No question, and my colors are the same as yours: the ones linked to "Summer" coloring. They don't look exciting in the closet--just a sea of blues, grays, taupe and off-white, with touches of raspberry pink and cherry red--but they come alive with my skin, hair and eyes.

Very interesting question. I don't think I do that, although it could explain my love for gray since I have gray-ish blue-ish eyes. And maybe that is why I struggle with light shoes since I have dark hair? However, I did realize several years ago that I need high contrast because of my dark hair and pale face. Medium tones and tonal looks don't work well against my face but I can wear them with a contrasting black or white top underneath and they work fine.

Not exclusively, but yes! I am always happy and feel extremely well dressed when I can integrate my natural colors(eyes, hair and skin) to my outfits.

SUCH a great read. I enjoyed your replies, ladies.

The Cat, to answer your question. YES and NO. I love to wear all sorts of whites across ALL wardrobe items - (from bright optical white right and cream through to bone, tan and stone) - because those colours are repeated in my hair, teeth and the whites of my eyes. I have big eyes, so the whites are brighter than the dark green of the iris.

I wear olive which matches my eyes - but it's not a signature happy colour.

I'm a Warm Spring and wear lots of signature sour brights that complement my complexion, but are not repeated in it. The orange-y based colours though, "match" my peaches and cream skin tone.

That is a fascinating way to look at color! My coloring very strongly influences the colors I wear, but I never really considered matching my natural colors in my clothing. Except for blue for my eyes. But my coloring is both warm and cool. And fairly high contrast, too. The warmth is mostly in my hair, which is that common blend of blonde and brown with red. Tawny is a good word. Or toffee/taffy. Cognac in footwear. There has to be some warmth in my skin, but overall it is very pink and white with blue veins. I just have a couple of pairs of shoes in cognac.

Instead I focus on coordinating my clothing colors with my coloring. I can wear both warm and cool colors; my favorites tend to be warmish cools. Blues are obvious, but also all sorts of pinks and reds and even coral. Greens are surprisingly terrific; I think they make my hair look red but have enough blue to remain cool. Emerald and kelly are great, as is leaf green. Butter yellow and true yellow are good. And white is my light neutral of choice, not cream. Rose gold is my metal - warmer than silver but not nearly as warm as yellow gold. Royal purple feels almost too cool, but I like lavender, which feels warmer.

The colors I avoid are extremes: the very warm (mustard, oranges, tan and beige) and the very cool (fuchsia, silver grey, very light blue). And maybe because I'm high contrast, I love high contrast combinations that fall just short of black and white starkness. Like a deep lavender sweater with pastel floral skirt. Or pale pink dress with navy shoes. And my white puffer with dark winter burgundies, greens, and navies.

I do this most of the time - green to match eye color, deep red for lip color and golden light tans mixed into patterns or used for shoes and handbag color. I also like some dusty corals which would bring out the rosy cheek tones. It's taken me a while to realized (and accept) that gold jewelry is still much better for me even with changing hair going lighter grey/white as I still have a lot of golden undertones in the hair and skin. I like slightly dirty whites and also some bright white, esp. in summer. I don't like yellow on me or yellow whites (many ivory colors are wrong).

But contrast also works for me - I love navy/ink and also charcoal grey - they seem to contrast with the warmer tones in a good way. I love wearing charcoal gray on top with gold jewelry for instance. Navy works the same way for me. Forest green is probably my all time favorite color - I can never seem to get enough of it.

I think I happen to prefer the colors that look best on me as colors: blues, greens, some reds. I gravitate towards those colors. I don't wear a lot of white near my face - I do have a yellow undertone to my skin, and when I tried on stark white wedding dresses, I looked ill. I also stay away from yellow for that reason. I could wear yellow accessories, but generally it's not my favorite.

Thank you all very much for interesting and inspirational comments!

Hmm, interesting concept. I don't think I do this though. My hair is brown and I have green eyes. However, I don't wear much brown or green. I wear a lot of black which isn't echoed anywhere in my coloring.

Thinking more, I think I have to say that my best browns are dark like my eyes... not a milk chocolate...

I always feel better when my outfit has some blue in it. My eyes are blue and I’m pretty sure that is part of the reason why I feel so good in blue.

Sara L., I found this post of yours, where the ensemble you are wearing in #1 and #2 is echoing your natural colouring in a very beautiful way:
https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....out-velvet
So I'll just encourage you to wear colours like those more often (and less black).

Yes, my coloring definitely comes into play.

I have light Caucasian skin, dark hair (about 2/3 gray but still coloring to a deep cool brown), and green eyes. Not the green that can read as a brownish-hazelly neutral until one looks closely, but a pale green that's a definite color. I wear lipstick.

That's usually enough color for me. Like Angie's Greg, I tend to consider brown and olive colors. I occasionally wear deep blue-green or silvery purples, but mostly I stick to whites, creams, grays, blacks, and cooler taupey-beiges.

My colouring has changed in the past 5 years - from dark copper penny red hair to a mix of red and white that reads as sandy or strawberry blonde, and creamy skin with golden freckles to slightly ruddy from Rosecea.

I used to wear eggplant, colbalt, Emerald, turquoise, brown, maroon, mustard, orange. Now my wardrobe is comprised of safe neutrals - black, lots of blue, white, and pale grey/silver. My happy colour is tomatoe red and it is represented in my wardrobe as well. I am adding beige/khaki since it bookends my natural hair colour better than cognac (which worked better in the past.)

Wine, olive, and mustard used to look great close to my face and highlighted my hazel eyes. I'm not sure what works well close to my face now, though white seems to be good as does a weird dusty grey-lilac that is hard to find. My colouring is low contrast, but it does not affect the depth of the colours I wear, though I may be intuitively leaning towards faded colours and mid tones, and I am loving white more and more!

My favourite patterns are stripes (which run counter to my somewhat curvy athletic shape). I also like large florals and they are on my shopping list. I think the rounded shape of the florals I like best repeat the rounded shape of my curly hair.

Like I said earlier, I am struggling a bit with colour as I adjust to seeing myself more as a blonde person than the redhead I was.

Yes, as a fair blonde (not dissimilar colouring to Angie, actually), it is really important that I don't go too dark and that any contrast in patterns, or in the outfit overall, is carefully considered. Too much dark-to-light contrast (i.e. colour value) quickly overwhelms me. I do love 'bookending', and this is how I discovered the magic of a metallic shoe!

Hmm I would like to try to do this more as I agree that it looks good when implemented. However I’m super prone to liking the challenge of making difficult combinations work!
My eyes are a dark grey/blue, so I find navy is a good colour on me, and also silver and heathered (white flecked) colours work with the ashier parts of my hair. However dark grey is not great... it really depends on things being the exact right shade.
Even though my colouring is generally summery, I have almost black eyebrows, so I feel like black can work on me too, depending on the fabric.
It’s all very interesting.
I’ve only just discovered the concept of bookending, and I’m interested to experiment with it.