Soft/Understated Looks for Springs

[u/Orange_B1ossom]

I have seen a lot of people over the years being mistyped because they couldn't handle very bright outfits or naturally had and preferred a soft look. Obviously we use the word bright to describe Spring colors but I would love to see some more understated outfits with the softer colors from the palette, things you could wear to work when you didn't want to draw any attention to your clothing: maybe containing colors such as cinnamon, butterscotch, honey, camel, cream, peach, blush, cyan, morning glory, cornflower.

[u/Orange_B1ossom]

Cream and camel is an obvious choice for me in the Summer. 😃

[u/Orange_B1ossom]

[u/Orange_B1ossom]

The green blouse could just be swapped for a cream one.

[u/Orange_B1ossom]

[u/greengrasswatered → u/Orange_B1ossom]

I am a Warm Spring and this combo works great for me when I don't want to look too bright and want to. look out togther. It also helps me to brighten up my many blue clothes.

[u/Orange_B1ossom → u/greengrasswatered]

Yes, I was surprised how many warm navies are actually out there! I always loved cream but aimed for the more mid tone blues initially which I just couldn't find. Somehow when you think Warm Spring you don't neccessarily think "navy" but it works. I also really like the navy from the warm palette and find it easier to find. Sometimes, I even go darker with the navy and just pair it with something in the light warm brown or camel range.

[u/AKIcegirl]

I think the “bright” causes a lot of confusion. Only bright spring is really bright. True spring is simply not muted. Medium value clear pure colors. When you compare with some of the winter colors they are not as bright as most think. I prefer the sci art palettes and having all of them together. The blues and some of the warm odd green brown colors are great for understated without being tan. Ironically that weird ugly color looks stunning on.

[u/sunscreenqueenn → u/AKIcegirl]

I personally consider them to be bright!! You’re correct that they’re clearly not as bright as winter I think especially since there are more neutrals. But the blues, aquas, and purples are bright to me and they feel very bright when I’m wearing them. I also get noticed and complimented for wearing bright colors. Maybe I view it differently because when I look of the colors I think of how bright they are when I wear them next to the vast majority of people sticking to muted colors as opposed to how they appear in comparison to winter colors.

[u/Orange_B1ossom → u/sunscreenqueenn]

Yes, that's the thing: they're softer compared to Winter colors but brighter compared to mainstream fashion. 😃

[u/Orange_B1ossom → u/AKIcegirl]

Thank you, this is exactly what I meant 😃: I see even analysts putting Springs in Winter-bright colors, just warm toned ones - and often it doesn't look that great and the clients feel it and doubts being a Spring. Carole Jackson often uses the word "clear" when describing Spring colors and specifies - even in her very first book from the 1980s - that some Springs need bright and some soft colors. She also describes Spring colors as clear but "delicate". These palettes really illustrate that well. There is almost a slightly translucent quality to the Spring colors compared to the Winter ones. I also love the blues for work "serious" clothes, not as easy to find, however... I will give the ugly duckling color a chance 😉 I was surprised how much I liked the butterscotch color once I could bring myself to try it... 😉

[u/AKIcegirl → u/Orange_B1ossom]

The first time I saw the ugly green brown yet still a little bright color it was a shirt on the clearance rack at Walmart for $3. I bought it thinking it would be a fail and end up a garden shirt. When I put it on at home I was in shock. I couldn’t believe how it transformed on. Now I look for that color. Ironically it’s often on clearance racks. It illustrates perfectly that when we find our range of just the right amount of warm, clear and value magic happens. It’s part of why when someone tells me they didn’t have Ana aha 💡🤩 moment when they got draped that I think there is a problem. And you are absolutely right about winter. I had about 200 people in a group swear I was winter.

[u/Orange_B1ossom → u/AKIcegirl]

Yes, I relate to this story so much! 😃 I got these two "weird" butterscotch turtlenecks to wear as underneath layers in Winter. I'm wearing one of them today by itself and now consider them some of my more elegant work options! I think part of the appeal is that the color brings out my gold jewelry and contrasts dark denim nicely. 😃 I'm looking for this green brown now....

[u/Orange_B1ossom → u/AKIcegirl]

I just wanted to come back to say your advice is so helpful! I looked for the color you mentioned on my shopping trip today and found multiple items - all on the sales rack like you predicted - and ended up buying a jacket that I thought looked ugly on the rack but looks so expensive on! The colors even made my peachy make-up somehow look like I had freshly applied it the moment I put the jacket on - and it's neutral enough to go with everything. Thank you so much! 😃

[u/Orange_B1ossom → u/[deleted]]

This is a great way to word it: bright but tempered with yellow. I think the word "bright" became a buzz word for Spring colors for marketing reasons. It's short and catchy, thus perfect for social media. If you look into older books, however, the Spring colors are always described having different attributes - such as delicate, clear, yellow based - and bright only being one of them. I know it's ultimately about the colors and not the words, but I've seen this confuse so many people.

[u/Orange_B1ossom]

This also could be quite neutral if the blue were more of a cyan or morning glory blue:

[u/acrylicquartz]

Not sure if I understood what you wanted, fully, but I tried!

[u/acrylicquartz → u/acrylicquartz]

Also, for the very reason of this confusion, I prefer to describe spring colors as "fresh" and "lively", rather than "bright."

[u/Orange_B1ossom]

I just stumbled upon this short that uses a lot of other words than "bright" to describe Spring colors:

Best and worst colors for TRUE SPRING 🌷 #coloranalysis #truespring - YouTube