Are there seasonal colour restrictions? - YouLookFab Forum

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Are there seasonal colour restrictions?

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

My outfit today (http://youlookfab.com/welookfa.....taupe-pink) prompted me to wonder if there are certain colours that should only be worn in certain seasons. Like my pink blazer for instance - I consider pink more of a warm weather colour and am wondering if it is appropriate to wear in fall/winter.

But is it the fabrication and style that makes an item seasonally appropriate and not the colour? For example white trousers are now accepted in all seasons but you wouldn't wear wear white linen trousers in winter.

So - is it the colour that makes something seasonally appropriate or the fabrication?

Dressing

34 replies

Latest reply was from

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

I think fabrication and how you wear it - I usually associate chiffon with summer, but I've worn it year round.

PS: Your pink blazer is darling and you should wear it all year round!

rute

Veteran

No! I wear all colors, love white pants, white coat, yellow tops.

celia

Veteran

As I was posting in your other thread I was thinking that yes, I had retired my pink trench coat for the winter but I do have an oldie hot pink peacoat.
I don't think that there are seasons for each colors but in my case my skin tone changes drastically from summer to winter, the light around me changes so the same colors look different to me in different seasons.And different fabrics reflect color in different ways.
The beautiful tone of the magenta blazer is fresh and fun in the spring but in winter I need colors that give some color and warmth to my pale pale face, like burgundies and purples.
Conversely in summer colors like rust (that I do like to wear in winter) seem to overwhelm me.
But this is just me, I do have a lot of time to think about this things

cheryl

Veteran

I also think its more about fabrication. That blazer looks amazing on you and you should definitely wear it year round!

ramya

Veteran

I always wondered this Shannon... And I hope not :)...
Because of my limited wardrobe currently... 90% of my outfits are year long

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I think certain colors set a mood so to speak. Fabrication is most important. I think if you work at it, you could find a way to wear most colors in just about any season.

Anonymous

I tend to associate certain hues with blooming spring flowers. I remember when Angie wore her pink floral midi for the cover page last October I thought, "That's a very spring-y looking dress." Where I live, all the perennial flowers bloom twice a year, in the spring and again in the fall (like right now). And of course we have no snow at Christmastime, which really can mess with your head, lol!

I agree that it's the fabrication that should determine whether something is seasonally appropriate. For example, I'm looking for a "summer-weight" or three-season wool blazer that I can wear when travelling to keep warm on the airplane. I often travel in the spring/summer/fall, but I don't want it to look ridiculously winter-y, so I'm avoiding wool flannel, and cotton velvet or corduroy for a blazer because (even thought they might provide the right amount of warmth for me) the fabrications are incongruous with the time of year.

Other fabrics I think of as season-less, like denim. I would wear white jeans in the winter here, but not white linen. A few years ago I bought a bunch of candy-colored cable-knit crew neck pull-overs in cotton at the end of season sales. I thought they would work in the winter for me (they were left from the spring line). When it got cold enough to wear them, the colors just seemed out of place to me and they wound up as closet orphans. I think maybe that's because I was moving away from those colors in general. So, coming full circle here (sorry I'm so chatty!) I do have certain colors that I reserve for summer just so that I get some feel for the change of seasons. I avoid buying items that I plan on wearing in the winter (a long sleeved shirt) in a bright, swimming pool blue. The quality of light changes, and I prefer neutrals and more subdued hues when we are in our *winter*.

Anonymous

I agree that it has more to do with fabrication and fabrics than it does with color, though I do like to change my wardrobe colors just a bit for each season. Keeps me from getting bored.

Sara L.

Veteran

I don't know if there are any true restrictions, but I know that I tend to prefer darker richer colors in the winter. I get cold easily too, so I also tend towards heavier fabrications. I paint my nails darker colors and I usually dye my hair back to it's natural dark brown color (right now it has blond highlights).

shedev

Veteran

I tend to layer the same items when the weather cools. I think the fabrication is more important than the season of the color. I think if you have a difference in skin color than this would be more of an issue.

MsMary

Veteran

Generally i wear every color all year. I agree that fabrication matters more than color -- I have black linen pants I wear only in summer, and a bright yellow wool jacket I wear only in fall and winter.

Shannon, your pink jacket is fab and I think you should wear it all year long! I definitely wear my fever pink skirt all year!!

Suz

(website)

Veteran

I agree with Celia - for me, the quality of light and my skin tone changes a bit from summer to winter, so some colours work better for me in one season than the others. That is my only criterion these days. So it is personal, not a blanket thing. In the summer I can wear an almost pastel blue shirt that I would never wear in winter -- partly because it is linen, but mostly because of the colour.

I do think fabrication matters, at least to me. In extreme climates like ours, that's pretty much a given. For others, in more temperate areas, maybe colour is the deciding factor that helps them feel they are changing their wardrobes up with the seasons?

catgirl

Veteran

I think some people enjoy the idea - my friend in HI changes her clothes seasonally for fun, even though she really doesn't need to since it's warm year round. She wears corduroy and tweed if it drops below 75. And here it's cold year round, so I don't restrict myself to "summer" or "winter" colors. It's sometimes hard to find certain colors in winter fabrications, though - thank goodness for the recent color trends!

Transcona Shannon

Veteran

Interesting about the skin tone changing with seasons - I hadn't even thought of that. So even if a particular colour in clothing crosses seasons, it may personally not work for a person in winter versus in summer.

I've also wondered if it "seasonally confusing" for people who live with the same climate all year (like HI). I would find it difficult changing to sweaters and tweed when it still feels like summer. Here, where we have four fairly distinct seasons, I readily change fabrications.

I also think it's true that we crave certain colours according to the season as per Claire and Sara's point.

Great comments ladies!

rachylou

Veteran

Fabric weight matters most to my eye. There has to be something textured/substantial/warm somewhere in the outfit. I do generally feel better about seeking lighter colors anchored with darker ones in fall... Although, in the dead of winter, all white/pale outfits start to look fitting to me again.

Truth be told, pastels are supposed to be for spring, but I don't much like them then either. Save them for the solstices! Lol.

Anonymous

I thought the question pertained to seasons, as in temperature changes. When I lived in Central America, I didn't change my colors or clothing fabrics because the climate was the same year 'round. It doesn't make sense to dress like it's Fall, for example, when the weather looks and feels like Summer. We were in a tropical climate, and I dressed accordingly.

ironkurtin

Veteran

Another vote for fabric and not color being the most important factor.

rachylou

Veteran

You've just me think, Ruth, light changes with time of year.

Was it really like summer all year? Jamaica is tropical and the web says the temps are constant all year round - but I always found there were seasonal changes anyways.

Lol, then again, I am like my dog. At 72 F, her tongue comes out and my sweater goes on.

Anonymous

@Rachylou: Where we were, there was a rainy season and a dry (not as rainy, lol) season. Temps remained constant throughout the year, it was always humid, and our house didn't have AC or heat.

rachylou

Veteran

A/C makes too much noise! I like to turn it off and open the windows

Anonymous

Try keeping the windows open when it rains every afternoon.

rachylou

Veteran

Used to rain every afternoon when I was a girl, in Jamaica. Then people started to do American-style tract housing and clear cut all the trees - turning tropical forest into desert. Doesn't rain like it used to. In fact, they've got drought now on the island.

I will say my grandfather did a good job designing and situating the house. Deep eaves and the ability to open the house up almost entirely for air flow. I really liked sitting on the veranda while it was raining.

Anonymous

Unfortunately, the house we lived in was not that well designed. I remember eight miserable years of not being able to hang clothing out to dry because of the rain, not being able to store clothing because of mildew (we had lightbulbs in the closets and only kept the clothing we wore on a regular basis), and not being able to use the clothes dryer due to the high cost of electricity. Oh, and then there were the mosquitos...

rachylou

Veteran

Oh the maskitta! Wretched maskitta!

Anonymous

I know, right?

Anonymous

I've not read the responses yet but would say it's the fabrication not the color. I put away linen, although we may still have some very hot days where linen in dark colors would be appropriate, I think. I loved your outfit today and pairing the pink with brownish tones seemed to make it more autumnesque. I recently did the same thing with a peachy coral that hasn't been posted yet.
I'll go back to see the comments.

bj1111

Veteran

gosh, i hope not. i tend to dress for the weather more than the season. so no white satin in the rain.

Aziraphale

Veteran

Well, I definitely think fabrication is more important than colour in terms of seasonal appropriateness. As you say, you probably wouldn't want to wear linen trousers in the winter (even if they were not white!). Heavy wool seems like a fall/winter thing, and breezy cotton/linen is summer, etc.

As for colour: for me personally, there are seasonal colour preferences, but I don't think there are many (or possibly any) hard-and-fast rules for people in general. For example, I really like wine reds, and I have several items (a casual dress, a skirt, a long sleeve tee) in that colour, but I find that they don't feel right in the spring. The dress in particular ONLY gets worn in the fall and early winter, even though the weight of the fabric is also appropriate for spring and early summer. I guess, for me, wine red is a seasonal colour. Kelly green and hot pink, on the other hand, are spring colours for me.

Having said that, I wear many colours year-round. Blue, black, gray, certain browns, off-white and military green get worn at any time of year, but certain fabrications are specific to winter or summer.

Louise

Veteran

I generally head towards darker colours during the autumn/ winter, such as navy, burgundy etc x

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