Bright Spring outfits

Clear spring outfits and what makes the colors work

Clear Spring is just another label for Bright Spring. The palette is clear and vivid, made for people whose features come alive in pure, warm colors worn with high contrast. Your coloring sits at a medium depth and runs neutral to warm, but what defines it most is brightness.

That's the reason a shirt in bright coral or poppy red can wake up your eyes in an instant. Muted beige and dusty rose have the reverse effect, and they can leave your face looking grey and drained. Colors that are pure and saturated flatter your skin without taking over.

How much contrast does a Bright Spring outfit call for?

Contrast means the gap between the lightest and darkest colors you're wearing. Your features are at their best with a lot of it. A soft white top worn over navy trousers creates that crisp light and dark break.

The 5 outfits on this page all use the same recipe. Each starts from either a light or dark neutral for the base, then adds 1 vivid color that does the heavy lifting. The office day look makes the point: a bright coral blazer layered over navy trousers and a soft white blouse.

An outfit built only from soft, muted shades throws that contrast away. When everything you're wearing is gentle and greyed, your face can end up looking tired beside it.

Making navy your base

A neutral is a quiet color, think navy, ivory, tan or taupe, that stays in the background so brighter colors get the attention. For Bright Spring, navy is the one to pick. It gives depth without the trouble that heavy black causes near your face, where it can bring out dark shadows under the eyes.

Your palette includes 12 neutrals, so there's a lot to work with:

• On the light end sit Ivory, Soft White, Dusty Sky Blue and Pale Mustard
• In the middle are Taupe, Tan, Steel Blue and Dark Camel
• The darkest four are Navy, Soft Navy, Deep Pewter and Deep Cocoa

The darker neutrals suit trousers, skirts and coats. The lighter ones are good for blouses and tees, above all when you plan to layer a vivid jacket or cardigan over them.

Where an accent color goes

An accent is a small burst of strong color, say a bag, a scarf or some shoes. Your palette includes 12 accents, among them Bright Royal Blue, Cherry, Bright Magenta plus Bright Raspberry.

Put your boldest colors where eyes land first, which is close to your face. A poppy wrap dress, deep cocoa heels and a gold clutch show how one big color, one dark neutral and one metal can build a complete evening outfit.

Putting together a Bright Spring capsule wardrobe

Think of a capsule wardrobe as a compact set of clothes that all work together. For Bright Spring, the smart move is to pick dark neutrals for bottoms and coats, then let vivid main colors handle the tops you wear close to your face.

• Trousers in Navy and Deep Pewter
• Jeans in Steel Blue
• A coat in Dark Camel
• A blazer in Bright Coral
• Tops and blouses in Soft White and Ivory
• A sweater in Bright Violet
• A cardigan in Bright Apple Green
• A wrap dress in Poppy
• A swimsuit in Turquoise plus a Soft White linen shirt
• Sneakers in Tan and heels in Deep Cocoa
• A clutch in Gold and a tote bag in Sunflower

These pieces cover all 5 outfits on this page, and plenty more besides. The cool weather look, for instance, puts a Dark Camel coat on top of a Bright Violet sweater with Deep Pewter trousers.

Prints and patterns

Because clarity is what defines you, prints look best with pure colors and shapes you can spot at a glance. Prints stay crisp when the background comes from your light or dark neutrals, such as Soft White, Ivory or Navy.

When a print uses your signature colors, such as Turquoise, Bright Lime or Bright Royal Blue, it connects right back to your palette. Prints that are faded or greyed behave like muted solids and can dull your skin.

Shoes, bags and metal choices

Shiny yellow gold jewelry looks at home on your skin, and dull silver usually falls flat. A gold clutch brings that warmth along into your evening outfits.

For shoes and bags, the warm browns among your neutrals are the easy picks. Tan sneakers go well with jeans on a relaxed weekend. Deep Cocoa heels ground a poppy dress with a dark base without dulling it down. A Sunflower bag can carry the accent duty for the day.

What should you do about clothes in skip colors?

For Bright Spring, the colors to pass over are Lilac, Dark Rose, Camel, Mahogany, plus Teal and Soft Turquoise. That doesn't mean these clothes have to leave your closet.

Keep them away from your face, for example as Camel or Mahogany trousers and skirts. When a top comes in a skip color, add a scarf from your palette, Bright Coral or Turquoise for example, so the good color is the one sitting next to your skin.