Light Summer Colour Palette: Your Style Guide

Have you recently discovered that Light Summer is your colour season? Your palette is full of light, cool colours to explore, from powder blue and soft pink to lavender and gentle grey. These fresh shades can be a lovely way to bring colour into your everyday wardrobe.

If you’re new to colour analysis, you might be wondering whether you need to dress in pastels all the time or replace the darker colours you already love. Not at all. Your palette gives you a starting point for discovering new shades and combinations, rather than a set of rules you need to follow.

You may already own colours that sit comfortably within the Light Summer palette. Start there, then explore a few new shades when you feel like refreshing your wardrobe.

Light Summer is one of the 12 seasons used in seasonal colour analysis. The approach groups colours according to qualities such as temperature, depth and clarity, helping you explore shades that may sit harmoniously alongside your natural colouring.

For Light Summer, lightness is the main quality, followed by coolness. Colours tend to be lighter in depth and have a cool rather than golden undertone. They often feel soft and fresh, rather than intensely bright or deeply saturated.

Think powder blue, cool rose pink, lavender and pale grey. These colours share a light, cool quality, even though they belong to different colour families. Light Summer sits near Light Spring in the 12-season system, but Light Summer leans cooler while Light Spring leans warmer.

Your palette doesn’t have to be all pale pinks and blues. You can add definition with soft navy, blue-grey or a deeper neutral. And if you love a bold colour, there’s no reason to stop wearing it. You might enjoy it in a print or accessory, or combine it with a lighter colour from your palette.

Start with a colour you’re drawn to, such as soft blue, cool pink or lavender. Try it with pieces you already own and enjoy discovering what works for you.