The soft summer color palette is made of cool, greyed, gentle colours: dusty rose, mauve, slate blue, soft teal, grey-green, soft plum and lavender grey, with charcoal, soft navy, taupe, cocoa and off-white as the neutrals. Soft summers have a cool-to-neutral undertone and low contrast, so colours that are muted and medium-light look natural on them. Bright, warm and very dark colours, such as orange, mustard, pure black and stark white, tend to look heavy or harsh.
A palette is only useful if you really are a soft summer, and many people who think they are turn out to be a neighbouring season. The app we make, Wdrobe, can read your season from one daylight photo of your face.
What makes someone a soft summer
Seasonal colour analysis sorts people by three things: undertone (warm or cool), depth (light or dark) and chroma (bright or muted). Soft summer is the season where chroma is the strongest trait. In plain words:
- Muted beats bright. Colours with grey in them look better than clear, saturated ones.
- Cool, but only just. The undertone leans cool or neutral, so icy colours and golden colours both look a little off.
- Low contrast. Hair, skin and eyes sit close together in depth. Many soft summers have ash brown or dark blonde hair and grey, grey-green or soft hazel eyes, though looks alone are not a reliable guide.
How to check you are a soft summer with one photo
Guessing from hair and eye colour gets this wrong often, because hair dye, tanning and lighting all fool the eye. A photo test is better.
- Stand facing a window in daylight, with no makeup or very light makeup. Hair back, neutral top.
- Take a photo holding a bright fuchsia item under your chin, then one with a dusty rose item.
- Take a photo with black under your chin, then one with charcoal grey.
- Take a photo with mustard or camel, then one with slate blue.
Put the photos side by side. If dusty rose, charcoal and slate blue make your skin look smooth and even, while fuchsia, black and mustard make you look tired or the colour looks like it arrived before you did, soft summer is a strong guess. If camel looks better than slate blue but fuchsia still looks too strong, look at the soft autumn palette instead.
This test needs four pairs of the right colours, and most people own two. That is where most self-tests stall. Get a read on your season from a single selfie and use the pairs to double-check it.
The soft summer colours
- Pinks and reds: dusty rose, rose brown, raspberry with grey in it, soft watermelon, muted berry.
- Purples: mauve, soft plum, lavender grey, heather.
- Blues: slate blue, denim blue, powder blue with grey, soft periwinkle.
- Greens: grey-green, eucalyptus, soft teal, muted jade.
- Yellows: only the softest, like a pale buttery primrose with grey in it. Most yellows are hard for this season.
Soft summer neutrals
- Charcoal grey instead of black.
- Soft navy for suits, coats and trousers.
- Taupe and mushroom for knitwear and trousers.
- Cocoa or rose brown instead of chocolate or camel.
- Off-white and soft white instead of bright white.
Colours to avoid
- Pure black near the face, which can look heavy.
- Optic white, which can look stark.
- Orange, rust and mustard, which are too warm and too bright.
- Neon and very saturated colours, like electric blue or hot pink.
- Golden camel and tan, which often make the skin look sallow.
Metals: silver, pewter, white gold and soft rose gold usually suit a soft summer better than shiny yellow gold.
Soft summer outfits from clothes you already own
You do not need a new wardrobe. Most people own a few soft summer pieces already: mid-wash jeans, grey knits, a navy coat. Start there.
1. Grey and denim
Outfit formula: heather grey jumper + mid-wash straight jeans + white trainers + pewter hoop earrings.
2. Dusty rose and taupe for the office
Outfit formula: dusty rose silk blouse + taupe wide-leg trousers + grey suede loafers + soft navy blazer.
3. A muted dress for evening
Outfit formula: soft plum midi dress + charcoal tights + charcoal suede ankle boots + silver drop earrings.
4. Tonal blues for the weekend
Outfit formula: slate blue knit + denim midi skirt + soft navy wool coat + grey knee boots.
What to do with the black and white you already own
Most wardrobes are full of black and bright white, and nobody needs to throw them out.
- Keep black away from your face. Black trousers, skirts and shoes are fine. Put a palette colour on top, near the face.
- Add a scarf or collar in your colours over a black jumper or coat.
- Wear white under something. A white tee under a grey cardigan shows only a strip at the neck.
- Next time you buy, choose charcoal and off-white instead.
Sorting an existing wardrobe into "near the face" and "below the waist" is slow work on a bed full of clothes. Wdrobe's stylist reads your colour analysis and leans toward your palette when it builds outfits from your clothes. Let it sort your wardrobe for your season.
Not sure which shades suit you? Wdrobe's color analysis finds your color season from one photo, and our comparison of color analysis apps shows what the other apps offer.
Frequently asked questions
What colours suit a soft summer female?
Dusty rose, mauve, soft plum, slate blue, soft teal and grey-green, with charcoal, soft navy, taupe, cocoa and off-white as neutrals. Muted, cool and medium-light colours are the core of the palette.
Can soft summers wear black?
Black usually looks heavy next to a soft summer face. Wear it below the waist, and choose charcoal or soft navy for tops, coats and dresses.
What is the difference between soft summer and soft autumn?
Both seasons are muted. Soft summer leans cool, so it suits rose, slate blue and grey; soft autumn leans warm, so it suits olive, camel and terracotta. Silver usually suits soft summer and gold suits soft autumn.
Is denim good for soft summer?
Yes. Mid-wash and grey-blue denim are close to the slate blues in the palette. Very dark indigo can be fine as trousers; very bright light-wash looks less natural.
If your test pointed to the warmer side, see the soft autumn color palette. For a test that does not need a season, see what colours suit you, and to compare tools, our guide to the best colour analysis apps and a look at ChatGPT colour analysis.
Knowing you are a soft summer helps only when you are standing at the wardrobe, and that is when the list is somewhere else. Wdrobe keeps your season, your colours to avoid and your clothes in one place, so the outfit it suggests for tomorrow already leans toward your palette. Plan tomorrow's outfit in your soft summer colours.
