Following from Part 1 for the Cool Seasons, today, we're highlighting the main points of choosing neutrals for warmer colouring. We group together the 3 Spring and 3 Autumn Seasons, as we did with Winter and Summer for the Cools.
In Part 1, we introduced the two questions I ask when choosing cool neutrals. With warm neutrals, the questions are a little different, and differ by colour family. We'll look at beige, gray, green, and brown individually.
Two special sections appear at the end, one focussing on Bright Spring neutrals, and the second, continuing the practice in Part 1 of placing the colour palette directly on fabric to improve our colour decisions.
Apparel images were made in URStyle, with links below each image for shopping information.
Autumn and Spring Value Ranges
Question 1 is the same for the warms as it was for the cools: Is the colour inside the light to dark range (value range) of the Season?
As we saw with the cools, Summer’s light to dark range spans the middle values, while Winter reaches all the way to the black and white ends.
With warm tones, Spring's entire range slides up to the lighter end, ending around medium-dark. Autumn's entire range begins at light-medium and slides down to reach very dark.
The difference is useful for choosing colours in the areas with no overlap, but the overlap is so wide that we need another process that applies to all value levels for both Seasons when making Season decisions.
For this post, we're grouping the True Spring and its two blended Seasons (Light Spring blends with Summer, Bright Spring blends with Winter), and True Autumn with its two blended Seasons (Soft Autumn blends with Summer, Dark Autumn blends with Winter). The blended groups (or Neutral Seasons) differ slightly in their colour properties, including value ranges, but the similarities outweigh the differences and you would use the palettes in the same way.
If you'd like to learn more about your Season, E-Books for the 12 Seasons (approximately 30 page download, available worldwide) are available from the 12 BLUEPRINTS Learning Platform or in the main menu on this site under E-Books.
Choosing Autumn and Spring Neutrals 1: Overview
Where I live in Canada, I’d guess that most warm neutrals in shops belong to Autumn. As we filter by what matters most, many of these could work for Spring. In the images that follow, you may see an item in Spring and think, "Shouldn’t that be with Autumn?"
In every case, I imagine you’d be quite right. If the Autumn colour shares enough in its colour properties to cooperate with the Spring group, it could serve in a Spring wardrobe.
Another reason that you may also notice items that don’t seem to belong with the group is that we're looking at the 3 Autumns and 3 Springs together. For example, the belted coat on the Spring side might work for a Light or Bright Spring, but may be too cool for True Spring and better tested with the actual garment.
Shopping information: https://urstyle.fashion/styles/3695003
In the Big Picture, we see that Spring is lighter, with the brown tank top near the darkness boundary. Autumn reaches a darker endpoint, which we will see in the panel featuring brown. For Spring, lightness may improve the odds of a colour fitting in.
We find similar colours in Autumn and Spring. Green gold is here in the T-shirt on the Spring side, lower row, L side. This may be an Autumn colour but it is agreeable with Spring. We can find a similar colour in a Spring palette, the colour is not detracting or disrupting, and good colour combinations appear.
Question 2 for the cools was, can I see colour in it and guess what the colour would be if we saturated it (added more of the same pigment)? With the warms, the question doesn’t apply as well because we see colour in all neutrals and we know what the colour is.
Warmth doesn't help, they're all warm. Spring warmth is more yellow like buttercup yellow, and Autumn warmth is golden, like lion, but this isn't always obvious when looking a fabric or the palette due to the lower amount of colour in all neutrals.
Question 2 for the warms might be: Is there enough colour pigment for Spring? The difference or dimension with the least overlaps between Autumn and Spring is brightness. Spring has more pigment relative to the amount of visible gray. Autumn is more muted, softer, with more visible gray relative to the amount of colour pigment. I see gray in all the Autumn neutrals, compared with Spring where I'm more aware of the colour pigment, and the Spring neutrals have a brighter effect.
On the Spring side, third row, R side, the blouse is a print with ivory and orange stripes. The item might qualify as a wardrobe neutral in the sense that gold and orange may go with everything, as silver and pearl do in cool wardrobes. Worn by a person of the same brightness, the overall effect is balanced and the colour contribution may be less important, aided by a print that blends the two colours from a social distance.
The four items in the centre column are colours that could work reasonably well in both groups. One or more of them probably is Autumn but there are enough similarities with both Seasons that we may take advantage of their shared colour properties.
You may see them as more definitely Autumn or Spring and that’s fine. Like music, Seasons are a kind of system thinking. Feed the notes into a computer and with no human influence, the same sound is produced. Give the computer the colour parameters of a Season and the same palette comes out. With a solid system, the same person is placed into the same Season by any colour analyst working in that system.
Then we add the human, the person who creates a closet for their life and culture, adding interpretation and individuality, and artistry is born.
Choosing Autumn and Spring Neutrals 2: Beige
Beige is a version of white for warm Seasons. Previous posts and videos featuring white may be found in True Autumn Neutrals and Your Best Black and White, Part 1 and Part 2.
Shopping information: https://urstyle.fashion/styles/3709601
From the previous image, we asked, is there enough colour for Spring? The limitation with this colour family may be that very light colours and neutrals seldom have a lot of pigment, although it worked better for the colour properties of cool neutrals. We need a new question for the light warms.
Question 3: Is there too much red for Spring? To give Autumn its darkness, a colour that’s inherently dark is added, as red, brown, or black. Spring is lighter and we perceive peach or orange, but not the darker red of the two camel coats in Autumn.
Expect slight differences between palettes of the same Season. Don't be concerned if your palette doesn't have an exact match for a white or beige. Think in terms of whether the item could work within the Season or the lightest neutral strip of the palette, as we demonstrated in Part 1 with the rose gold fabric and the Soft Season palettes.
On the Spring side, the two coats at the end are almost certainly Autumn, but the colours are light and there’s enough shared or compatible warmth with Spring to work well with a Spring wardrobe or person.
The center row, once again, shows colours that are likely Autumn but might get along in both groups. The sleeveless top, third item, is too muted for Spring but could be a neutral light beige pink for Spring or a layering item. At times, Autumn colours have enough pigment to act as Spring neutrals. The fourth item, the coat, might work for Light Spring, with versions of this colour in their palette.
Flyover impression, no blue in either group.
On average, Autumn grays are darker, but some are light. They’re warmed by gold but it’s not obvious. Spring grays are lighter and warmed by yellow, which seems more visible than Autumn gold. Both groups have grays with a greenish tinge.
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Spring's bright gray or clear gray sound like oxymorons. All grays are soft in the sense of less pigment. Light and bright are often good guidelines for Spring. These could be called sage green gray with white or yellow mixed in, giving an impression of light reflecting outward.
We see light grays in Autumn but they don’t have the brightness quality, it’s a softer gray, like sunflower seeds. Autumn grays remind me of medium to well done steak, a visual for warm, red-tinged gray, to distinguish them from taupe.
The gray handbag, Spring side, could be for Bright Spring, with a more metallic or steely look than the other grays and still with the yellow-green of Spring.
The colours in the centre column could slide L or R and find enough in common with either group, with lightness and not too much red to accommodate Spring. The V-neck sweater at the top of Spring could also work in both groups.
The pattern of Spring as lighter and brighter continues, giving the impression of a different time of day.
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Comparing the Polo shirt in the lower L corner of Autumn with the high boot in Spring, both are green-gold but the Autumn version is softer, if not darker.
The darker green handbag at the top of Spring has a similar version in Autumn in the suede pouch. The darkness limit for Spring is around here whereas Autumn would become darker. Despite being darker, the Spring version is brighter, both in the sense of more pigment and light reflecting outward.
We noticed more red in Autumn grays, while Spring's were more yellow or yellow-green. The same applies here, with khaki, as the sweater and shirt at the top of Autumn, L side, and green gold, as the bags at the top of Autumn, R side.
Let’s compare two other handbags: Autumn, second from top on R, and Spring, above the sandal, next to the boot. Trying out our question sequence to see if the Autumn bag could work for Spring:
Is it in the value range for Spring? Yes.
Are there similar colours in the Spring palette? Yes.
Is there enough pigment for the closest colour in the Spring palette? No, the Autumn bag has less pigment, more gray.
Is it too red for Spring? Yes. The Spring handbag will get along better in a Spring wardrobe, even if it’s technically an Autumn colour.
Once again, the centre column shows items that might get along on either side. The green gold T shirt was shown above in Panel 1 and its compatibility with these items of more similar colours still appears good. The shiny bag and shimmered jacket have enough pigment for Spring, would have a similar colour in both, possibly within the neutrals for Spring and the colours for Autumn depending on the layout of the palette.
The green trench coat on the Spring side may be an option for Light Spring. The subtle sheen in the textile brightens the colour nicely.
The light shiny handbag below the coat may be a choice for Bright Spring. The colour may be more beige than green, with similar green gold visible throughout the Spring items for compatibility within Spring wardrobes. We don’t sense muting as gray or gray with orange or red. Smooth shine with a mirror-like reflection works well for this Winter-blend Season.
With the V-neck sweater next to the Polo, in the lower row of Autumn, the amount of pigment is high compared with the Polo and we would find similar colours in Spring, though it may be too red for Spring. Dark Autumn would be an option, the more pigmented of the 3 Autumns. The texture and red in the colour would be easily accepted by Autumn.
The question we asked above, is it too red for Spring, is harder to apply. Brown is like dark orange and orange is made with red and yellow. Many Spring browns are reddish, like clear amber or maple syrup. Autumn browns are more muted in pigment, but it's not always obvious, and like Spring, they have greenish and reddish browns.
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Light and shine are a consistent impression with Spring. The handbag has candy quality from the smooth glassy surface, like the top of a Crème Brûlée. The shiny leather top below has a smooth glossy shine, and the watch below goes a step further, adding light shiny gold metal and a pearlescent face.
The two sheer tops, one at the end of Spring and the second in the middle position of the center row, are examples of light moving through a colour, giving a lighter impression.
Plastic has the kind of smooth shine that Spring finds effortless, here as eyeglasses. On the Autumn side, tortoiseshell is an easy Autumn effect, in darker brown and a richer darker gold than Spring.
In the yellow clothing items, the Autumn sweater is darker and redder than the Spring coat. The same comparison applies for the metals of the Autumn bags and the Spring watch.
The darker browns in Spring would be around the True Spring darkness boundary, or possibly beyond depending on the palette (some business or expansion palettes show darker options). The scoop neck sweater reflects yellow (or pale gold) light and though the item may be an Autumn colour, the sheen lightens the gold for a yellow effect that finds harmony with Spring.
The darker browns on the Autumn side, in the two handbags and cowl neck sweater at the bottom, may be too dark and too red for Spring's darkest browns.
We see more texture in Autumn, in leather, weave, wool, chain, saddle, suede, and buckle effects. Anyone can do them but they come naturally to Autumn colours.
Bright Spring neutrals may seem less predictable than neutrals in other Seasons. Part 1 showed a demonstration of 'the colours are the source of the neutrals'. If we looked at a Bright Spring colour chart and chose from the saturation level for this Season’s neutrals, we would find the neutral tones in this palette.
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First impression: Winter’s here, judging by the wide white to black span and absence of an obvious colour component.
Bright Spring is a neutral Season, with a warm and a cool parent group (True Spring and True Winter), and as with all 8 Neutral Seasons, warm, cool, and neutral versions of every colour may be found in the palette. This image shows the cooler side of the neutral tones. The coat in the lower row may be cool enough to work well for Bright Winter and the coolness offers a useful contrast to help see the yellow and green tones in the surrounding colours.
In a store, a process of elimination may help. I might think, "I don't see Summer or Autumn in these grays. I do see Winter and Spring influence." At that point, if there’s a close match in the palette and the other palette colours look terrific, that’s would be good enough.
What do we not see? Red, pink, taupe, violet, blue. These grays could qualify as icy in the sense of light and clear rather than soft or muted, more crystal than fog. Reading the rows from L to R, they might simulate a strip in the palette. Nice to see them in various textures and styles, and still focus on whether the sequence holds together, which it does.
Bright Spring Black
The 5 Seasons with Winter influence each have a version of black. Lined up side by side, the differences would be quite visible. Bright Spring black may be a step back from maximum pitch black darkness. The reflection of light is in neighbourhood of yellow green to black brown, not red, purple, or orange.
The colour could appear in any textile, as all colours can, but lightweight fabric and a bit of shimmer create a lightweight, bright effect that works well with Spring. You may see the reflection gradient moving across the fabric, darker at the top, lighter near the lower edge of the image.
In the photograph, the Bright Spring palette colours look brilliant and true, and the black balances the colours without overwhelming them. The effect is of colours and black garment participating in the overall impression. The black functions as an active neutral, not clashing, dominating, or ignored.
These are warmer side neutrals, with ivory, beige, green gold, and brown. I stacked them vertically to see if the sequences read differently, but I have the same sense of the lines holding together as in the previous image. Overall, I notice a yellow green cast without the red of Autumn.
Shopping information:
In the first column on the L, we see clear ivory in the blouse and bag, and banana cream white in the jeans.
The handbag at the bottom, which we saw earlier in Panel 4 with the greens, seems a good fit here too, acting as a neutral, and improved with shiny metal elements. Shine works well for Spring, why highlight looks so good in makeup, compared with contour and lowlight effects which belong so perfectly with Autumn skin tones and apparel.
Worn by a Bright Spring person, these colours look like clean, clear white or ivory white. On anyone else, the yellow green cast is magnified, giving the colour a lemon lime effect. It may appear a little cartoon even, totally separate from the person or anything they’re wearing.
In the centre column, though possibly Autumn tones, the items are workable here, finding similar colour influences in Bright Spring. The shoe brings to mind the green gray jacket Ryan Reynolds was wearing in our Blending In, Showing Up, Showing Off video.
For the group on the R, the handbag is peach beige with lightness and good buckles for Bright Spring, in clear light shiny gold. This may be the nearest version of camel for this group.
The top below shows what I mean by metallic olive or khaki. It would be a great accent piece, like a backpack or vest, or, without the shine, a good casual pant or shoe. The two coats are examples of darker browns, with visible yellow green tones rather than the redder teddy bear browns of Autumn.
Autumn and Spring Palettes on Neutral Fabric
Here, we see the two True Warm palettes, True Autumn above, True Spring below, on the same gray green fabric.
This could be a real-life simulation of applying the questions we asked above to choose whether this fabric would be more flattering for a person whose colours belong with Autumn or Spring.
Question 1: Is the fabric within the value range?
Answer: Yes to both Seasons, it’s not too light or dark for the Season' limits.
Question 2: Is there a similar colour in the palette?
Answer: Yes to both.
Question 3: Is there too much pigment in the fabric for Autumn or not enough for Spring?
Answer: Not enough for Spring. The most similar colour, say near the end of the 3rd strip staring from whites, is more pigmented than the fabric in the Spring palette. The blues and purples of Spring seem bright. For example, if we saw the fabric were pants worn with a purple top, the purple top would dominate our awareness. Even the light neutrals, in the ivory and beige tones, look too bright for the fabric. We want our attention evenly divided, as it was with the black fabric above. The Spring palette appears to be sparkling, hovering above the fabric. The light greens and turquoise colours make no sense at all.
With Autumn, we sense more equality, with the palette and fabric maintaining balanced energy, one cooperating with the other in an active partnership. We find many great combinations, with no colours looking irrational. The most similar swatch, same position as Spring near the end in the 3rd strip starting with the whites (or second from the rivet in the same strip) looks equal or closer than in Spring.
Some Autumn colours look too bright for the fabric, which may be photographic. The ink on canvas swatches tend to brighten in images. Or perhaps the fabric is a softer Autumn, such as Soft Autumn.
You may try this at home and notice that the palette and fabric colours appear to change one another, or look different when placed side by side than they did apart. All colours change one another, which is why Season decisions are best made with several comparisons rather than a single matching colour. Noticing how all the colours react is an excellent predictor of how all the colours in the person will look when wearing the garment.