9 Jun

Get this easy-to-complete summer capsule wardrobe ready for you

Soft Summer Palette Aritzia Shopping Guide

The soft summer color palette is normally, as we know it, characterized by muted, cool, and delicate hues that are reminiscent of the season when after a scorching hot day we suddenly have dark foggy grey clouds and it starts raining.

Soft Summer is all about chilling the hotness down and clearing the air – the summer rain is so much needed to harmonize the day.

Soft Summer is this cloud that transits to dimmer colors with cold wind in the air – and that is exactly what the soft summer palette looks like.

These colors are often inspired by nature, such as soft dusty blues, dusty rose pinks, light refreshing lavender, and muted grey greens.

The soft summer palette is known for its calming and soothing effect on the eye, making it perfect for creating a relaxed and elegant look and sophisticated outfit.

These colors are also versatile and can be easily mixed and matched to create a variety of stylish outfits, not only for flowy lightweight materials.

At this point to dive deeper into the Soft Summer color palette, I’d also advise you to take a look at the full description of it over here and go through comparisons of different other palettes with the soft summer palette.

It is essential for incorporating these hues into your wardrobe and creating a cohesive and chic look for the season.

Soft summer colors are often described as cool and muted, with a subtle undertone that sets them apart from other color palettes.

These colors are not overly bright or bold but rather have a gentle and understated quality that makes them perfect for creating a soft and feminine look.

Your contrast is subtle instead of being right in the eye, your features will blend together and create harmony and a cohesive look in your appearance.

In this case, of a soft summer palette, a gray undertone and grey color in general is going to play a crucial role, since your undertone, your whole overall look is going to match, blend in, and almost be one with the harmony of grey color.

So I am going to choose colors that will blend in with your appearance and enhance the harmony of it.

Now the real question is how to incorporate your color palette into your wardrobe without wasting your time and money.

Luckily for you, this guide is going to be literally everything you need this summer in order to look, elegant, put together, cute, nice, and still have some summer fun.

The answer is quite simple and you have probably heard about it— we are going to create a capsule wardrobe for summer.

What is a Capsule Wardrobe And How To Make It Work For Your Color Palette & Body Type?

A capsule wardrobe allows you to pick minimal clothes that can be put together in different styles for different occasions.

For instance, a shirt is just a shirt and is usually used in formal outfits. But let’s take a creative leap here!

Shirts aren’t only for offices and formal meetings. You can use a shirt to rock a cute brunch with your girlfriends or first date night.

How to do that? Well, I’m here to open those creative gates for you.

Capsule wardrobe for a soft summer?

It’s a piece of cake if you allow creativity to take over.

Lucky for you, I like to experiment and have experimented with different styles.

A shirt can go with a ¾ pleated skirt for a semi-formal look.
A shirt can be worn casually with jeans for a free-spirited look.
The same shirt can be worn with linen trousers and a sun skirt for a cute and casual look.
The shirt can be worn as a standalone over tailored shorts.

Best Colors To Match For Soft Summer Capsule Wardrobe

Not every article in your capsule wardrobe should be plain white. You are all about pastels and depth. By depth, I originally meant denser colors with gray shadow over them.

Your colors need not be light, pastel, muted, greyish, and calming in appearance, but this doesn’t mean you have to completely avoid the dark colors.

Do you prefer lighter colors or darker colors?

Here’s a secret: Every color palette has its own variety of dark and light hues, so for soft summer, there will still be something dark in order to bring complexity to the outlook.

Whenever choosing a color, let it have a gray undertone. And this is exactly what I have chosen for you here, just take it and wear it.

Monochrome effect

You can choose two completely different colors, but you can also try to create a monochrome effect, i.e., colors that are close to each other, and color combinations that contain only tones of a single color.

Here are a few examples:

Matching maroon and pastel blue is not a monochrome because they create a lot of divergence and contrast while being colors of different color spectrums.

A better match would be light pastel gray and anthracite grey. The colors are closer to each other in resemblance. This was an example of when you wanted a color combination on the lighter side.

When choosing darker colors, a better match would be faded dark gray and black or brown and gray.

When choosing basic colors such as black or white, it’s best to keep other articles in your OOTD in the soft summer palette. However, here what is the most important is the fabric. The fabric such as linen or silk – will work well because linen has a transparent pattern and silk like mulberry silk has a satin color reflecting effect. In this case sharp white or black might work for you.

While white easily blends with most of the soft summer palette, I’d pay attention to gray-based colors.

Your go-to color should be lighter shades of greige.

Choose faded black instead of sharp black in order to maintain harmony with your low contrast.

Tops For Soft Summer Capsule Wardrobe

Let’s start with a simple shirt.

Before you make the purchase, don’t forget to choose a quality material.

Linen and cotton are two high-quality fabric choices for shirts. If you are not an office person, sheer fabric selection is more than welcome.

When choosing a white shirt, you want to make sure the other items on your body are emphasized and bring along a soft summer palette.

For instance, a white shirt will look good if you match it with a faded bluish-gray color, bottoms with gray undertones, and layers with soft muted hues and pastels.

Here’s everything you can do with a white shirt:

Whether you want to create a chick look or be a badass baddie, there’s a look for each kind just with one simple shirt!

Shirt /blouse with a skirt

You can choose a washed-out grayish or in this case, I love the lavender purple skirt for a basic start and move to other summer colors in different fabrics. But that’s not the only look you can create.

You can also add a corset type top over or under your shirt and it will instantly become a casual city breaker and a party hit. Don’t forget to accessorize! Put an oversized linen white shirt on top and you’re ready to go with this Parisienne style.

Pro-tip: This look looks best with kitten heel sandals.

I would prioritize a linen oversized shirt matched with a cotton blended skirt or chiffon pleated skirt.

I really love this see-through fabric for the blouses as they not only match your soft summer palette but also get you into the romantic vibe that still looks classy, and elegant romantic vibe. I really loved this Staud white ronded bag to acompnay this summer linen – chiffon outfit.

You can choose to wear a white to with the linen shirt, or just a blouse – a very nice combination for the summer.

2. Shirt, chino skirt

Another posh look would be to style a shirt tucked in a pencil or a chino skirt. Here it can be an oversized fit, a fitted shirt, or a blouse if you prefer.

This one shifts more towards sophistication and grandeur if you add a corset on top of it (Bella Hadid used to wear it in this type of matter).

A better choice would be to create a monochrome effect (from bright white to greyish white – being in the same color spectrum) with your articles instead of choosing contrasting pieces. Keep them in the same color range or the same color palette.

However, I’d also experiment with the same color palette contrasts – this is the best season of the year (for me) – so why not experiment with the colors now?

Blush pink to nude pink
Ash light gray to dark gray
Dark gray to chocolate brown
Pastel blue and light gray

I liked the way this chino denim skirt emphasizes the figure but still holds its shape and together with a white top – or in other cases you could just take a white T-shirt, break the silhouette with a belt and get a matching bag. P

I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful this summer bag is from Staud – that’s a wonderful pick for this season. Put the oversized linen shirt on top – to accomplish the outfit. This shirt comes in very handy when it becomes chilly outside in the evening.

3. Casuals With A Shirt

Style the loose-fit shirt with loose-fit denim or cotton-blend bottoms, and I would get more into the soft summer palette with the colors with a gray haze undertone.

You can also choose loose-fit pants in linen for an ultimate casual and comfortable look.

Shirts with linen pants create a semi-formal look, perfect for classic body types.
Shirts with denim create a street-style casual look, perfect for Kibbe’s natural body type.

Pro-tip: A sleek bun with trendy sunglasses is just the finishing element you will need to make the look “one of a kind.” Unique yet subtle.

What I really like about this season, is that raffia bags and different ornament-styled bags – come forward. For the total white linen outfit – raffia bag is almost made for the linen matching.

Alternatively, I really like the white DeMellier bag with brown handles and straps – which would match really well with brown summer sliders.

4. Shirt as a shrug – an additional layer

On a sweet summer night, the shirt can also be used as a shrug over your main outfit. You can even wear it over a simple slip dress and tie it at the waist.

Another gorgeous street-style look would be to wear the shirt over a simple bra and low-rise loose-fit jeans.

5. A vest on!

Styling a shirt with a vest and skirt creates a clean and daring look.

On the other hand, styling a shirt with a vest and bootcut jeans creates an edgy and powerful look.

Tailored Vest

Vest tops and tailored vests are two completely different choices. Vest tops are made of stretchy fabric and have a casual look.

Tailored vests are the ones we usually wear under a formal blazer for offices.

The current years have finally brought blazers and vests into the formal world and added their own twist to the get-up.

People are now styling tailored vests with skirts, jeans, and pants.

Gone are the days when we used to watch vests paired with shirts only.

You can now carry tailored vests without a shirt. It’s the current style statement and a very powerful one at that!

Ladies are going for a plunging neckline for this particular article, but the choice depends on you!

Too deep neckline may not be appropriate for an office outfit unless you pair it with a shirt. So, choose wisely.

Alternatively to the vest, I have found this amazing ruffles asymmetric top right in the soft summer colors with a slight dim. These colors are with hazy dust. This dusty rose colors top is one of my favorite.

6. One for the vintage effect: Shirt with High-waisted Pants And Belts

To enhance the vintage ensemble, get a scarf wrap over your head (tied below chin), and vintage sunglasses.

Remember Grace Kelly? Yes, that’s the look I’m talking about!

The belt should again match well with your bottoms instead of standing out too much.

Soft Summer Color For The Shirt | Colors You Can Choose For Any Article Mentioned!

White is a good option for your palette as long as you are pairing it with articles in the soft summer palette.

However, if you want to wear it as a solo or play with different colors, you can choose any of the colors below.

To ensure the shirt goes with every other piece of clothing you have in mind, choose white, lighter shades of beige, and greige.

In fact, a better choice would always be choosing lighter shades of greige instead of plain white.

While white is a strong and sharp color, lighter shades of greige will create a softer look for you, and that’s your end goal… a softer, mute, and subdued effect!

One shirt, and so MANY OUTFITS! Can you imagine?

And that’s just the start for tops. We also have t-shirts, sweaters, and blouses to create an array of divergence for your everyday looks!

Tops And Blouses For Summer Soft Color Palette

If you are into loose-fitted and well-fitted clothing equally; it’s best to pick one top in both sizes to switch between styles.

Now, let’s get to the main element; our summer top! I really love this selection of colors and tops for them. Take a look at this v-neck soft natural white asparagus colored top – it’s classy.

Matched with high waisted tailed pants in Lily white color – makes it an amazing set for a summer day and evening event. Look how well these colors look on the contrast with the tanned skin.

The print should be of your choice— it could be chic, checkered, subtle, floral, bohemian, etc. Next, you can pair this:

I am officially in love with the frilled tops – there is nothing more romantic and feminine than this. Not only they match with your soft summer palette – they are a great match with casual bottoms as well – feel free to wear jeans.

Or this set of bottoms:

Top with a bodycon 3/4 asymmetrical frill skirt, and sunskirt.
Top with athleisure bottom
Top with a knotted hem and jeans (skin-tight or loose fit would be your choice.)
Top with loose wide-leg pants.

Take a look at these soft summer colors I found for you -and not only that, but also those tops have very nice structure and neck cuts.

Ice flow and Chalk blue colored boat neck – make a lot of room for elongating your neck and silhouette in general. It’s a very elegant and everyday top for summer that will go well with white linen pants, jeans, shorts, chiffon skirt, or my favorite sun skirt.

Vest and shorts

Summers are incomplete without your wardrobe having at least one vest top. Vest tops have a simple, casual, and very lightweight look to their appearance.

They are thin with wide straps, and sleeveless; quite perfect for the hot season.

Vest are usually made of form-handling fabrics having a cotton blend that absorbs the summer heat. Vest go well with linen shorts, pants, denim jeans, sun and slip skirts, and also tailored pants.

The detailing depends on you. You can choose a plain vest top in your palette or go with strips and other summer prints.

Summer Is Incomplete Without A Sundress

You have to have at least one sundress in your wardrobe – this is the epitome of summer.

There are a variety of necklines you can choose from— sweetheart, square, rectangle, v-neckline, spaghetti straps, etc.

The length of the dress depends on you and whether you like short dresses or ¾ lengths. The skit should flow with the season.

Body fitting and slip dress

If a sun dress is too sweet for you, slip dresses exist and they go perfectly well with the season.

Slip dresses have elegance, charm, and fluidity in their appearance.

The satin fabric shines under the sunlight and sways in the evening wind. Additional lace details further enhance its beauty.

And before you think slip dresses only come in the color black, the color possibility is infinite.

I want you to check on Princess Diana. She rocks the style with elegance and royalty.

Mini Summer Dresses To Show Off Your Legs

Summer Blazer For The Trend

Before you confuse, summer blazers are made of thin fabric that absorbs sweat and keeps you away from direct sunlight.

Blazers have become quite the trend in 2024 and it’s all justifiable.

Back in the time, blazers were usually only for offices and formal meetings, but they have stepped their feet on the streets and have slayed many different styles.

They can be sophisticated, but they are also becoming an edgy statement.

First, we have the professional looks:

Blazer with well-fitted shirts, vest, and pants.
Blazers over t-shirts.
Blazers with long and straight skirts. Satin adds a tremendous amount of sophistication.
Blazers with shirts and formal skirts.

Let’s jump to the edgy and sexier trends:

Blazer worn with a bralette inside.
Blazers as your dress without pants. (Replaced with short tights that are usually hidden under)
Blazers with a corset inside and again, no pants.
Blazers are worn with high necks and gym shorts. Yes, it looks absolutely stunning and not at all out of place.
Blazers with a shirt inside and no pants
Blazer with caps! Yes, they work!
Blazers over slip dresses. Another absolutely stunning combination.

Bottoms For Soft Summer Capsule Wardrobe

I always have a go-to denim jeans that can be paired with literally anything (tops) in my wardrobe.

For casuals, you need one such denim for yourself.

Usually, we think bottoms cannot be paired with everything, but I find it limiting.

Bottoms can be paired with a whole lot of variety. You just have to be creative with your choices.

For instance, you can pair grayish blue jeans with a shirt, t-shirt, a blouse, high neck, bralette, corset, hoodies, vests, sweaters, and bodysuits.

Please note: A unique OOTD isn’t only about the tops and bottoms you choose.

It very much also depends on the accessories, hairstyle, and shoes you choose. Adding different accessories/hairstyles to your OOTD makes a whole lotta difference.

Pro-tip: Bottoms are usually made of thicker fabrics. You don’t want that torment, trust me! So, choosing the right fabric is very crucial!

Pants For Soft Summer Capsule Wardrobe

Instead of getting the basic black pants, go for chocolate/coffee-colored pants.

These pants can be paired with your simple white shirt, tops, high necks, blouses, corsets, bralettes, etc.

Fabric choices matter when choosing pants for yourself.

Linen will create a chill aesthetic for you. A thicker fabric will lean towards formal wear. Choose the fabric that suits your day-to-day routine.

If the office is a big part of your routine, go with the thicker fabric for pants.

Shorts

Although shorts aren’t usually my favorite fashion advice to part, they come in handy when styling loose-fit shirts, cardigans, hoodies, sweaters, and vests.

Shorts are also just the right choice for the warm season. Don’t forget to choose them in a lightweight material.

¾ chiffon/georgette skirt

You already have quite a few denim articles in your wardrobe.

For ¾ skirts, georgette, chiffon, or sheer fabrics. These skirts look absolutely gorgeous in pastel colors. Dainty prints are more than welcome.

The skirt can be of your personalized style. It can be bodycon, asymmetrical, with long frills, straight, a-line, etc.

You can style this skirt with almost any kind of blouse, shirt, t-shirt, and bodysuits.

Choosing high-waist or low-waist is again your choice. You can choose better if you know your body type.

Accessories For Soft Summer Capsule Wardrobe

What you must have in your summer wardrobe:

Vintage and printed scarves for your head and sometimes use them as a hair tie. Trust me, it looks stunning.
At least 2-3 varieties of hats: I don’t know how people can go along with their lives without hats, especially in this heat. Here are the few you can choose: Wide-brim sun hat, baseball cap, bucket hat, etc.
SUNGLASSES: Sunglasses are a huge style statement. Lucky for you, the summer season lets you collect as many as you’d like! If you want to keep their purchase limited, choose one that’s vintage.
Heels: Boots are a no-go for this season, but heels are always there to save the day. I’ll suggest you choose one with open toes.

Disclaimer: Don’t Forget Your Body Type!

Okay! I don’t want to crush you with all the body type details, but here’s a brief example of why it’s best to choose your capsule wardrobe while keeping your body type in mind.

Let’s take a shirt again for an example!

Should you go with a long shirt that reaches your hips?
Or a semi-fitted shirt that reaches your upper pelvic bones?
Or should you choose one that’s crop?

In the same light, should the shirt be loose-fit, semi-fit, or body-flattering? The answer lies in the body type you accommodate.

Dramatic and natural body types can choose a loose-fit shirt with long or asymmetrical hems.
Classic body type is best with semi-fitted shirts that reach your pelvic bones or hips(but tucked inside the bottom)
Gamine and romantic body types look best in short shirts that reach their waist or navel.

Don’t worry! I have linked all the information in detail here:

Let’s just say you don’t want to get into body types.

A better and easier solution would be to decide for yourself before purchasing an item. Try on loose and fitted shirts (both). See which one you find more flattering for yourself.