The Seasons

What Season are You?

If you haven't taken the Color Quiz, do that first! Then come back here to discover what your Season is.

The four “Seasons” are: Winter, Summer, Spring, Autumn

Winter and Summer are cool, with blue undertones.
Winter gets clear colors, while Summers wear muted colors.

Spring and Autumn are warm, with yellow undertones.
Springs get clear colors and Autumn wears muted colors.

Following are traits for each Season. This is where you will plug in your answers from the “Color Quiz”.

Eyes

Winter Eyes are:

Light to dark brown
Black brown
Blue gray
Gray green
Yellow green
Turquoise
Dark blue violet
Hazel

Summer Eyes are:

Clear blue or gray blue
Clear green or gray green
Aquamarine
Hazel
Soft cool brown (Fewer brown eyes are found in Summer)

Spring Eyes are:

Light to dark blue
Blue gray
Aqua
Gold green
Light gold brown
Topaz
Hazel

Autumn Eyes are:

Light to dark brown
Golden green (cat eyes)
Hazel
Turquoise

1. What color are your eyes? _________________

Hair

Winter Hair is:

Platinum Blond (usually on young girls)
Medium to dark brown
Chestnut brown
Black brown
Black
Silver

Summer Hair is:

Light ash blond
Medium ash blond
Light to medium ash brown
Dark ash brown
Silver gray

Spring Hair is:

Flaxen blond
Golden blond
Strawberry blond
Light to dark golden blond
Light to dark golden brown
Warm gray

Autumn Hair is:

Honey blond
Strawberry blond
Bright red to deep auburn
Light to dark brown with golden or red highlights
Deep chestnut brown
Gray (warm)

2. What is your natural hair color? _________________

(Your hairdresser can probably help with this if you are unsure)

Skin Tone

Winter Skin Tone is:

White or ivory
Light to deep rose beige
Light to dark olive
Black
Brown-black
Brown

Summer Skin Tone is:

Fair with delicate pink tone
Light to medium rose beige
Deep rose beige

(you can see the pink in summer skin tone)

Spring Skin Tone is:

Pale ivory
Golden ivory
Pink or peach
Deep peach
Light to medium beige
Rosy glow

Autumn Skin Tone is:

Ivory
Light, medium or deep peach
Light, medium or dark beige
Florid

3. What color is your skin tone? _________________

If you have trouble figuring our your skin tone, turn your hand over and look at your wrist against a white piece of paper. Do you see pink or yellow? Is it light or dark?

Remember, if you just can’t figure this out, you always have the option of having your colors done by a professional Color Consultant.

About the Seasons

It is difficult for all of us to see ourselves objectively. Sometimes, we have preconceived ideas of what we look like and what we would like to look like. Think back to an outfit that you always felt beautiful in, and probably received the most compliments on. It might give you a good clue as to what colors are your best.

We have to buy our clothes in some color, and you will find your have a much more organized wardrobe if you start out with neutrals in your season. Your clothes will mix and match and you will have more to wear while spending less money.

Tip

Once you know your season, you can order a color swatch booklet (just Google “color swatch booklets”) showing you all your colors. It is easy to take with you when you go shopping.

Now for the fun part!

These are descriptions of the “Inner Seasons” from New Image For Women, written by Marge Swenson and Gerrie Pinckney (this book was my “bible” when I studied color analysis). As they state in the book, they are not scientific. They are just the observations they made over the years about the many clients who came through their Fashion Academy. I have done color analysis for over 30 years, and, have three of the seasons in my immediate family, and I can tell you, they are uncanny in their accuracy.

Click on each heading below to read its description.

The Winter woman stands out in a crowd because of her definite coloring and strong personality. The combination of vivid coloring and her air of self-assurance may make her appear aloof. Possessing a will of iron, she is sometimes stubborn, domineering or aggressive; she may have a sharp tongue. She uses a positive approach and retains her composure in a crisis. The Winter woman is decisive and rarely impulsive, a strong leader who can delegate authority. If she is not completely sure of herself in any situation, she manages to project a self-assured facade.

She has few intimate friends, but is admired and respected by her peers. An early riser, she is ambitious, hard working and intelligently organized. Winter makes a good career woman. She loves to make long-range plans with every detail written down. She makes notes to herself to help organize her thoughts and plan her day, but sometimes she is so over-organized that her accomplishments do not compare with her long lists. The Winter woman makes a great friend if you can ever get really well-acquainted with one. When you get to know her, she is fun and relaxing to be with, but don’t ever betray her confidence; she never forgets. She could be compared to a diamond - sparkling, expensive and sharp on the edges.

It is important for Winters to understand the effect they have on other people. Their darkness makes them less approachable; therefore, Winters usually must make the overtures of friendship, be the first to smile and extend a cordial greeting. The Winter woman must be particularly supportive of acquaintances, friends, and especially of employees over whom she might have authority. Her positive approach, decisiveness and strong leadership can be frightening, especially if she is aggressive.

A Winter’s path through life will be much smoother if she can learn to soften her approach. She must recognize by just standing there, she can intimidate other people.

Note: Being a Winter myself, I am so glad I realized these traits about myself at an early age. Some of the traits are good and have served me well over the years, but I have definitely had to learn to soften my approach!

The Summer woman is most often classic, controlled and ladylike with a soft, gentle look. She should never attempt a dramatic effect. Summers are gracious, poised and even-tempered with soft, calm voices. The Summer woman gets more done with less effort. Often artistic, she is skilled in many endeavors. She is a good listener, sincerely interested in other people. No service is too difficult for Summer to perform if she is devoted to the cause. Because she has a soft shoulder and sympathize ear, she often gets involved in everyone’s problems and caught up in the neighborhood gossip.

The Summer woman loves dainty, pretty things. She loves her home and is happy in the roles of wife, mother and homemaker. A Summer is organized, analytical, the kind of woman who would like to remake the world and everyone in it. She usually excels in domestic arts and makes a great executive secretary or office manager because she is a super organizer. She becomes involved in school, community and social organizations, and is often found as president of the PTA and other service clubs. Summers are morning people - they rise early to get a good start. The Summer woman is quite set in her ways, stubborn and hard to convince, but once converted, she remains devoted. She is pleasant and sincere, a good sport, loyal friend, devoted sweetheart and wife. She has a heart of gold.

The Summer woman is usually a fashion conservative. She has a comfort zone and is not eager to step out of it. Slow to consider a new fashion, she is usually the last to adopt it and by the time she does, it is almost out of style. Her children always get new shoes; if there is any money left in the budget, she might get around to buying herself a pair. She is a bit of a penny-pincher who thrills at news of a sale and will use a tank of gas to get there.

Note: I was married to a Summer for 51 years, and if they had written this about a man with some slight adjustments, it would have been him. The thing most people said about him was that he was always a gentleman.

Our observations of the Spring woman show her to be refreshing, exciting and fun to have around. She moves quickly and smiles easily. Friendly, animated and impulsive, Spring is casually hospitable and loves luxury. She is feminine, energetic, bubbly and unpredictable. A Spring is not usually the studious type, but never underestimate her intelligence. She may appear to be childlike and helpless, but she will be talented and capable in her own disorganized way. A Spring woman may have trouble in professional life convincing others that she means business. She needs to look feminine but never fussy, or people get the idea that she is frivolous.

Usually an extrovert, Spring is sometimes coy: she enjoys being in the limelight and can be a little self-centered.

A Spring woman has very sensitive feelings. She can be easily hurt and intimated. Her moods fluctuate, and she may sulk when she doesn’t get her way. She may seem innocent, naive, artless and dependent, but Spring knows what she is doing every minute. She is accustomed to compliments, having been pampered since babyhood. Financial security is important to her; she needs to be cared for. Spring loves children and pets and is a good-time person. Ready to go at a moment’s notice, she lives for today and may lose interest in some of her projects before they are completed. She has many plans but may try to go in too many directions at one time. Daily routine bores her, a trait which may make her appear flighty. Spring is a night person and loves to sleep late. Her appearance is important to her. With her delicate, natural beauty, she is ageless.

Note: I have been blessed to have a Spring daughter, a Spring business partner, and a Spring close friend. They have truly added the fun and spontaneity to my life and the lives of many others.

After observing many Autumns over the years, the one thing we can say about them is that it is impossible to generalize about Autumns. They are highly individual. The Autumn woman is usually extroverted but at times is quiet and reserved. Open and enthusiastic, she is trusting to the point of being gullible. She has a mercurial disposition, subject to extremes of mood. An Autumn is independent and makes a good leader. Well organized in her own haphazard way, she is a perfectionist, and no one can figure out how to do anything to suit her. She is loyal, affectionate and incurably optimistic. Sensitive to the vibes around her, she is also temperamental, mischievous and proud.

The Autumn woman can be very patient if not pushed too far, but sometimes “too far” is the brink of disaster. She moves quickly and smiles easily. Friendly and impulsive, Autumn thrives on luxury. She has lots of friends but is a private person who needs time for herself. She is fun-loving with a great sense of humor. Home and family are important to her, but she likes to do her own thing and often gets bored with the daily routine. Autumn is a good career woman, creative but sometimes lacking direction. Dedicated to her current cause, she always has several projects going and bites off more than she can chew. The only trait all Autumns have in common is a trace of delightful zaniness.

Note: I have not had close associations with many Autumns, but, the ones I do know, definitely fit this description.

Source: New Image for Women by Gerrie Pinckney and Marge Swenson