Discovering What Gilmore Girls Seasonal Colors Are And What’s The Catch With Winter vs Summer

This article has very interesting answers!

As a fashion enthusiast, I have always been fascinated by the concept of seasonal color analysis and the same time as an artist who worked with colors and painting for over 12 years (P.S: I have a degree from Lisbon University and I have a published book discussing Jean Michel Basquiat among all of my artistic endeavors) – I found a lot of compromises I couldn’t agree with when it comes to the seasonal color analysis.

There are obvious things that work and those that make absolutely no sense. In this article, I want to find some senses that will actually resolve the issues.

This system helps individuals determine the colors that best complement their natural features, such as skin tone, hair color, and eye color.

By understanding your seasonal color palette, you can enhance your appearance and create a harmonious look that truly reflects on you.

In other words, the color can enhance you or it can destroy the visual perception of you.

Within the seasonal color analysis system, there are four main categories: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.

Each season has its own distinct characteristics and color palettes. In this article, I will focus on True Winter and True Summer as misconceptions for Alexis Bladel who was sometimes typed as True Summer, Soft Summer, or even Bright Winter, and Lauren Graham who was typed as a True Winter palette.

Here, as usual, I see what is distinctively wrong with these myths.

Key Takeaways

• True Winter and True Summer colors have distinct differences and similarities.
• Understanding the Color Analysis System is key to determining your seasonal color palette.
• True Winter colors are cool, deep, and intense, while True Summer colors are cool, softer, and muted but concentrated.
• Wearing your true colors can enhance your natural beauty and make you look more vibrant.

Understanding the Color Analysis System

Before delving into the details of True Winter and True Summer colors, it is important to understand how the overall color analysis system works.

The four seasons are determined based on various factors such as undertones in your skin tone or hair color.

To determine your seasonal color palette accurately, you can consult with a professional image consultant or use online resources that offer resources designed to identify your season (P.S: Or you can read my blog).

These tools take into account factors like skin undertones (cool or warm), eye colors (blue or brown), and hair colors (dark or light), among others.

Characteristics of True Winter Colors

True Winters are characterized by cool undertones in their complexion with deep contrast between their hair and skin tones.

Their natural coloring is often described as strikingly beautiful with high-contrast features.

The true winter palette consists of bold jewel tones such as royal blue,teal, and ruby reds along with icy pastels like lavender or icy pink shades which perfectly complement their cool undertones.

Characteristics of True Summer Colors

Cool Undertones	Colors with blue or pink undertones that complement the cool undertones of the skin.
Soft and Muted	Colors that are not too bright or bold, but rather have a soft and muted appearance.
Light to Medium Depth	Colors that are not too dark or too light, but rather fall in the light to medium depth range.
Clear and Crisp	Colors that are clear and crisp, without any muddiness or dullness.
Low Contrast	Colors that have a low contrast with each other, creating a harmonious and cohesive look.

True Summers, on the other hand, have cool undertones in their complexion but with a softer contrast between their hair and skin tones compared to True Winters.

Their natural coloring is often described as delicate and more ethereal.

How to Determine Your Seasonal Color Palette

Determining your seasonal color palette can be an exciting journey of self-discovery. There are various methods you can use to identify your season accurately.

One popular method is the draping technique where you drape different colored fabrics around your face to observe how they affect your complexion.

Additionally, paying attention to how certain colors make you feel can also provide valuable insights into your seasonal color palette.

If you feel vibrant and alive when wearing jewel tones like emerald green or sapphire blue, it might indicate that you lean towards being a True Winter.

Understanding your undertones is crucial in determining which season suits you best.

Undertones refer to the subtle hues beneath the surface of our skin that influence how we look in different colors.

Cool undertones typically have hints of pink or blue while warm undertones tend to have hints of yellow or peachy hues.

The true summer palette consists of soft, muted colors such as dusty pinks, lavender, and powder blue along with cool neutrals like dove gray or taupe shades which beautifully complement their cool undertones.

I’d rather want you to check how golden and silver metals work against your skin. Obviously golden – works better for warm types like Spring and Autumn and silver – and vice versa.

Alexis Bladel Seasonal Color Analysis

There has been a whole debate about what Alexis Bladel really is whether the Soft Summer, True Summer, or Bright Winter.

That’s always very interesting to analyze and show people some obvious ideas they don’t see.

In order to dismantle the face of any Soft palette, let’s see first the greyness in her appearance.

The grey color test comes first.

We have a great “canvas” to work with.

She has very pale skin with medium brightness in the eyes and sort of ashy dark hair and the thing that confuses people the most is the fact that she has clarity in her skin.

Normally, people would add 1 + 1 as of bright eyes and bright skin – Bright Winter or Greyish natural hair – Soft Summer. People normally see her in the cold seasonal type.

Wait to jump to a conclusion.

On top of that if you look at her in these two examples of the grey color – it really doesn’t do well with her. It does not enhance her or her personality, it does not make her eyes pop or her skin appear healthier.

In the first example, her skin is so pale and white that this greyness fazes her out.

All of her appearance becomes instantly grey – her skin becomes sickly pale, her hair becomes a “mousy” grey color and her eyes look the spark and basically become grey.

Not sure yet?

This clarity will not only be available for the cold type. If you take a closer look at her appearance you will also notice that she has ginger freckles all over her face and body.

Also, take a look at the hair color that she is wearing. Her eyes are instantly brighter with the chestnut shade. You can actually appreciate the beauty of the brightness of her eyes.

Not sure yet? Look at this. In the first picture, Alexis is wearing the True Summer deep dark teal color – her eyes look dim.

Take a look at this other picture – what a drastic difference. Her skin shines, this clarity that she has started actually “playing out” in the right direction for her.

Let’s see here where Alexis is actually leaning – towards the warm or the cols season.

Looks fabulous with the golden outfits.

While she has an obvious inclination towards the warm golden shade – there is a dubious question still.

Did you also like her in this left picture with the red lips? Yes, me too.

However, if you take these two pictures and compare the two different silver shades – you will notice a very subtle difference in the intensity and shading of this greyness.

In the other picture – the grey color is very intense and plays more with the blue allure.

The silver in the first picture – has such subtlety and delicacy that it is almost impossible to figure out. In the upper part of the garment, we spot that the tulle fabric is almost transparent, so most of the color is located way lower than the chest – it’s far from the face.

In both pictures, the actress has two different skin colors – so it will be obvious that in contrast with the warmer skin color – this subtle light grey will look refreshing rather than “choking”.

There is also the diamond silver necklace that she is wearing – and it’s obvious that this is not exactly how she should be wearing it. Not in this color completion.

Here again, I see two different skin shades and this is why she should keep some of her colors for specific occasions with different skin shades. Doesn’t it look much better in the other picture?

And now let’s see what does work for her 100%.

Almost unbelievable, right?

Bright grassy emerald intensive color with lighter chestnut hair – that is what really works for all her features to shine. Look at the brightness of her eyes – that’s amazing what a color can do to your overall appearance.

Her skin is very subtle – fine. It’s very delicate and almost translucent in a natural state.

This is also one of the reasons that the actress would also have an angelic and ingenue essence about her.

I took this Spring pink color to your attention here for you to see how this type of skin can reflect colors near the face and also can make your own “redness” and pink hue to the surface.

But for Alexis, it all works really well because this “red” hair and “pink” hue pigmentation in the skin is actually what she really needs. In the light of this composition of colors – see the golden earrings really fit her features and her skin tonality.

Let’s see if she is a Spring type.

Now, these two pictures were taken in different time lapses. Fuchsia and salmon pink are both created with red pigmentation in them – look how well it reflects on Alexis.

I love these bright Spring and True Spring colors on her.

Both bright red and pink work like magic on her – her skin type fits so well with the red pigment in her hair, in her wardrobe, and even her red undertone and ginger freckles.

Once again – the red dress looks just marvelous on her. The True Autumn is not bad – but the Autumn season really tends to mute her brightness and clarity down.

Love these pink undertone colors for her – they look almost soft summer, but those are from the Light Spring.

So far Alexis Bladel is able to work through Bright Spring, True Spring, and even some options of Light Spring.

Needless to say, Bright Spring works well for her.

In this example, we automatically exclude the Bright Winter – she doesn’t have this “Snow White” effect (not enough clarity).

But navy blue works well for her – I’d probably rather see her with more “red” tinted hair and without this terrible black eyeliner.

Here is what I meant – the hair color and this dress that’s a good combination if you want to look more put together.

Look at how vivid her eye color is with this set of spring colors. Here again, we can clearly see the ginger freckles on the arms – makes it very obvious that she needs to stick to the Spring season.

I would suggest that Alexis Bladel is a Spring transit. If you want to be more precise that would be a Bright Spring because she still has high clarity and she can also transition within the Spring palettes which are the True Spring and more rarely Light Spring.

I would definitely avoid canon Autumn colors like dark brown and Summer colors like Dark Teal blue. Those summer pastels wash her out and canonic Autumn colors are really muting her brightness down.

Now let’s see Lauren Graham who was previously typed as a True Winter color palette.

Let’s see first why people think she might be a typical True Winter type. To be a canonical Winter type you must be of a cold undertone.

So hypothetically pitch black needs to work wonders on you.

Lauren’s appearance might be confusing because a lot of colors that are almost unexplainable fit her well.

If we look at those pictures and they obviously were taken in different time lapses (like Lauren 30 years ago and Lauren now) we can see this same pitch-black color works in different ways.

I wouldn’t call her undertone precisely winter-ish meaning cold – it’s rather a neutral undertone.

She had a certain amount of contrast on her, but as she aged I don’t see why she would use the same set of colors – the black weighs her whole appearance down – it’s not a good idea especially right near the face.

Lauren back then was a Deep Winter type and Lauren now is a Deep Autumn type. And let’s see why that’s a certain transit.

Lauren then with a warmer type of hair looked so much lighter in perception than Lauren now with pitch-black eyeliner and this same hair color.

She needs to fall in the category of rather dark but soft and calmer colors – with her neutral undertone that must be a transit of Deep Autumn and Deep Winter.

Deep Autumn because she was pulling off the golden tones and red pigment in her hair so well.

That cannot be a solely True Winter and God forbid Bright Winter.

That’s Autumn to me.

In both of these pictures we see a red pigment in the hair – Lauren then and now look fantastic in this hair color (that I cannot say about the pitch black color).

The black “choking” outfit looks way too intense for her, the fabrics together with this color look too heavy and both these looks weigh her down drastically.

The bright colors for Lauren back then and Lauren now – those are two different seasons she could work with and now she cannot.

Even though she a nice contrast to her appearance now – this vivid brightness doesn’t go well with her essence of hers nor with her complexion.

I don’t like to use the “overpowering” word in the analysis – but that’s probably the case where this term would fit.

Again – we have another confirmation. Lauren back then and Lauren now – should use two different color palettes.

Lauren is an In-transition type of Deep Autumn and Deep Winter.

While before she was able to pull off even Bright Spring. However, with time – she should rather opt for the Autumn colors.

This is for those of you who thought that Lauren is a Soft Summer – don’t see any direct benefit of the grey color. And Soft Summer it’s an absolute must.

The Importance of Wearing Your True Colors

Wearing colors that harmonize with your natural features can have a transformative effect on your overall appearance.

When you wear colors that complement your skin tone, hair color, and eye color, it enhances your natural beauty and brings out the best in you.

By embracing your true colors, you can create a cohesive and polished look that exudes confidence and style.

Wearing the right colors can make your complexion appear more radiant, minimize imperfections, and even make you look younger.

Moreover, wearing your true colors can also impact how others perceive you.

When you wear shades that enhance your features, it creates a visual harmony that draws attention to all the right places.

It allows people to focus on your unique qualities rather than being distracted by mismatched or unflattering colors.

How to Incorporate True Winter Colors into Your Wardrobe

Once you have determined that True Winter is indeed your season, incorporating these vibrant hues into your wardrobe becomes an exciting endeavor.

Here are some tips for seamlessly integrating True Winter colors into various aspects of fashion:

1. Clothing: Opt for statement pieces in jewel tones such as royal blue blazers or emerald green dresses. Pair them with neutral basics like black or white to create balance.

2. Accessories: Add pops of color through accessories like scarves or handbags in rich shades of ruby red or amethyst purple.

3. Makeup: Experiment with bold lipsticks in deep berry shades or dramatic eyeshadows in metallic silver or navy blue to accentuate the eyes.

How to Incorporate True Summer Colors into Your Wardrobe

For those who fall under the True Summer category, incorporating soft and muted hues into their wardrobe is key to creating a cohesive look that complements their natural coloring:

1.Clothing: Opt for pastel-colored blouses or dresses in shades like dusty pink or powder blue paired with light gray trousers for an elegant ensemble.

2.Accessories: Choose delicate accessories in silver or rose gold tones to add a touch of sophistication to your outfits.

3.Makeup: Embrace soft and natural makeup looks with rosy blushes, light pink lipsticks, and subtle eyeshadows in shades like lavender or taupe.

Makeup and Accessories for True Winter and True Summer

When it comes to makeup and accessories, choosing the right colors can further enhance your true winter or true summer look:

For True Winters:
– Opt for bold lip colors like deep reds or vibrant fuchsias.
– Experiment with metallic eyeshadows in shades of silver, navy blue, or emerald green.
– Choose accessories in cool-toned metals such as silver or white gold.

For True Summers:
– Stick to soft and natural lip colors like light pinks or mauves.
– Use eyeshadows in muted shades such as lavender, taupe, or gray.
– Accessorize with delicate jewelry pieces in rose gold tones.

FAQs

What are true winter colors?

True winter colors are cool and vivid colors that have a blue undertone. They include colors like deep jewel tones, icy pastels, and bright, bold hues.

What are true summer colors?

True summer colors are cool and muted colors that have a gray undertone. They include colors like soft pastels, dusty pinks, and cool blues and greens.

What are the differences between true winter and true summer colors?

The main difference between true winter and true summer colors is their undertone. True winter colors have a blue undertone, while true summer colors have a gray undertone.

Additionally, true winter colors are more vivid and bold, while true summer colors are more muted and soft.

What are the similarities between true winter and true summer colors?

Both true winter and true summer colors are cool colors, meaning they have a blue undertone. They also both look best on people with cool skin tones.

How can I determine if I have a cool skin tone?

One way to determine if you have a cool skin tone is to look at the veins on the inside of your wrist. If they appear blue or purple, you likely have a cool skin tone.

Another way is to see if you look better in silver or gold jewelry – if silver looks better on you, you likely have a cool skin tone.