It has been a long time coming but we have finally made it to our last blog post in our colors for each season series! Today we will be looking at our favorite purples for each of the seasons! We started with neutrals and made our way through the rainbow of colors, focusing on our favorites for each of the 4 seasons of color analysis. If you’re just now tuning in, you are in luck because we now have a library of color literature for you to browse.
Our color foundation
It’s safe to say that this will not be our last blog post on color, but now that we have covered all of the basis of color analysis and the theories that apply to each season, we can talk about some next-level stuff! But for now, let’s hone in on our final color – PURPLE.
The magic of purple
Purple is such a majestic color. It has long been associated with royalty and luxurious things. This color reminds us of lavender fields and those unhinged talking pansies from Alice in Wonderland (you know the ones). It has the power to spark creativity and emotional exploration. Long story short, this color can do a lot!
A brief recap of the seasons
Spring
Let’s recap what we have learned about the four seasons. First, Spring’s colors can be described as warm, splashy, and bright. They tend to be highly saturated with neutral-warm to very warm undertones. Bright being the key word here, these colors tend to be associated with tropical places, poolside vibes, and naturally, the bloom of spring.
Summer
Second, the summer palette can be described as cool, soft, and muted. These colors tend to look as though their volume has been turned down to a whisper, all the while having a powerful quality. Many of these colors have a natural quality, as though they have some kind of calming effect.
Autumn
Autumn, like spring, is a season with warm undertones but rather than being splashy and bright, this palette is earthy and deep. These colors have a muted quality while still being quite vibrant. Think of a forest or park during fall at dawn, when the sun shines her golden yellow rays onto the red and orange foliage as it slowly turns brown.
Winter
Finally, Winter’s colors are cool, brilliant, and intense. This palette contains a high level of saturation like the Spring palette, but runs with cool undertones rather than warm undertones. This is where you will find many of your favorite neon colors and bold cobalt and hot pink. We don’t tend to associate bright colors with the season of winter, but a fresh dusting of snow tends to bring a bright quality with it, making everything around vibrant and fresh.
The purples that are best for each of these seasons fit all of the above descriptors. Our selections below are not a comprehensive representation of all purples, but rather, our favorites. Before we go deep, we did want to mention that there is one purple that is considered a universal color – which we have discussed in a few of our other posts!
Aubergine is a moderately dark purple that has red-neutral undertones. If you remember, true red is a universal color as well! This color is neither too warm nor too cool, allowing each of the seasons to embrace it.
Our favorite purples for Springs
Bright, Splashy & Warm
Favorite purples for Summers
Subtle, Dusty & Cool
Our favorite purples for Autumns
Earthy, Muted & Warm
Favorite purples for Winters
Striking, Vivid & Cool
Best colors for each of the seasons
We are so excited to have made it through our in-depth look at each of the main colors of the rainbow and how they vary for each of the seasons. You can find all of this wonderful info right here on our blog, or on our Pinterest page! We have worked on building a visual bank of examples for all colors within each season. If you’re a Spring, for example, you can check out our Spring Board! There is one for each of the four seasons. And to top it all off, we have boards for our Style Archetypes as well!
Enjoying the rainbow of colors
We know that there are so many colors out there to choose from and knowing which ones shine brightest on you can be overwhelming! If you don’t know your season & sub-season yet, never fear! We offer Color Analysis both in-person at our Pittsburgh shop and virtually! If you’re curious to know more about this service, feel free to reach out to us! We would be happy to provide you with all the information.
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