Light Summer: the palette and easy pairs

Cool, light and airy - powdery blues, lilacs and petal pinks.

Light summer is cool and light, which reads on the page as powdery and reads in a mirror as clean. The trap is contrast rather than color: put one dark piece into this palette and it takes over the whole outfit. Keeping the values close together is most of the skill here.

The twelve colors

These are the general starting colors for light summer, with the hex value beside each one so you can match a garment against it.

Neutrals

• Soft White#F7F4EF
• Dove Grey#DFE4EA
• Powder Grey-Blue#CFD8DC

The stronger colors

• Powder Blue#A3C1D4
• Wisteria#C6B7DE
• Seafoam#B0C4B1

The softer ones

• Petal Pink#F0D9E7
• Ballet Rose#E6C9D1
• Cloud Lavender#E8D7EE

Metals

• Soft Silver#C9CDD6
• Platinum#DADDE2
• White Gold#E6DFC8

Three combinations to try first

• • #A3C1D4
  • #F7F4EF
  • #B0C4B1
  • #C9CDD6

  Sea Mist

  Powder blue and seafoam over soft white - airy, cool, and quietly polished.

• • #C6B7DE
  • #DFE4EA
  • #E8D7EE
  • #DADDE2

  Lavender Field

  Wisteria against dove grey is your version of drama - soft-spoken but memorable.

• • #E6C9D1
  • #CFD8DC
  • #F0D9E7
  • #E6DFC8

  Ballet Class

  Rose over grey-blue reads delicate, never washed out - your contrast level exactly.

Where to go next

• Soft Autumn: your colors and where to start
• What is color analysis?
• What is my undertone? A three-question test
• Gold or silver: a two-question test

Not this season?

These are the seasons closest to light summer, and the ones most often mistaken for it.

• Light Spring
• True Summer
• Soft Summer

Your exact colors

Your exact palette depends on your eyes and hair as well as your season. These are the light summer palettes in full, one per combination.

• Blue eyes, dirty blonde hair
• Blue eyes, golden blonde hair
• Blue eyes, grey silver hair
• Blue eyes, light brown hair
• Blue eyes, platinum blonde hair
• Brown eyes, dirty blonde hair
• Brown eyes, golden blonde hair
• Brown eyes, grey silver hair
• Brown eyes, platinum blonde hair
• Dark brown eyes, dirty blonde hair
• Dark brown eyes, golden blonde hair
• Dark brown eyes, grey silver hair
• Dark brown eyes, platinum blonde hair
• Green eyes, dirty blonde hair
• Green eyes, golden blonde hair
• Green eyes, grey silver hair
• Green eyes, light brown hair
• Green eyes, platinum blonde hair
• Grey eyes, dirty blonde hair
• Grey eyes, golden blonde hair
• Grey eyes, grey silver hair
• Grey eyes, light brown hair
• Grey eyes, platinum blonde hair
• Hazel eyes, dirty blonde hair
• Hazel eyes, golden blonde hair
• Hazel eyes, grey silver hair
• Hazel eyes, platinum blonde hair

These twelve colors are the general starting set for this season. Answer the five questions and you get the set keyed to your own eye and hair color instead.