How a Simple Color Analysis Revamped My Summer Style

Earlier this spring, I was packing for a trip to Amsterdam and found myself feeling totally uninspired by my wardrobe. Being the procrastinator that I am, I waited until the night before to pack and I stayed up way too late trying to piece outfits together that I wasn’t loving. Nothing felt quite right. The colors, the combinations; I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew I needed a change.

While scrolling through Instagram during the trip, I kept seeing posts about seasonal color analysis. I specifically saw one from my content creator friend @iinaaac where she talked about her journey to figuring out which season she was and how she uses her color palette when she shops for new clothes. I’d never done a color analysis before, but curiosity got the best of me. So, I opened up ChatGPT and decided to give it a try.

What I discovered truly surprised me: I’m a True Summer!

For those unfamiliar with color seasons, “True Summer” means I look best in cool undertones, soft blues, lavender, dusty rose, and muted grays. It was eye-opening because, up until that moment, I had filled my closet with warm neutrals, tans, and golden tones; colors I liked, but ones that didn’t necessarily do me any favors.

Once I got home, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I pulled everything out of my closet and started seeing patterns I hadn’t noticed before. So many pieces I owned were making me feel dull or washed out without me even realizing it. It wasn’t that the clothes were “bad”—they just weren’t meant for me.

This discovery didn’t make me want to throw everything out and start over (and I definitely didn’t). But it did give me a new filter when thinking about what to wear and what to add to my wardrobe. When shopping for summer clothes, I referenced the “true summer” color palette and chose pieces in cooler hues like sky blue, soft ivory, chocolate brown, and muted beige. Suddenly, I felt like I was glowing again, even in the most simple of outfits.

Doing this (completely free!) color analysis helped me reconnect with style in such a fun and personal way. For the first 6 months of the year I was feeling so lost with my personal style; I went too far in the direction of only buying neutrals because I was trying to create a “capsule wardrobe”, but didn’t realize that I had unintentionally put myself in a box that I didn’t feel I could break free from. Going through this experience reminded me that fashion doesn’t always have to mean reinventing your entire look. Sometimes, it’s just about tweaking your palette so that what you wear feels like an extension of you.

If you’ve ever looked at your closet and thought, “Why doesn’t this feel right anymore?”, this might be your sign to explore your color season. It’s not about rules or limitations, but about uncovering what makes you shine a little brighter. If the outfits I featured in this post resonate with you, you can shop + save your favorites over on my LTK page!

Have you ever done a color analysis or thought about it? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments!