Soft Summer outfits and wardrobe
A season palette is at its most useful as a shopping filter. Build on two neutrals, spend your color near the face, and almost everything you own will combine.
Three outfits that already work
Composed from the Soft Summer palette itself, every piece is a real palette color with its hex, so you can match it in a shop.
The everyday
- Top
- Dusty rose #C08497
- Bottom
- Mushroom #9A938A
Your color where it counts, near the face, on the neutral you will wear most.
The tonal look
- Top
- Soft mauve #B08BA5
- Scarf
- Dusty lilac #8E7C9E
- Bottom
- Soft navy #3F4A57
Two neighboring palette colors in one outfit. Tonal dressing reads expensive on muted coloring.
The soft one
- Top
- Pale dusty pink #D9C4C9
- Bottom
- Soft navy #3F4A57
The palette's lightest color over your deepest neutral, maximum contrast with zero risk.
Start with two neutrals
- Soft white#EDEAE4
- Greige#C4BEB4
- Mushroom#9A938A
- Soft charcoal#6F6C68
- Soft navy#3F4A57
Then add color near the face
Tops, knitwear, scarves and collars, this is where the palette earns its keep.
- Dusty rose#C08497
- Soft berry#A5677A
- Muted plum#8F5F6E
- Soft mauve#B08BA5
- Dusty lilac#8E7C9E
- Dusty periwinkle#7A809E
- Slate blue#6E8CA0
- Soft teal#5C7D8A
- Muted jade#7FA398
- Sage#8FA88B
The rule that matters most
Color affects your skin in roughly the 30 cm around your face. Below the waist it barely matters, so if a favorite color is off-palette, move it to trousers, a skirt or a bag rather than getting rid of it.
Tonal dressing suits this season particularly well: two or three neighboring palette colors in one outfit look expensive on muted coloring.
Frequently asked
How do I build a Soft Summer capsule wardrobe?
Start with two neutrals, soft white and mushroom, for trousers, coats and shoes. Add three or four palette colors as tops and knitwear, since those sit near the face. That is roughly twelve pieces that all combine, and it is why a season palette saves money rather than costing it.
What should a Soft Summer wear to a wedding or an interview?
For an interview, use your deepest neutral with a palette color near the face, authority without severity. For a wedding, soft berry or dusty lilac photograph particularly well on this coloring, which matters more than usual on a day that is entirely photographed.
Can a Soft Summer wear denim?
Yes, denim is effectively a neutral. Choose the wash by depth: mid to dark washes work best, and very pale washes tend to wash this coloring out.
Can a Soft Summer wear colors outside the palette?
No. It means these are the colors that need no effort. Anything outside the palette is still available to you, it just works better away from the face, in a smaller quantity, or balanced with a palette color next to your skin.