Do seasons affect what your favourite neutral is? - YouLookFab Forum

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Do seasons affect what your favourite neutral is?

Ornella

(website)

Veteran

This struck me today as I was watching one lady at the store (a girl's got to do something while queuing, right?) She was dressed in all black outfit with the gorgeous long silk scarf in olive green casually wrapped around her neck and shoulders. She looked perfect. I made a mental note to try and wear something inspired by her.

However, as much as I love black, I instantly thought I'd not wear it in the similar outfit. Why? Because it's sunny out there and black would feel too heavy to me.

This then led to some more realisations. For 3 out of 4 distinctive seasons, I actually have favourite neutrals depending on the season:

Summer - White
Autumn - Grey
Winter - Black

I'm still trying to figure out whether Spring has it's own neutral and whether the fact I've been wearing a lot of navy lately actually gives me enough clue.

Over to you. Have you noticed you wear some neutrals more than others depending on the time of the year?

General

39 replies

Latest reply was from magpie

L'Abeille

Veteran

Oh, yes. In fall and winter I am all about black and sometimes grey. In spring I bring in the navy and wear it all summer, with an occasional default to a black and white outfit.

Although now that navy and black is considered a cool pairing, my seasonal wardrobes are starting to overflow into each other.

gryffin

Veteran

Ornella - that's fascinating how you really span the gray scale!! Totally neat!! But for me, true to form, I love black all year long. I do go sleeveless and seasonal fabrics, so I show more skin but I'm always happy in black!! I would like to add in more gray at all times of year, but it's hard to find clear medium to deep charcoal without a greenish or warm tinge. That is my constant hunt, cool and clear! But I really like how you shade with the seasons...awesome!

DonnaF

Veteran

I am trying to get away from black, but I am much more apt to wear black, charcoal, and heather gray in F/W and beige/taupe, white, and pale gray in S/S. In fact I don't think I wear beige/taupe in F/W at all! Hmm, I sometimes wear black in summer, but heather gray feels too heavy to me then. That being said, I think I am more influenced by weather and light than the calendar.

Suzanne (ambergreen)

Veteran

I might have learned my neutrals from my past in the American Northeast: I wear black and denim as neutrals year-round, though I have also added grays--mostly dark but some light ones too, especially if not heathered--year-round.

But I do bring in some browns in the fall; they don't always feel right in spring or summer, so that is kind of seasonal. I might wear copper or bronze in spring and summer, though. And I use silver as a neutral probably more often in the warmer seasons, though it's definitely a year-rounder.

I've never worn much navy, but I'm starting to a little. The very light neutrals (white, blush, beige, tan) don't really flatter me, so they don't have much of a place in my palette.

Good question!

Minnie

Black year-round.
I'm trying not to be head to toe black all the time and have advanced to jeans with black tops :-).
Lately I have bought quite a few non-black items, but I must admit, I feel best in black
Black is the best neutral IMO

Gigi

Veteran

Yes, I change my favorite neutral depending on the season. When spring peeks its head around the corner, I start subconsciously wanting to add navy and white into my outfits more and more. I switch to optical white from cream (I wear cream as a neutral in fall and winter). I don't know what my fall and winter fave neutrals are...I overdosed on black and gray for the past few years and as a result didn't want to buy any more of those colors, despite the fact that the gray and black items wore out. But I think once I recover from the ODing, I will want to wear gray in the fall and black in the winter.

Alexandra

(website)

Veteran

No, my favorite neutrals aren't affected by the season. The main one is black, then gray and white. I wear them year-round.

Mia

Veteran

Black, dark grey, navy and white are worn all year. More navy in Spring and lighter fabrications for the black. i.e. little or no leather or wool

Helena

Veteran

Great question Ornella - I think I use all my neutrals year-round, but in terms of the dominant neutral, I think I am exactly like you (including the navy for spring part)

Echo

Veteran

I actually think that changing neutrals by season is a great idea. It helps to lighten up outfits overall, even if the shapes don't change, and makes them more spring/summer appropriate.

That said, I don't. I rely heavily on black as a neutral regardless of season, and I love the look of a LBD or a black outfit with pops of colour in shoes or handbags for summer. I have tried navy, but quickly realize that unless it is a stand-alone piece like a dress, I have nothing to coordinate with it!

Anonymous

I used to be more selective of neutrals by season than I am now. I wear more black in summer than any other season. Maybe it's showing more skin that makes the difference. However, I especially like browns in the fall more than any other season. Navy says summer or spring to me. Now that I've added a few pastels, I don't like to pair them with black or muddy darks. So lighter greys and camel have become favorite spring neutrals. I wear white and off white all year but prefer optic white in summer.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Exactly what Donna said, down to the details, except I add in navy, and wear that one all year.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

Like Joy, I find that I wear black more in the summer, actually. Maybe that's because I tend to wear black with brights and high-contrast colors that are summery to me, whereas in the cooler months I tend to want lower-contrast outfits with denim, navy, brown, gray as my neutrals, to match the light and the landscape. Having a bit of color in my skin and so black doesn't make me look quite so washed out probably helps too.

Caro in Oz

Veteran

I actually like darker neutrals in summer, particularly navy, & I love white in winter - but our climate has mild winters & really hot summers so that may make a difference.

dustt

Veteran

Spring - I happily break out all the navy - with loads of brights

Summer - mix up the navy with loads of white and brights

Fall - transition in the grey , ivory and camel with the navy

Winter - give the navy a bit of a break and stick mainly with the ivory, camel and grey

I do have some black - but not loads - I rarely ever wear it in the summer - I'm so sick of grey and black by the end of our endlessly long winter that I always want to chuck it in the bin!!

K. Period.

Veteran

I don't have a dividing line, but I do reach more for navy in summer and spring and for charcoal in fall and winter. So a soft rule!

Day Vies

Veteran

How insightful of you! I think I do tend to favor specific neutrals given the season. My favorite neutral is navy but I like wearing it year round. In summer it's paired with white, fall with charcoal, deep red, or berry tones, winter I love navy with dove gray, silver and cream in spring I love navy with lime green, aqua or yellow.

Anonymous

Yes, they change with the seasons. Navy and black bottoms in winter/ fall (and that season is long, especially this year), creamy, taupe, light gray in summer fall with occasional white and black.

Tops are much more varied but bottoms are tried and true colours as listed above

Jules

Veteran

Navy is my current neutral of choice and I wear it in S/S with white and in F/W with jewel tones.

Windchime

Veteran

What a good question! Pre-YLF, I would have said my main neutral, year round, was black. But now that I assemble capsules, (and realize that "neutral" actually includes quite a few colors), I'd have to say that last fall and winter gray played almost as big a role as black in my outfits. This spring I'm still wearing some grey and adding navy. I'm not yet sure what my main summer neutral will be

Golden

Veteran

Mine stay the same no matter the season. I love black, grey, camel or tan, cream or white & recently navy.

Catnip

Veteran

Navy is my favorite neutral year round, but it's hard to find in the fall and winter. I can usually find a few navy pieces in early spring that work the following fall and winter, and I substitute black when that's not possible. On the whole my main neutral is blue, in almost any shade, lighter in warm weather and dark or bright in cold weather.

Marmee

Veteran

Ornelia, I hadn't thought about this, but yes, the seasons do affect my neutrals preferences.
Autumn - black, brown, grey
Winter - black, grey, some brown
Spring - navy, light grey, some white
Summer - navy, white, light gray

MsLuna

Veteran

Black is always my primary neutral. I've always looked and felt good in black, so that's not going to change by the season. Another constant neutral for me is dark indigo denim. It just goes with everything!

For the warmer months, I add bright white in the mix because I really like the high contrast look. I've been experimenting with navy as well, but only when accompanied by denim or white. I usually wear hot pink or teal accents with the navy.

And of course, crazy me would say PURPLE IS A NEUTRAL!!!! But that's a conversation for another time

Aziraphale

Veteran

Sure, I definitely wear more black in the winter and less in the summer. Part of it's aesthetic -- white and summer do seem to go together, don't they? -- but part of it is simply practicality. Black absorbs solar radiation. I dislike being hot. Ergo, I don't wear much black in the summer.

Marley

Veteran

Hmmmm . . . I think that I used to change out my neutrals by seasons - but not so much anymore. I stick with gray (all shades), cream/ivory/white, and navy blue. I still have some black neutral items, but except for shoes, I have not bought anything black in several years.

rabbit

Veteran

I'm not sure I do. My main neutrals are black and gray and a little denim blue.

Thinking about it, I actually adjust my neutrals a little bit depending on my skin color. In the summer or if I've been somewhere where I actually freckle/slightly tan/get sun streaks in my hair I will wear a few more whites and sand colors and light grays. When my skin is bone white black and ink blue look a bit more dramatic.

Just because they were on the clearance rack I tried on white cropped skinnies and a white oversized linen shirt today, but I wasn't feeling the color at all, although I know if it had been high summer and I had a little darker skin I probably would have.

Deborah

Veteran

Simple answer... no:) It's black for me every season

Adelfa

Veteran

I wear black and gray all year.

Denim--darker in cool weather, lighter in warm weather.

Brown--mostly cool weather.

White in summer, cream in winter.

Navy--three seasons, all year except summer.

So really mostly the same, just small variations

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