The Summer in All of Us

The warm and relaxing feel of summer appeals to most of us. Our favorite associations with this season come in a wide variety, including the sandy beach, a beckoning shaded hammock, that refreshing swimming pool splash, the coconut sunscreen fragrance, juicy watermelon slices and sweet corn on the cob, the cool shady waterfall, a dripping sherbet cone, and a billowing white sail.  Lucky for us, the clothing available to us during this season is full of variety, too. We don’t have to be a Summer to feel ourselves as we step out in sporty shorts, breezy little skirts, colorful flip flops, or vibrant swimsuits. They come in each of the 12 seasons’ colors. Pull out the color fan you’ve been using since your personal color analysis, and dive in to your wardrobe for fresh combinations.

Wearing yellow breathes summer sunshine into an outfit. Use this as that push you might need to give this hue a try; there are yellows for each of us. . Near your face or in your shorts, you’ll find your season’s lemon, butter, gold, or mustard yellow. Try it with your favorite blue, violet, green, white, or grey.

Another way to make your season feel more summery is to wear your favorite colors in patterns with lighter backgrounds. For many of us, keeping that largely white/ivory pattern in the lower half of the body and pairing it with a solid top in a color picked from the pattern will ensure our face is framed at its best.

Each season also has hues that we associate with the water, flower gardens, and shade-producing tree canopies of summer: look in your color fan for your greens, blue-greens, reds, pinks, oranges, and purples. Try them together--or pair them with your version of navy blue, grey, brown, or white, if that’s more your style.

If you were born a Summer, you are right at home this season, whether you are a Soft Summer reveling in the muted wet sand and grey-navy hues of the Northwest beach; or a True Summer showing off pure pink toenails; or a Light Sumer wrapping yourself in a soft aqua, periwinkle, and coral beach towel. Soft Summers, this is your time for a flutter-sleeved sage green top with deep gray-blue shorts, and a flowy skirt of small flowers on taupe, with a muted lavender peasant top. True Summers, you rock raspberry Ts and light grey shorts, or the elegance of cool taupe linen pants below your summer white silk tank. Light Summers stroll out in crisp bright navy with coral red, and periwinkle with butter yellow.

If you are a Spring, you’ll find lots of options for swimsuits in Florida colors of bright aqua and the clearest cornflower blue, and neon greens or vibrant light oranges. But there are so many other luscious options out there, too. You Bright Springs may look stunning in your green-ecru or warm grey with lively peach. You can delight in wearing greens the color of limes, Granny Smith apples, or watered grass. Shout summer with bright aqua or hot pink. If you’re a True Spring, turn heads in an orange-red halter dress for the evening, or go elegant in your peach silk top paired with milk-chocolate linen. By day you draw us in to your playful spirit with clear teal tops with dark straw shorts. Light Springs, you can wear bright sunny yellow better than any of us, and delicious sherbets the flavor of melon, bright pistachio, and watermelon. Your toned down neutrals of peach-ivory and warm deep gray can take you in another direction.

Winter, your ability to wear pastels puts you right on trend this summer. You also wear high contrast the best of all of us. Sharp black and white graphic print tops with black linen shorts or skirts are perfect, but hit us with your bold hues, too. The cold, crisp blue-white of Winter looks so fresh against any of your intense bold hues, such as your version of cobalt blue, clear teal, berry, scarlet, bumblebee yellow, and amethyst. Pale grey and inky navy linen bottoms work equally well with your intense hues. Bright Winters, step out in a bright grassy sun dress, a deep blue blouse with white jeans, or a siren red slinky halter. True Winter, you have dozens of peony pinks, raspberries, and grapes to evoke summer. Contrast hot yellow with cold cobalt.   Dark Winters, you can make a splash in large floral prints of deep sky-blue on white, but this is also a great time to bring out your own apple green or turquoise to summer-ize your dark violets and blues.   

Autumn, your deep, muted, wooly textured, fabrics may be several months away, but you can confidently make summer your own, too. It’s all about how you combine your rich hues. Now is the time to pair your chestnut with warm white, and your pea green with navy. Your teals with brown were showing up in paisley woolens last November, but now, with dark blue, teal takes on a marine feel evoking the depths of the ocean. Pull out the lighter patches in the animal prints you wear by mixing them with light tops and ivory canvas sneakers—or move into bold orange-brown-on-ivory giraffe instead of black-heavy leopard. Dark Autumn, find the that sumptuous melon and pair it with navy. You rock all the deep cognac leather available in summer; wear it with everything, including a teal sundress.  True Autumn, your deep olive green is summer-right in a tank over an ivory skirt, and mustard blouses with dark jeans shorts are perfect for you. Soft Autumn, your muted mint green is so refreshing with navy. You also are the color of freshly harvested light olives delivered in a sun-bleached worn, wooden bowl, and soft, muted melon T-shirts with warm grey shorts.

Whatever your season, enjoy experimenting by mixing your favorite colors in new ways that say “summer”. Have fun beating the heat with lighter fabrics and splashes of your own ocean-surf blues and whites. Reflect the in-season fruits in your wardrobe, and take cues from gardens. You can’t go wrong as long as you stay true to you and your own color palette.