Summer Color Palette: The Complete Guide

Summers are often told they look "washed out" and should brighten up with a bold red or a crisp black-and-white outfit. It rarely works. Summer coloring is cool and gentle, and a loud color competes with it instead of lifting it. Swap the black for pewter or slate navy, the tomato red for a cool raspberry, and the face usually looks clearer and more rested.

This page covers the whole Summer family, the cool, soft side of the seasonal wheel: the traits all three Summers share, what Summer eyes, skin and hair tend to look like, the three sub-types and how to tell them apart, a representative palette with hex codes, a simple check you can do at home, and how Summer differs from Winter, Spring and Autumn. It then moves on to outfits, prints, makeup, hair color, jewelry and accessories. If you already know your sub-type, the links below take you to its full guide.

What makes a Summer

Every one of the twelve seasons sits on three scales (undertone, value and chroma), and Summer is defined by where it lands on all of them:

• Undertone: cool. This is the trait every Summer shares and the one that matters most. Summer skin, hair and eyes read blue-based rather than golden. Silver tends to flatter more than yellow gold, and blue-reds suit better than orange-reds. The coolness ranges from gentle to obvious across the sub-types, but it is never warm.
• Value: light to medium. Summers are never deep. The family runs from pale and airy at one end to soft and medium at the other, which is why heavy darks like black overpower it.
• Chroma: soft (muted). Summer colors look as if a drop of gray has been stirred in. Even the clearest Summer shade is calmer than its Winter equivalent.

Put together, that gives low contrast: the difference between a Summer's hair, skin and eyes is small. It also explains why high-contrast tricks (black with white, a single hot accent) tend to overwhelm a Summer. The coloring is quiet, and it is flattered by quiet, cool, slightly grayed color.

Summer eyes, skin and hair

No single feature makes someone a Summer. What matters is how the features sit together: they all read cool and soft, and none stands out sharply from the rest.

Eyes

Summer eyes are most often gray, blue, gray-blue, gray-green or a soft, cool hazel. On deeper skin tones they are usually a cool, grayish brown rather than a warm, golden brown. Whatever the color, it tends to look softened rather than bright, as though seen through a light haze.

Skin

The skin has a cool pink, rosy or blue-beige cast and can run from very fair to a medium tan. It usually flushes pink in the sun before it tans, and it looks brighter next to silver than next to yellow gold. Soft Summers sit closest to neutral, and some have a slightly olive cast that makes them easy to mistake for an Autumn.

Hair

Natural hair is typically ash blonde, dark ash blonde, light to medium ash brown, or a soft cool brunette. It has little red or gold in it, which is why Summers often describe their natural color as "mousy." Summers also tend to gray gracefully, because silver hair sits comfortably with cool, soft coloring.

Contrast

Nothing in the face is much darker or lighter than the rest, so the overall contrast is low to medium. A pale Light Summer with ash blonde hair has very little; a True Summer with medium ash brown hair and fair skin has a bit more. Neither comes close to the sharp dark-against-light look of a Winter.

The three Summer sub-types

Summer splits into three sub-types. They all share the cool, soft, low-contrast base and differ in how light, how clear and how cool they sit.

Light Summer is the lightest and freshest of the three. It leans toward the Spring border, so it carries a touch more brightness and its colors sit pale and luminous: powder blue, soft rose, light periwinkle, cool mint. If pastels look right on you and deeper colors feel heavy, Light Summer is the likely home.

True Summer is the most purely cool of the three, and many systems call it Cool Summer. It is medium in value and soft-but-clear in chroma, so it can carry a real cool berry or a slate blue without looking either pale or dusty. Think spruce blue, soft fuchsia, cool raspberry, periwinkle. If clear cool colors look elegant rather than loud on you, you are likely True.

Soft Summer is the most muted and the most neutral. It borders Autumn, so its coolness is gentle rather than icy and its colors are noticeably hushed: dusty rose, soft mauve, cool sage, pewter. If bright clear colors overwhelm you and the softest, smokiest shades look best, Soft Summer is probably yours.

The Summer palette

A representative spread across all three sub-types. Every shade reads cool, soft and blue-based rather than warm, hot or heavy.

Signature Summer colors

Neutrals: skip black and stark white; the Summer basics are cooler and softer: Soft White #EDEAE3, Cool Gray #8A8E94, Pewter #6E727A, Slate Navy #36435C (the family's most useful dark in place of black), and Rose Brown #9B7A75 for a cool-leaning brown. Denim works well too, especially mid-blue and gray-blue washes.

Metals: silver, white gold and platinum sit cool and clean against Summer skin. Yellow gold pulls warm and can look brassy. Light and Soft Summers can often wear a brushed rose gold, which is softer than yellow gold.

Colors to avoid (and why)

• Warm earth tones: orange, rust, mustard, camel, tomato red, olive and warm gold. They fight the cool undertone and can make Summer skin look sallow or ruddy.
• Black and optic white: both are harsher than anything in the palette. Black near the face can cast shadows under the eyes; bright white can make the skin look gray by comparison.
• Neon and very saturated brights: electric blue, hot pink, lime. They are too clear for soft coloring, so people see the color first and the face second.
• Very heavy darks: espresso brown, deep forest green and near-black purples tend to overpower the family's light-to-medium depth.

The mirror test: if a color makes your skin look yellow, gray or blotchy, or makes the color itself stand out more than your face, it is too warm, too bright or too dark for you.

Can a Summer wear black?

Most analysts say not near the face. Black is darker and harsher than any Summer shade, so it usually makes Summer coloring look tired. Slate navy, charcoal and pewter do the same job in a wardrobe without the harshness. Black works better away from the face, in trousers, shoes or a bag, or softened with a Summer color at the neckline. The same logic applies to white: choose soft white, oyster or pearl gray over optic white.

Am I a Summer? A three-step check at home

A home test will not replace a proper analysis, but it can tell you whether Summer is worth a closer look. Do it by a window in daylight, with no makeup and your hair pulled back or covered with a white towel.

1. Silver against gold. Hold a silver piece and a yellow gold piece (or foil) under your chin in turn. If silver makes your skin look smoother and the gold looks brassy, that points to a cool undertone.
2. Dove gray against cream. Drape a cool gray fabric and then a warm cream one. Summers usually look brighter in the gray; the cream can make the skin look yellow.
3. Berry lipstick against coral. Try a soft berry or rose lip and then a coral one. On a Summer the berry looks natural and the coral looks as if it sits on top of the skin.

If all three point cool, then check contrast. Hold a black top and a slate navy top under your face. If the black looks hard and the navy looks right, you are more likely a Summer than a Winter. Undertone and chroma are hard to judge in your own mirror, and lighting changes everything, so a photo-based analysis is the reliable way to confirm it. For more ways to read undertone, see how to find your undertone.

How to tell which Summer you are

Once you are fairly sure you are cool and soft, narrowing to a sub-type comes down to two questions: how light are you, and how clear can you go?

• Start with value. If your natural coloring is genuinely pale (light hair, light eyes, a delicate face), look hard at Light Summer first. Pale pastels will look right rather than washed out, and deeper colors will feel like they are wearing you.
• Then test clarity. Among the medium Summers, hold a clear cool color, such as a cool raspberry or a slate blue, up to your face. If it looks crisp and elegant, you are likely True Summer. If the same color feels a touch strong, you are softer: Soft Summer, the most muted and most neutral of the three.
• Mind the borders. Light Summer sits next to Light Spring (the tell is undertone, warm or cool), and Soft Summer sits next to Soft Autumn (again, undertone settles it: cool grayed colors or warm earthy ones). If warm colors quietly flatter you, you may be on the Autumn or Spring side of the line rather than inside Summer at all.

Summer vs Winter, Spring and Autumn

Each Summer sub-type shares a border with another family, which is why Summers are so often mistyped.

Summer vs Winter

Both are cool, so undertone does not separate them. Winters are high-contrast and clear: they wear black, bright white and saturated jewel tones with ease. Summers are softer and lower in contrast. The closest pair is True Summer and True Winter; the True Summer vs True Winter guide goes through that border in detail.

Summer vs Spring

Light Summer and Light Spring are both light and fairly delicate. The difference is undertone: Light Spring suits warm peach, golden cream and clear aqua, while Light Summer suits cool pink, soft blue and lavender. See Light Summer vs Light Spring.

Summer vs Autumn

Soft Summer and Soft Autumn are both muted, and both can look good in grayed colors. Soft Summer leans cool (dusty rose, slate, cool sage); Soft Autumn leans warm (camel, olive, soft terracotta). The Soft Summer vs Soft Autumn guide covers the test drapes.

Summer outfit combinations

These pairings use colors from across the family, so check them against your own sub-type:

• Slate navy and dusty rose: a navy blazer or knit over a dusty rose top. A softer version of navy and pink that works for the office.
• Cool gray and cool raspberry: gray trousers with a raspberry knit or blouse. The gray keeps the berry from looking loud.
• Powder blue and soft white: a pale blue shirt with soft white trousers or a skirt, the easiest summer outfit in the palette.
• Periwinkle and pewter: a periwinkle sweater over pewter or charcoal trousers.
• Soft teal and mid-blue denim: a teal top with jeans in a gray-blue wash.
• Tonal mauve: soft mauve with cool plum, for example a mauve top and a plum cardigan. Tonal outfits suit low-contrast coloring.

For more ideas by sub-type, see the outfit guides for Light Summer, True Summer and Soft Summer.

Prints and fabrics

Summer prints work best when the contrast inside the print is low and the edges are soft: watercolor florals, faded stripes, small blurred patterns, soft paisleys. High-contrast black-and-white prints and hard geometric graphics tend to fight gentle coloring. Matte and softly draped fabrics, such as cotton, linen, jersey and cashmere, usually look better than very shiny satin or patent finishes.

Summer makeup

The rule is the same as the wardrobe: cool and soft rather than warm or harsh.

• Lips: cool rose, soft berry, dusty rose and mauve-pink rather than coral, orange-red or brick. A blue-based red works for evening if it is not too dark.
• Cheeks: a cool rose or soft pink blush rather than peach or bronze.
• Eyes: slate, soft plum, cool taupe, gray-brown and muted teal. A soft gray-brown or charcoal liner is less harsh than jet black.
• Nails: rose, mauve, soft berry, lavender gray and sheer pinks.

Each sub-type fine-tunes this: lighter and fresher for Light, soft but clear for True, smokier for Soft. The sub-type makeup guides for Light, True and Soft Summer go further.

Summer hair color

Summers suit cool, ashy tones: ash blonde, pearl or beige blonde, cool dark blonde, ash brown and a soft grayed brunette. Low-contrast color that lets the face lead tends to look best. Warm golden, copper or red highlights fight the cool undertone, and jet black is too dark for the family's light-to-medium value. If you are going gray, a Summer can usually let it grow in; the cool silver sits well with the palette.

Jewelry, glasses, shoes and bags

• Jewelry: silver, white gold and platinum, with brushed or matte finishes for Soft Summer. Pearls, moonstone, rose quartz, amethyst and aquamarine all sit in the cool, soft range. See gold vs silver if you are unsure which metal suits you.
• Glasses: gray, slate, cool tortoiseshell, rose, soft navy or clear frames rather than heavy black or orange-brown.
• Shoes and bags: cool gray, taupe, slate navy, pewter and rose brown work as everyday neutrals. Black is fine here because it sits away from the face, though softer darks often look more at home with the rest of a Summer outfit.

Summer celebrities, and why the lists never agree

Search for "Summer celebrities" and you will find the same names sorted into different seasons from one site to the next. Color Curate lists Gwyneth Paltrow and Grace Kelly as Light Summers, Kate Middleton and Emily Blunt as True Summers, and Jessica Biel as a Soft Summer. GoPlay Cosmetics also puts Gwyneth Paltrow in Light Summer but lists Jennifer Aniston as a Soft Summer, and other sites place some of these names in different seasons entirely.

The disagreement comes from the method. Celebrity typing is done from photos taken under different lighting, with makeup and dyed hair, all of which change how cool or soft someone looks on camera. Treat these names as a rough picture of the family, not a diagnosis. For longer lists, see the Light Summer, True Summer and Soft Summer celebrity guides.

Where to start with a Summer result

Start with the pieces closest to your face: tops, scarves, coats and glasses. Replace black near the face with slate navy or charcoal, and optic white with soft white. Those two swaps make the biggest visible difference for the least money.

Then pick two neutrals and three colors you like from your sub-type's palette, for example slate navy and cool gray with dusty rose, slate blue and cool raspberry. Most things in that set mix with each other, because every Summer shade shares the same cool, soft base.

If you are still torn between two Summers, or between Summer and a neighboring season, a photo-based analysis reads your undertone, value and contrast and points you to one sub-type instead of three that sit very close together.