Summer is the cool, soft season of colour analysis: fresh, powdery colours, like a lavender field in the morning haze. This guide covers how to recognise a summer, the palette that suits it, the neutrals to build a wardrobe on, the colours that harden it — and how to use all this with the clothes you already own.
Three criteria define it: a cool undertone (the skin leans pink or bluish), a light to medium value and soft colouring, as if slightly veiled with grey, rather than bright.
You often see rosy beige or porcelain skin that flushes easily and tans little; ash blond, ash brown or light brown hair without golden glints, often greying early and gracefully; grey-blue, soft blue, sea-green or cool hazel eyes.
The most telling test: silver near the face brightens it, gold turns the complexion sallow. Contrast between skin, hair and eyes is moderate: nothing stands out sharply.
The key colours are powder blue, lavender, rose pink, soft grey, mauve and sage green. These are the six Fring associates with summer.
Around them: denim blue, slate blue, soft raspberry, dusty pink, light plum, sea green, lilac. What they share: a fresh, softened colour with a hint of blue or grey, never loud.
To judge a colour, ask two questions: is it rather cool (a bluish pink rather than a salmon pink)? Is it soft rather than saturated or very dark? Two yeses make it a summer colour.
For a summer: pearl and soft grey instead of black, soft navy and slate blue, rosy taupe rather than golden beige, cool off-white rather than optical white or yellowish cream, and charcoal for dark pieces.
A grey coat, an off-white shirt, light-wash jeans and slate trousers make a base the whole palette sits on effortlessly. Shoes and belts work well in cool grey-brown or soft burgundy.
What hardens a summer is warm, saturated or high-contrast colour: orange and mustard, which make the skin look sallow; pure black, too harsh — charcoal or navy replace it; golden camel and warm browns; neon colours and stark black-and-white contrasts.
As with every season, a difficult colour can be worn away from the face: camel trousers, a black skirt, orange trainers are fine. Near the face, a soft grey scarf or a powder blue collar is often enough.
Light summer: lightness dominates. Close to spring, it wears the lightest pastels (sky blue, pale pink, icy mint) and tolerates a touch of warmth.
Cool (true) summer: coolness dominates. The archetypal summer, the most pink and bluish: raspberry, mid blue, bluish grey, cool pink.
Soft summer: softness dominates. Close to autumn, it is the most muted: sage green, taupe, old rose, grey-blue — colours that look seen through a veil.
Start by sorting what you own into three piles: palette, neutral, outside the palette. Pieces outside the palette stay useful on the lower body or under a palette piece; a summer who owns a lot of black can keep the black trousers and keep tops for greys and blues.
Then let purchases follow the palette: each new piece combines with most of the others, which is the principle of a capsule wardrobe.
In Fring, the selfie analysis in your profile estimates your season and undertone and saves six key colours. It recognises four seasons, not twelve: treat it as an estimate to compare with a test using real fabric. Dress me then favours outfits in your colours, and the shopping assistant flags an off-palette colour before you buy.
Create your wardrobe on Fring and run the colour analysis from your profile: it gives your season, your undertone and six key colours, and Dress me takes them into account in its outfits. No credit card, and the photo is not kept.
