Summer Colour Palette - Help!

[Pigeonwing]

Hello. A few months ago, I went to see a stylist for a colour analysis. I have always struggled with clothes, not understanding what suits me, feeling overwhelmed by what's on offer. I'm nearly 50.

I enjoyed the session and could see how different colours would either wash me out or brighten my complexion. I was given a little swatch of 36 colours, and a separate list where we had rated each shade between 1 and 3 stars. She told me my sub-section was 'sweetpea', which I believe is also known as 'true' summer.

The trouble is, I am really struggling with finding clothes in these colours or working out how to combine them. I've pretty much been living in navy blue ever since, which is only a marginal improvement on all the black I wore previously.

I'm starting a new job in a couple of months and I really want to look stylish and 'put together'.

Are there any True Summers on here who would kindly point me in the right direction of where I can find clothes in colours that suit me, or perhaps suggest the name of anyone I could follow to get some inspiration please.

I'm beginning to think I'm destined to look washed out.

There is a lot of info on you tube about seasonal colours.

Yes and Pinterest might be useful!

This is mindbogglingly hard for me to understand, but I would like to be helpful if I can. I’m in my 60s, and scarcely a day goes by when I don’t browse a few clothes sites or scroll a catwalk or two - and I see every possible colour and style. So I can’t quite comprehend why you don’t just pick clothes you like, in the colours you want, at a price you can afford.

Where have you previously shopped, @Pigeonwing? What colours are you looking for and what is your clothing size and budget?

By the way - are you a gardener at all? Nature is flawless in combining colours and textures …

I would do an internet search or Pinterest search for the colours you want. For example ‘sea green top’ returned this:
https://www.superdry.com/womens/tops/casual-linen-boyfriend-shirt-268624.html

Are the colours labelled in your swatch book as that makes it easier, but even something like ‘cool toned grey’ would probably get results.

I’m on a Facebook group for my season but even when people show items, they are often not in my style personality so not necessarily that helpful. The right colour doesn’t mean it’s the right item for you.

A good Facebook site is the Kettlewell Colour Club. Or look at their website as they literally sell clothes by season. The club lets you see real women in them.

I think I might have similar colouring and I find that each season there are a couple of colours that work. This year hasn’t been great for blues, but I found a green sundress in Tesco and some dark pink tops. You might find that you can’t get all of the colours each season, but should be able to build up a collection over time.

Have a look at Kettlewell. You can filter by season (Shop by Colour tab, top right on the menu bar) and then see all that's available in your colours. Also try Sahara and Aspiga -- most of the floral stuff in cool pinks and light aqua colours with white backgrounds will suit you.

Thank you for your helpful responses, it's very much appreciated.

I’m a true summer 😊 I find things on Vinted- so will type in things like ‘lavender’ blouse, raspberry jumper etc. followed by names of brands i like (&other stories I find is a nice store with summer colours) sometimes the colours aren’t quite right when you get the item through the post but you can always resell

Thank you so much, that's really good advice. I think I need to properly devote some time to this rather than giving up in despair after 10 minutes of scrolling!

Also remember- always just go with shapes and colours YOU love! I love copper which I’m pretty sure isn’t a true summer colour but even just adding a necklace or scarf near your face that does have your flattering colours will help. Ultimately though - you do you! If it’s stressing you then forget it x