Seasonally Appropriate Colours

About the Author

Angie is co-founder of YLF and its resident fashion stylist.

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Seasonally Appropriate Colours

— by Angie

on October 5, 2011

We definitely associate certain colours with particular seasons. Clean crisp mid-tones that resemble the first blossoming flowers for Spring. White, blue and brights for sunny, beach-filled Summer days. Earthy browns, greens, mustards and burgundies that pick up pretty Autumn foliage. And black, grey, Winter white, and red for cold, wet Winter months.

I don’t believe in seasonal colour rules. As long as the weight and texture of the fabrication is weather appropriate, I say wear any colour at any time of year. The more interesting question, though, is how we are affected by the association between the seasons and colours. Perhaps even subconsciously. Maybe we feel more stylish when our outfits reflect the colours that are associated with a season. Maybe seasonally appropriate colours lift our spirits. Or maybe they make no difference at all.

I don’t think I’m affected much by seasonal colour associations. Black, grey, white, cream and brights like red, citron, fuschia and turquoise are represented throughout my 4-season wardrobe. No matter what the season, I feel like breaking out a bright colour after wearing neutrals for a few days in a row, and vice versa.

That being said, I do tend to wear more black in Winter and more white in Summer. I have lots of black knitwear for when temperatures plummet, and lots of white shirts for when temperatures soar. I have a few brown items, mainly boots, belts and a ’70s leather jacket that I wear in Autumn and Spring.

Over to you. Do you wear more or less of a particular colour as the seasons change? Or do you wear similar colours throughout the year?

Colour

56 comments · Add a comment

Kristen

(website)

Veteran

I love brights all year long, so I don’t ascribe much to seasonal colors.

That said, during transition periods, when it is not quite the right weather for the fabrics and textures of the season (like now, when it is still a little warm for wools and tweeds, or spring when it is too cold for thinner sweaters and linens) I like to wear more seasonal colors in fabrics of a comfortable weight. Right now it is still pretty warm, so I find I wear more browns and neutrals but they’re still sleeveless or shortsleeve. Or I wear lots of flats but in fall colors and not the bright yellows of spring.

But once the season is fully up and going, out come my brights!

October 5, 2011 at 4:34 am

Patti @ NotDeadYet Style

(website)

Great article, Angie. Living in a warm climate, I don’t change my colors too much, but I do wear a lot more black and dark denim in “Winter”, and whites in Summer (nine months of the year). I’ll admit to a passion for olive, and it just feels more appropriate in the cooler months : >

October 5, 2011 at 4:44 am

Kafe

Active Member

I definitely tend to wear different colors for different seasons. I have never been to the PNW but know the seasons aren’t as marked as they are here on the east coast where I live. Maybe that’s what makes the difference for me?

Fall and spring are the seasons I notice my color choices the most with fall being earthy in choice and spring being more pastel. Summer and winter also their colors.

For some reasons, the colors I choose to wear seem to match the air…. as if the air has color and I blend in. When the leaves change their colors, I like to be a part of that; part of the outdoors.

October 5, 2011 at 4:47 am

Deborah

Veteran

For me the seasons dictate fabrics and textures more so than color. I wear black all year round as well as black and white combinations. Funnily enough, it is often winter when I feel the need to add some bright colors to combat the often grey and dismal weather. I don’t think I associate certain colors with the particular seasons at all.

October 5, 2011 at 4:54 am

lyn67

Veteran

I can resonate with both Angie and Kristen said.
Colours are so meaningful…

October 5, 2011 at 4:58 am

lynn

Veteran

It’s so funny that you wrote this post for today! I was going to “ask Angie” about wearing white jackets and sweaters in the fall! I didn’t get any wear out of them this summer due to the heat but I’m afraid of looking too summery wearing them now. I have a white denim jacket, a shimmery white cotton jacket and two pretty white sweaters…what do you think?

October 5, 2011 at 5:08 am

Laura

(website)

Veteran

Angie, here’s a place where we might differ! I hugely subscribe to seasonal colors – not because I’m trying to follow any set of rules (heaven forbid) but because it feels good. I’ve been wearing brown and olive green and cream and gold a lot in the past month, and I love it – being a redhead allowed me to fully enjoy the fall color palette! There are certain colors that don’t quite feel right at various times of the year, and I won’t wear them. For example, I have a short wool coat that’s fuschia with black buttons. It would be a good weight for right now, but I won’t wear it and instead save it for late winter and spring. In the fall, I turn to my camel-colored coat instead. Maybe I like to blend in with the leaves

October 5, 2011 at 5:26 am

Sihaya

Veteran

I’m with you Angie. I wear bright colors all the time alternated with black and white and neutral outfits. I often get compliments on being a bright ray in the midst of the grey Seattle winters. When I do, it makes me wonder why the compliment giver doesn’t do so as well if they so like it

I do have more blacks and greys in the winter but only because the heavier fabrications are more in the darker colors. I would gladly swap out the greys for red, yellow, and white. I have one white jacket that takes me through the warmer parts of fall and I love adding the crispness of white to the fall.

October 5, 2011 at 5:35 am

kimlee

Veteran

Kristen, I am very similar to you in my approach to dressing for the transitional periods. Right now, the South is still to hear to wear tweed, wool, or the like but I feel “off” if I am wearing the colors that I associated with spring or summer. Therefore, I am wearing more saturated colors that I link to fall – russet, orange, browns. However, I am learning to mix in colors that are not “fall associated” – hot pink, teal, lime green – becaues I feel that they flatter my skin tone.

October 5, 2011 at 5:36 am

Inge

(website)

Moderator

Before YLF my entire wardrobe pretty much consisted of neutral colours only, so seasonality never came into play. These days brighter colours and a few new (for me) shades happily liven up my closet and outfits, and I love wearing all “my” colours all year round. White bottoms being the exception, I prefer those for Spring and Summer.

I’m with Deborah on this one: for me it’s also more about textures and fabrics. The fact that I mainly wear cool shades may have something to do with it too, I don’t really think of those colours as “belonging to one specific season”. If that makes sense?

October 5, 2011 at 5:38 am

Cynthia

(website)

I definitely felt like I did a seasonal change this year. I was feeling muted blues, olive and taupe during the hot season, moreso than whites and pastels. Now I’m adding brighter colors back in.

It’s hard to say though. The last couple of years I’m going through a massive shift in what I like color-wise. I don’t know if it’s being in the South and slowly adapting to the way people dress down here, or what, but I am finding black harder and harder to work with and am way more drawn to warmer and muted colors. I just bought a caramel colored fall coat rather than black/grey/purple which would have been my usual choice.

October 5, 2011 at 5:39 am

Bitsy

(website)

Almost my entire wardrobe consists of black, which I wear regardless of season. I do sometimes throw in a bright color during the summer, but not often. Throughout winter, I am pretty much always in black or gray. It’s a running joke among friends and family.

I plan to surprise everyone at our Christmas gathering by wearing bright red.

October 5, 2011 at 5:39 am

Sowmya

Active Member

Living in a very warm country, its impossible to follow rules like this. That being said I love to wear bright colours! But yes wearing crisp whites in the hot summer months is a delight!

October 5, 2011 at 5:45 am

Joy

Veteran

Ditto what Laura said. I don’t feel right wearing some colors in the “wrong” season even though I try to fight that feeling in order to keep a smaller closet and get more wear out of the spring/fall items. Maybe it’s because our seasons are so extreme. I’m also sensitive to textures, but not as much as color.
In the spring I crave turquoise and coral and try to get as much wear out of white jeans, pants, and jackets as possible before it gets too hot to wear them because they just don’t feel right at any other time of the year. In the fall reds and oranges that have seemed to hot to wear all summer and too bright for spring get pulled out for duty.
Except for the pieces mentioned in white, I wear neutral colors, including black/white patterns, year round about equally but especially go for browns in late summer and fall.
Prints can be problematic as many florals and some novelty patterns seem most appropriate for spring or summer, but color trumps pattern.
I want to be able to wear most things in my closet nearly year round but am finding it difficult, often because the color just doesn’t feel right. This may be a good forum challenge.

October 5, 2011 at 6:03 am

Lisa

Veteran

With my personal “core” set of colors I do not stick to style rules: blue, purple, grey, and black I wear year round. Some colors I do reserve for “seasons only.” These include my white bottoms and blazer for the summer, a bright fuschia blazer also for the warmer months, a brown tweed blazer for fall and winter, and two colors I recently picked up specifically for cooler months, green and burgundy. I would not feel comfortable wearing a brown tweed blazer in the spring nor my white blazer in the winter months.

I limit the number of season specific items in my wardrobe to limit the number of “season only” pieces. Living in a four season climate, if I owned a high number of “season only” items, I’d have lots of half-year wardrobe orphans. And this includes prints as well as colors.

I do notice with my “core” colors, they depth of the shades varies with the seasons. I wear much brighter and lighter shades of blues in the summer months and deeper shades such as navy or charcoal grey in winter months.

October 5, 2011 at 6:04 am

RoseandJoan

Veteran

The colours I am personally drawn to are the softer shades which are always prevalent in the shops through spring, during the winter months when the jewel tones are reign I do revert to wearing neutrals. Would I still dress in neutrals through the winter if my colours were more readily available? Probably, the allure of black, cream and pearls in winter is too hard to resist.

October 5, 2011 at 6:22 am

Diana

Veteran

Although I don’t consciously follow seasonal color rules and I break them all the time, I do wear more black and dark colors in the winter and bright, exuberant florals in the summer. I think this has more to do with the availability of seasonal items in “appropriate” colors than anything else.

October 5, 2011 at 6:24 am

Fruitful

Veteran

It’s funny Angie but my first 2 WIW posts (which are in Spring here in Australia) have elicited lots of “I can’t wait for Fall so I can wear those colours!”

They do have a point, purple and red do feel quite autumnal.

But despite associating colours with seasons, I wear the colours I feel best in all year round, and these don’t vary much.

I’m never going to look that good in midtones, so I’m not going to put them on – even if it is Spring!

October 5, 2011 at 7:02 am

Debbie

Veteran

I don’t wear white pants or jackets in the fall. I am getting past the Labor Day deadline but not by much. My wardrobe has a lot of black and white pieces in it and I wear those year round.

October 5, 2011 at 7:04 am

Clover

I don’t subscribe to color rules. but I am influenced by both the spring and autumn seasons. Perhaps those two are the most distinct to me – the feeling of change in the air which makes me want to don the palette I associate with those seasons. Here in the PNW, spring and fall blend into summer and winter so I incorporate those colors into my year round wardrobe. I do have a “summer” collection of clothing/colors which seldom sees the sun during our standard summer, but instead travels with me to various tropical destinations each winter.

October 5, 2011 at 7:12 am

Aunty

Veteran

I tend to stick to the same colour pallet all year round.
It is the layering of clothes in autumn winter that I love rather than a change of colours.

October 5, 2011 at 7:38 am

Michelle

(website)

Veteran

Interesting post, Angie…and one that I wish a few people around here would read! In my climate, which definitely has clear demarcations between all four seasons, a lot of people have become roped into the so-called seasonal colour pallet. I’ve been trying to emulate your approach and wherever takes my fancy at any time, but as you astutely noted, I do feel slightly less stylish at times when I’m drastically flouting the traditional tones. This is all about me, I know…I’m the sort of person who has only moderate comfort in breaking the environmental norm. And like so many of my fashion decisions I’m mindful of the impact my blindness will have on others’ perceptions of my choices. People may well assume I chose something “inappropriate” because I don’t know any better. They might not care either, but this sort of thing always informs my thinking.
I’m more mindful of the neutrals I choose than the colours, oddly enough. I wear reds, blues and purples year-round without hesitation, and my white tops will still be in use in winter…but my white jeans get shelved near the end of September, along with my white bag. I start getting leary of wearing metallic footwear around this time of year, too, which may be odd to some. In summer I steer pretty well clear of black except as an element in a dress pattern or a staple shade for one of my pairs of clams. Thanks to YLF, the black footwear that dominates my fall and winter wardrobe is nowhere to be found between May and about mid September.

October 5, 2011 at 7:39 am

Turkey Vulture

Active Member

I definitely feel more stylish when my colors reflect the colors around me, but I tend to dress in a very polished style. However, I like to have fun and mix it up. I have a few pieces in my wardrobe that I use year-round but style with different garments or accessories to push them more toward the season at hand. I’ve got a “Barney purple” sheath dress, very bright, that I wear year-round as well as a screaming pink pencil skirt that I make in the summer, fall, and winter. (Haven’t found the right stuff to make it work in spring yet, but I will!) I have black and dark gray pieces that I take out in spring with the right footwear and accessories.

But I definitely feel at my most “put-together” when I’ve got a classically “in-season” outfit.

October 5, 2011 at 7:46 am

Elly

Veteran

Nope, my colors are my colors and they look right on me year-around, it probably helps that I am a deep– so winter and fall colors plus brights are my best looks. I personally think the intense Colorado sunlight up here at the high altitudes makes it easier to wear brights in winter. Fall is weird. In some parts of the state it is a beautiful clear season, but where I live spring and fall are the cloudy grey times of year with low light. Sure, you have beautiful golden leaves, but this is definitely our PNW time of year (sorry, I haven’t seen the sun for a couple of days). Winter is often blindingly bright and clear (and cold) interspersed with grey.

I do try to wear fewer black tops in the summer– just for practicality.

October 5, 2011 at 7:52 am

taylor

Veteran

My color palette doesn’t change year round, only the fabric.

October 5, 2011 at 8:07 am

Christina Rodriguez | The Diva's Home

(website)

I pretty much wear whatever color I feel like wearing. Living in South Texas, it means that it is warm for most of the year. I like to say we have two seaons – summer and not summer. I don’t own a real winter coat, so if it actually does get cold it’s layers for me.

October 5, 2011 at 8:08 am

rae

(website)

Veteran

It does feel a bit strange to me to wear bright, cheery colors dufing fall and winter, but I’m trying to break out of that mindframe, because bright colors look good on me!

October 5, 2011 at 8:10 am

Bloomsbury21

Angie, I purchased an expensive white ceramic watch this summer. But having grown up with the maxim “no white after Labor Day,” I’m having trouble getting over it enough to sport my watch now that it’s October. How do you feel about this?

October 5, 2011 at 8:12 am

Isabel

Veteran

I am usually very dark and solid through until mid-Spring. Then I really like color and and even some patterns. But this year, I want to have a little more color in what I wear.

October 5, 2011 at 8:42 am

Sarah

Veteran

I use color all year long but my neutrals change with the seasons. In spring and summer I might use silver as a neutral to brighten my look and in winter I use lots more shades of grey.

I also vary the tones of my colors a little. For example, in spring and summer I wear more citron and coral and in fall and winter I wear olive and orange.

Changing the palette just feels right to me–I like changing with the seasons!

October 5, 2011 at 8:56 am

Nakidra

Veteran

This could be geographically in my opinion… I don’t know about you other midwest gals, but I don’t see a lot of black or dark colors here in Chicago in the summer and spring. It’s different for me because I have to wear suits and wear dark ones year round…. but for those lucky ones who don’t have to dress so formally, I tend to see seasonal colors for sure.

October 5, 2011 at 9:15 am

Vicki

(website)

Veteran

Great postings by everyone and I always love reading them and gain so much insight! I tend to shift into more neutral colors in the autumn and winter months, with camels, creams, black and white. But, I do love color and always go on my emotional side and what I’m “feeling” and I always enjoy adding color with a scarf. Yesterday, I wore an aqua and cream cardigan with some gray casual cargo pants as I was taking over some homemade carrot cake to our neighbors, and she commented on how much she liked my sweater. It’s raining here today in Southern California, so it feels more like a muted day!

October 5, 2011 at 9:22 am

Erica B.

(website)

I feel just the opposite. I live in the Deep South. It’s a high of 82 today. I’d rather wear Autumnal colors in light weight fabrics. I can look like it’s fall but still be cool.

October 5, 2011 at 9:34 am

cciele

Veteran

I live in a relatively mild climate and wear the same colors year round. But I do tend to wear lighter colors in the summer because they are cooler than darker ones!

October 5, 2011 at 9:47 am

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Different approaches from everyone. Very nice!

Laura, I bet you’re really enjoying your Autumn palette as a red head

Michelle, your perspective was especially interesting.

Bloomsbury 21, white is the colour of snow, and I wear my white watch in cold weather too. I like the way it pops against black jackets and knitwear.

October 5, 2011 at 9:48 am

Antje

Veteran

While I agree that all colors can and do look good in all seasons, I find themselves navigating to different colors once fall and winter come around. E.g. right now I’m starting to wear more darker teals, fuchsia, and definitely much more black. I can totally imagine, though, that lighter colors can rock in fall – e.g. when I think of that lovely yellow Halogen skirt from the NAS (I didn’t buy it in that color but really like it.) I do think that some color combinations just don’t work that well in specific seasons. E.g., while I’d wear an outfit where white and yellow dominate in summer, I’d totally feel like it “needed” a dark grey or black color to “ground it” in fall.
Of course, the other issue is that certain colors are just not as available in fall or winter fabrics, or generally in that season. So I think a lot is about what stores are offering…

October 5, 2011 at 10:10 am

mamark

Active Member

I have seasonal rules about fabrics. Tropical weight wool and wool gabardine are year-round. Wool with a nap (like wool flannel) and cashmere are winter. Linen and most cotton is summer.

We don’t really have strong seasons here in San Francisco, so I’m probably being ridiculous, but I like to have a different wardrobe for what I perceive to be the seasons.

There are a couple of colors I strongly associate with particular seasons, though. Turquoise and brown are summer colors for me. Red and dark purple are winter.

October 5, 2011 at 10:11 am

ismay

I get the seasonal feeling more from certain color combinations than individual colors I always hesitate to wear red+black unless it is winter. Mixed pastels are spring. Mixed earth-tone neutrals are fall. But living in a relatively seasonless place – San Francisco – I do wear all colors at any time of year, and get kind of annoyed when someone points out that I am out-of-season! . And I agree that the biggest indication of seasonality is fabric weight. But in chilly SF I wear my navy velvet jacket year-round! Ha!

October 5, 2011 at 10:14 am

Makrame

Veteran

I live in an area with very pronounced seasons (upstate New York: warm summer, beautiful spring, gorgeous fall with bright leaves, apples, and pumpkins, and snowy winter with cross-country skiing. I tend to feel the seasons here very acutely since we also have a large garden and do a lot of outdoor activities, and my colors tend to match the seasons.

Today I am wearing a blouse that has a distinctly “autumn” quality to me (grey, brown, purple and dark green colors together in pattern that reminds me of fall leaves) and a brown bag, and feel like this epitomizes fall colors. I was just thinking about whether I want to continue wearing these items through the winter, and feeling somewhat conflicted about it (I like these items but I also like feeling like they match the weather and the season).

October 5, 2011 at 10:35 am

Kate

Veteran

I wear fall colors all year long. Every autumn I get comments from strangers about how I’m “wearing fall colors,” which makes me wonder if people think I’m wearing fall colors in the wrong season the rest of the year. So far nobody has asked me why I’m wearing autumn colors in the spring or summer.

October 5, 2011 at 10:51 am

Angela

We have clearly defined seasons here in central Ontario. I do wear seasonal colours or rather hues, I think. I wear hot pink , white, bright turquoise in the spring summer and then move to deeper tones and camel fall and winter.

A bit of white in the winter, like blouse or long sleeved bit no pants or white jackets…just works for me

October 5, 2011 at 11:03 am

Julie

(website)

I tend to layer my clothes so when the seasons change I often swap what I layer. I have an aqua tank top. In the spring I wear a white cardigan over it, in the summer I wear the tank over a white tank, in the fall I wear the tank with a chartreuse cardigan and in the winter I wear it with a heavy black cardigan.

Now that I say that, I am realizing that in the warmer weather I tend to wear white with bright colors (like aqua and yellow) and when it’s cooler I pair it up with bold colors (like red and black). I’ll wear most of my clothing year-round but I definitely swap my “matches” when the season changes.

October 5, 2011 at 11:18 am

bella

(website)

Veteran

Nothing beats wearing a crisp white dress in the summer with sandals and turquoise jewelry!:)

October 5, 2011 at 12:50 pm

rute

Veteran

I don’t wear black in the summer, in the Winter i do wear more dark colors!

October 5, 2011 at 1:28 pm

morethanbeige

Veteran

This gives me food for thought. I was wondering about this. I think, especially if it is going to rain, I wear darker colors, no matter what season. I know I do wear black in the summer. I think its about the fabric for me.

October 5, 2011 at 2:43 pm

Carole

Veteran

I have to admit to I enjoy wearing seasonally appropriate colors. I wear white and black year round, and like you, Angie, more black in colder months and more white when it’s warm. But when a new season comes I’m ready for a change. I think I would get a little bored if I used the same color palette year round.

October 5, 2011 at 3:39 pm

clearlyclaire

Now that I’m going grey, I wear a lot of neutrals and I like to mix them, so I don’t follow the seasonal color philosophy that much any more. If I do, it’s with accessories, like a light straw bag in summer, and a brown/black/burgundy/tan houndstooth plaid bag in fall/winter–although I have carried it in the summer with a khaki skirt. I just got some leopard flats and can’t imagine wearing them in the spring, but we’ll see what happens!

October 5, 2011 at 4:09 pm

Bianca

Veteran

Great post Angie! My old way of thinking was to break out the muted colors for the fall. But you know what? Once I got to know myself better and know the colors that look best on me, I do not follow that. My overall rule is to wear what is most flattering. I have labeled myself a “Winter” since I have black hair and fair skin. And you strike me as a “Summer” fair skin and hair. Usually folks like us, tend to look good with cool/blue undertones. Not all rules apply and my sister for example is hard to pin point. She has lighter hair than me, and then get’s highlights….has the olive-tone skin too. Not a “fall” not a “winter”. However, like you I tend to wear more black/gray in winter and bright white for summer. The reds, fuchsia’s and blues, can always be matched with something else to make it look seasonal (brown trousers for instance). Great time to play around with different textures so your wardrobe reflects the appropriate season.

October 5, 2011 at 4:40 pm

sarah

Veteran

Oh, I very much adjust my color palette to the seasons. Well, now that I HAVE a color palette (in that I don’t just wear neutrals anymore). Joy hit the nail on the head for me. In the spring I’m drawn to colors like turquoise and coral, while in fall I’m drawn more to black and brown and olive and “burnt” colors…but I think I’ll be more comfortable “mixing it up” now than I was in the past. Actually today the temperature soared to unseasonable highs, so I wore my white skinnies again!

October 5, 2011 at 4:50 pm

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Bianca, actually I’m a warm Spring. I wear sour colours best

It’s true that we often have to go with the colours that are available in the season, and that shapes what we wear.

October 5, 2011 at 5:50 pm

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

What Angie said, above. Seasonal availability has a lot to do with my wardrobe.

However, I will say I like the same colors year round so I really related to this post. I have plenty of black for the summer months, too. However on really hot days lighter colors make a difference. It is so much cooler to be driving in the car with a light wash pair of flares rather than blue-black ones. I typically keep white paper in my car to cover my black pants in the summer, the white paper helps reflect back the baking sun.

October 5, 2011 at 6:14 pm

Meredith

Active Member

I agree, Angie! I think you can wear any colors any time of year as long as it is weather appropriate.

I’ve seen gorgeous summer dresses in black, and lovely winter sweaters in white.

October 5, 2011 at 7:06 pm

Scarlet

Veteran

Living with four seasons, I would say I definitely tend to wear brighter colors and white in summer, softer colors in spring, richer colors in fall, and darker colors in winter. It’s not a rule and not strict, but my mood changes with the season and different things feel right.

October 6, 2011 at 1:53 am

Aida

Veteran

Hmmm interesting post, and interesting responses! Since coming to YLF, this is the first year I’ve considered seasonality, even for textures and fabric weight! I haven’t done it long enough to really say for sure regarding colors, but as a mood dresser I definitely change depending on the season; I do change the intensity of the colors I wear (though same set of core colors), as well as the neutrals I’m drawn to. In the spring, lighter shades (i.e. mixed with white); grays/black and touches of white. In the fall, more muted shades (i.e. mixed with black); tan/camel/brown and creams in the fall. In the summer, bright shades; light gray and white/cream. In the winter, deeper shades and jewel tones; charcoal/black and white/cream.

So that all said, after my no-black summer experiment and now bring black back into rotation, I’m still really liking lighter colors. I think, at least for now, I’m off fully dark outfits.

October 6, 2011 at 10:04 pm

Mita

Active Member

Angie and forum members, what do you think of dressing for the place and climate, rather than the season? I ask because I get together yearly for a shopping girls weekend with 4 gals: one from Seattle (grew up in Pennsylvania horse country, lived in San Fran), one from Fairfax Virginia (an affluent preppy area where they wear tailored little dresses at barbeques and grown-up women wear headbands!), one from San Francisco and one from Vancouver, Canada. What works in Virginia feels out of place to me in Seattle. What is normal errand-clothes in Seattle feels too casual and grungy in VA. Clogs never touch the feet of my gals from VA and Vancouver, yet keep my feet dry in Seattle. The four of us have argued and discussed this. Similar question when you are traveling somewhere. Do you try to do as the Romans do, within reason and integrity, or do you dress the same everywhere?

February 1, 2012 at 8:43 am

Nancy S.

(website)

I never wear black (makes me look like I am going to my own funeral), so my go-to main neutral is navy blue which I wear year round. Most my slacks are navy, or gray. I do tend to wear lighter, cool-based colors on top in the summer, and the deeper shades for tops in the winter.

December 9, 2013 at 5:22 pm

About the Author

Seasonally Appropriate Colours

Recent Ensembles

Recent Trends

About the Author

Share this Post

Recent Ensembles

Recent Trends