in them, and navy is a proper dark. What summer avoids is not depth but harshness, so a medium, slightly grayed color carries further than a chalky pastel does.

I have deep skin. Can I still be a summer?

Yes. Depth of skin and undertone are two separate things, and every season occurs across the whole range of skin tones. Summer describes a cool, softly contrasted coloring, which is as common in deep skin as in fair skin.

Why does my navy look fine but my black does not?

Navy is dark without being absolute, so it sits closer to the softness of your own coloring. Pure black is the maximum of the scale, and next to a summer face it creates a contrast the face cannot meet. Charcoal behaves in the same forgiving way as navy.

How can I test this at home?

Stand by a window in daylight and hold a clear, true red against your face, then a dusty pink or soft rose. On a summer coloring the bright one takes over and the softened one lets your features read normally. If the reverse happens, look at winter instead, and take the free color report to check the result.

The three kinds of summer

Twelve-season systems divide each season into three. The free report gives you the parent season, which is enough to shop with; these pages are for working out which edge of it you sit on.

The other three palettes

  • The spring color palette — Warm, clear and light — the palette of a garden in early morning sun, before the colors have had a chance to dust over.
  • The autumn color palette — Warm and earthy — the palette of turning leaves, spice and old gold, where richness matters more than brightness.
  • The winter color palette — Cool and clear — the palette of frost and ink, where colors stay true and contrast is the point.
  • All four seasons side by side — the full reference, with every shade in one place.