Spring/Summer 2021 Pantone Colors
Happy day, reader dearest!
I hope your day is colorful! I mean that in the BEST possible way. If your day isn’t colorful yet, it should be brighter by the end of this post!
That’s right! It’s time to talk about the Pantone color palette for Spring/Summer 2021. Yes, this is old news. Pantone premiered these colors last fall, but really…Who was thinking about spring and summer colors back in September? I know none of my clients were! They were still trying to get wrapped around what they wanted for winter. Now that February is here and the spring merch is showing up? Now’s the right time to talk color!
As with every color post, there are no new colors under the sun. Pantone doesn’t dictate, they merely watch and predict trends. If you’d like to know more about the history of color trend prediction, please let me know. It’s actually fascinating! Also, note that the Spring/Summer colors I address here are from the New York Spring/Summer 2021 color palette. The London color palette is different. Yes, there is some overlap. Maybe that’s a post for another day? If you are interested, let me know!
As I remind you every few weeks, please feel free to Pin and share on social media anything here you find of interest, or think that your friends might like! It’s a great way for me to meet new readers, and it’s good for the blog. Thank you!
Spring/Summer 2021 Warm Colors
Comparison: Eight down to six! Definitely fewer warm undertone colors. Even adding in Illuminating (see below), the reds have shifted and softened to orange and coral. And no warm greens. Even willow isn’t quite a green. The new colors are also closer in value and intensity than last season’s. Expect to see these warm colors in both tints and shades, as well as warmer and cooler variations. Except for the orange. There is no cool orange!
Spring/Summer 2021 Cool Colors
Comparison: Yay! This cool complexioned lass is cheering! More cool colors for the coming season, and lighter as you would expect for spring and summer. Green is picking up steam, and the other colors are more clear, less muted than those from fall/winter.
Overall, these cools are looking more cheerful than fall’s cool tones, and even compared to 2020’s spring/summer’s cool colors, the majority of which were rather dark for spring/summer colors.
Color of the Year
What’s missing? Pantone’s Color of the Year. Why? Because there are two colors for 2021! Illuminating and Ultimate Grey. You might ask why I didn’t include Illuminating in either grouping above… Well, TBPH, I can’t tell. Everywhere I look online, Illuminating looks different. In my images, it looks warm, but I’ve seen tons of images out there in which it looks much more pale and cool. Frustrating? YES! If I were to place a bet on my computer’s color veracity, I’ll say Illuminating is warm.
How About You?
Would you like to know more about color trend history? Or about the London colors? Are there any colors here that make your heart sing? Or shudder? What colors are you drawn to for spring and summer? Brights? Pastels? Neutrals? Do let me know, and if you know why, share that, too! I love to hear from you…
Stylishly (and colorfully) yours,
Style Myth Busted
8 Comments
Carol Karl
This cool toned gal is going ‘YAY’ too! Loving the greens and it’s so nice to see some beautiful clear colours after the muddier warm ones of recent years. Thanks so much for sharing this, Liz.
Liz K
And you’re going into fall and winter soon! It looks like the greens are holding fast for a little while longer! Thank you for popping by, Carol!
Carol Karl
We are heading into the autumn, although today you would think we were already in winter! Our weather is very changeable so you need to be prepared for all types of weather. For example, in my summer capsule, I added a merino t-shirt as some days we didn’t reach above 14 degrees. Other days it was 27! I’ve not got much green in my wardrobe but I’m intending to add some this year.
Liz K
Love how natural fibers allow us to flex with seasonal fluctuation! I’m looking at a merino dress…
NATALIE
Liz, I would love for you to talk about the history of color prediction. Please let us no what the London colors for Spring/Summer 2021! So wonderful for me that coral is in this Spring/Summer 2021! My favorite along with watermelon pink! As I’ve gotton older I’ve learned to love dressing with more color but I’m still a bit reseaved. Happy about rust as well. I always associate rust with fall. Our fall weather is very warm here in Tucson, AZ so this will work out nice for us! Love all the information you give us. Thank you!
Liz K
Noted! The short version of the history has to do with WWII and no access to German dyes and European textiles. I’ll get into detail in a future post… I steer clear of coral with my cool coloring, but admit that this one is tempting! Color is a great antidote to the invisibility curtain that can fall on us at midlife… 😉
Leefuchsia
Hi-
I love color. Way more fun than black.
My cold-temperature clothes are richer and darker than my warm-temperature clothes. I like mixing it up some days and others are columns of similar color.
Liz K
Thank you for visiting and commenting, Lee! And it’s lovely to hear you have color in your winter wardrobe (even if richer and darker)! So many women and men fall into the all-dark-neutrals trap from fall through spring, and then they wonder why life is grey and they are depressed! No, wearing color doesn’t solve all those winter issues, but it certainly can help boost your mood…