Cool Summer outfits
Great cool summer outfits lean on soft, muted blues, roses and plums, resting on a quiet base such as slate, and they stay away from sharp shifts between very pale and very deep shades.
Cool Summer outfit formulas
Office day
a dusty rose cardigan over a soft white blouse with slate trousers
Casual weekend
a light stone jacket with soft denim jeans and a soft jade tee
Dinner out
pewter heels with a soft marine coat over a raspberry wrap dress
Warm weather day
greige sandals, soft white shorts and a cornflower linen shirt
Cool rainy day
a blue grey trench coat with dark taupe pants plus a pale lilac sweater
Cool Summer goes by another name too, True Summer. Your colors are cool, gentle and medium in depth, with no warmth mixed in.
- Top neutral: Slate
- Jewelry metals: silver and white gold
- Go-to shades: Dusty Rose, Cornflower, Soft Jade, Raspberry and Orchid
- Shades to avoid: Bright Peach, Bright Copper, Gold, Moss, Bright Royal Blue and Navy
Combining your palette
Contrast means how far apart your lightest and darkest shades are within a single outfit. Since your own coloring sits in the soft, medium range, medium contrast suits you best. Bright white worn against pure black is too harsh, but Slate paired with Soft White or Pale Lilac looks just right.
A neutral works as a quiet base shade that pairs with nearly anything. Slate is the one that works hardest for you, and Soft White, Light Stone, Greige, Pewter, Dark Taupe, Blue Grey and Soft Marine behave in exactly the same way. If you build most of a look around 1 or 2 of them, adding other colors becomes simple.
An accent is a small dose of a stronger color, through something like a scarf, a top or earrings. Berry, Peacock, Amethyst and Dark Orchid are your accents. Wear one close to your face when you can, since cool rose pink and dusty blue wake up your skin and sharpen your eyes.
Here's an easy formula: pick 1 neutral for the lower half, 1 main color up top, and add an accent if you like. Slate trousers worn with a Soft White blouse and layered under a Dusty Rose cardigan show that pattern in action.
True summer outfits for everyday life
Each of these 5 outfits pulls 3 colors from the palette, so feel free to copy them exactly or trade in a similar shade you already have.
| When | Palette shades | What to wear |
|---|---|---|
| Workday | Slate plus Soft White and Dusty Rose | Slate trousers with a soft white blouse, finished with a dusty rose cardigan |
| Weekend casual | Soft Denim, Soft Jade and Light Stone | Jeans in soft denim, a soft jade tee and a light stone jacket |
| Dinner | Soft Marine, Raspberry and Pewter | A raspberry wrap dress with a soft marine coat and heels in pewter |
| Warm day | Cornflower, Soft White and Greige | A cornflower linen shirt with soft white shorts and sandals in greige |
| Rainy day | Dark Taupe, Pale Lilac and Blue Grey | A pale lilac sweater with dark taupe pants and a trench coat in blue grey |
Every outfit stands on a neutral and keeps 1 of the softer colors nearest your face. That's what keeps them looking calm rather than dull.
Creating a small cool summer capsule
A capsule means a small group of clothes in colors that all match each other, so nearly any top goes with any bottom. Since your palette shares one cool, soft feel throughout, the pieces mix together easily.
- Trousers in Slate
- Jeans in Soft Denim
- A blouse in Soft White
- A tee in Soft Jade
- A cardigan in Dusty Rose
- A shirt in Cornflower
- A dress in Raspberry
- A trench coat in Blue Grey
With those covered, you can branch out into other main colors like Periwinkle, Mauve or Dusty Turquoise. Those quiet base shades will welcome them just the same.
Patterns and prints
Patterns flatter you most when their colors sit close together in both lightness and softness. A pattern mixing Periwinkle with Soft White, or Dusty Rose with Pale Lilac, keeps the gentle character of your palette intact. Prints built on hard black and bright white usually reintroduce that harsh contrast, which weighs you down.
Shoes, bags and metals
For shoes and bags, your neutrals are the way to go, since they work with anything else you put on. Pewter, Greige, Dark Taupe and Slate make easy picks that go with anything in your closet.
Your metals are silver and white gold. Silver blends smoothly against your skin, while gold tends to stand apart and turn brassy, so reaching for silver in your jewelry, buckles and zips pulls a whole look together.
What about clothes in skip colors?
Favorites in Navy, Moss or Bright Copper can stay in your rotation. Orange and warm yellow tones leave your skin looking sallow and tired, so those colors are simplest to keep far from your face, in pieces like trousers, skirts or shoes.
If a skip color has to land near your face, a scarf in one of your palette colors saves the day. Loop a scarf in Pale Lilac or Dusty Rose around a navy sweater and you get a flattering shade sitting just beneath your chin.
Common questions
Is black okay in a cool summer wardrobe?
True black tends to feel heavy and washes the color right out of your face. Soft Marine or Slate offer you a dark shade with a gentler touch. If you love something black, keep it below the waist or add silver jewelry plus a palette scarf close to your face.
Which jeans shade suits this season best?
Pale Denim, Soft Denim and Denim all belong to your palette, so washes from light to medium in those blues slot right in. Denim dark enough to approach Navy falls among the shades your palette leaves out.
Which neutral coat will work with my whole closet?
Slate makes the most useful coat, since Slate is your best neutral and pairs well with the blues, roses and greens in your palette. As a second option, Blue Grey shines, especially as a trench for wet weather.
What should I wear to a wedding or formal event?
Reach for the deeper main shades in your palette, such as Raspberry, Deep Rose or Orchid, which feel special without turning harsh. To finish, add a touch of an accent like Berry or Amethyst, then choose shoes in pewter and earrings in white gold.