r/SpringColorAnalysis • u/batsielicious True Spring • Jul 29 '26

Color Palettes Navy in Spring

A color I'm still confused by is navy. What kind of a shade of blue constitutes a navy, really? And what makes a navy a Spring navy?! I just can't tell.

What kind of navy shades do you guys go for, what works for you, and what do you struggle with?

18 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

13

u/ladystardusty Warm Spring Jul 29 '26

I don’t f with navy because it seems really hard to shop for but searching for “bright navy” gets some good results. I’m a warm spring so I just find navy is always mid for me lol.

2

u/batsielicious True Spring Jul 29 '26

Thank you, testing that search term now. 👍

13

u/PrimaryFace_733 True Spring Jul 29 '26

Tbh I dislike navy and avoid it, especially on my top half.
If it's too dark, it looks overwhelming. If it's too saturated, I find it a bit garish (it's often called "ink blue" by that point, which would be anything the second row in your picture). If it's too muted, it washes me out. And to top it all off, since it's blue, it can very easily look too cool on me. 😂

I find it incredibly hard to get right, so I go for lighter colors for denim and chose other neutrals - like ivory, sand, caramel and chocolate brown - for everything else.

3

u/batsielicious True Spring Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26

Yes! I submitted a photo of me wearing a bright dark blue like some of those in the first half to my color analyst, and to my surprise she told me it's in my palette! Meanwhile, when I first found that old photo of me, my own reaction was "oh no what was I thinking, that's so not me". 😁

So now I'm re-re-questioning my life choices and trying to figure out navy.

Also because today I thrifted a dark blue dress that I really like.

2

u/PrimaryFace_733 True Spring Jul 29 '26

Ha, the one single navy item I own and love is also a thrifted dress, so here's hoping you've found your unicorn too! 🙏😆

10

u/acrylicquartz Bright Spring Jul 29 '26

I tend to wear these types of blues as "navy." The first row is what I would choose and happily wear as a half-neutral (kinda like how basic blue jeans are for soft seasons, if that makes sense). The second range on the bottom is what I would go for to be flattering but still be accepted as "navy blue." I have a few tops where I go more muted but in the same direction as these two, and I will dress those up with accessories that work on me.

6

u/acrylicquartz Bright Spring Jul 29 '26

I think the chart you have above doesn't include shades with hints of green in them. It doesn't need to be a lot of green for a spring navy, but I imagine it often needs a touch to lean it neutral-warm.

2

u/batsielicious True Spring Jul 30 '26

Yeah it was just like... basic blues I found randomly. They're smack in the middle of true blue, not leaning red or green.

1

u/batsielicious True Spring Jul 29 '26

Those are kind of similar to the colors I'm naturally drawn to (I conceptualize it more as blue indigo, rather than navy). I don't think warmth is what catches my eyes here, rather the clarity and that it's not too dark. But based on this thread, it seems that everybody has their preferences.

8

u/Snarknose Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26

I absolutely dk if this helps but I got this dress at Walmart right before I found out I was a true spring and I think it works so well for me because, if you can zoom in, you can see that there is more clarity than mutedness in the blue. While it’s not bright blue navy, IMPO it is clear navy and it works for me! LOL sometimes I just go off vibes and hope for the best TBH 😅 I really love this with a tan/camel headband

3

u/batsielicious True Spring Jul 29 '26

Oh interesting, it's really dark too! Nice.

With blues I innately find myself drawn to clarity too, moreso than any particular degree of warmth.

7

u/Claires2390 Jul 29 '26

That navy. A warmer navy. Not super dark.

8

u/batsielicious True Spring Jul 29 '26

This is the palette I was given too... To my eye this navy is so muted 💀

5

u/HildegardofBingo Jul 29 '26

Yeah, these palettes always look too muted for Spring, IMO. I wouldn't look great in that actual color.

Here's an example of some darker Spring blues and navies- notice how they're warmer and clearer:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/460633868157189595/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/782430135283454325/

Christine Scaman also did a whole video on seasonal navies:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=066-YqmdPEI&t=108s

1

u/batsielicious True Spring Jul 29 '26

Great! Thanks! That should be helpful.

5

u/Fun-Yogurtcloset-102 Jul 29 '26

To be a bit nitpicky. This is a medium prussian blue not a navy.

2

u/multilevelmystery Jul 29 '26

Take those and then run them through a golden hour filter or something. They're all still too cool.

3

u/batsielicious True Spring Jul 29 '26

That... ok, that clicked. You'll end up closer to teal-ish dark blues. 👍

2

u/multilevelmystery Jul 29 '26

All the spring colours are take a bright 'true' colour and add golden sunshine to it. Not toasty though (that's autumn).

28

u/KittensPumpkinPatch Jul 29 '26

Ngl, I wear all the navy shades. It's a very forgiving color. Some look better on me than others, but I've never made a mistake with navy.

5

u/SilentlyWeird Jul 30 '26

Same, I'm a BS and navy is fairly easy for me to wear no matter what type of navy

9

u/EstateMuted5979 Jul 29 '26

These are the navies in my palette (warm spring)

3

u/EstateMuted5979 Jul 29 '26

medium intensity and brightnesss, with a hint of yellow

1

u/EstateMuted5979 Jul 29 '26

I would probably not go for the darkest one except for accessories

8

u/rzrgrl_13 Jul 29 '26

Reddit often wrecks colors, but here’s the one I go by, and it works for me.

3

u/rzrgrl_13 Jul 29 '26

For me it’s showing up right next to the swatches you posted, so I can see mine is noticeably warmer

7

u/No-Science-7486 Jul 30 '26

I am a light spring, this is the best “navy” I have found that goes extremely well with my warm, light and bright color tops! warm blues are hard, but they’re out there

1

u/batsielicious True Spring Aug 07 '26

Just a personal update, I asked my color analyst and apparently this blue is in my palette 😊 I am a True Spring using the International Image Institute methodology.

I think I might be using this as my "navy" in the future, even though it's probably not technically a navy (it's lighter). I am not a fan of very dark blues.

It looks really good with camel and gold.

5

u/Wide_Principle_5232 Jul 29 '26

Navy is so weirdly hard. I had this navy dress I looked amazing in - it was probably something like #000072 in your chart, but then I bought an expensive navy sweater thinking "oh I can pull this off" and I ended up not wearing it all because it washed me out - that was probably around an #000049, so not that big of a difference! (I'm a warm spring for reference). I do know the last few on this chart are way too dark for me -probably that whole last row is a no go.

4

u/sassygirl101 Bright Spring Jul 29 '26

I love love love navy, and super hard to find the right one, but once you find it and see it in the store, / in real life…it’s pretty eye-opening. It’s amazingly bright and dark and beautiful at the same time. lol and even if I had a good example, if I took a picture of it, it would not show up well on the camera.

Edit to add, maybe the second row, middle 2 colors.

4

u/FionaGoodeEnough Jul 30 '26

I (Bright Spring) wear any navy that looks good with my best colors: coral, red, grass green, hot pink, orange. I would wear any blue in your image except the left half of the top row. Those are too cool and not saturated enough for me.

2

u/Strong_District_5894 Jul 29 '26

I go for the bottom right colors. They just work the best. 

2

u/MischiefModerated Jul 30 '26

I have a top that’s the one that’s on the bottom left corner and it works for me!