Two systems decide every pick: your color season says which colors suit you, your Kibbe type which lines.
Color season: 12 seasons on three axes
The 12 seasons of color analysis describe how your skin, hair and eyes work together along three axes: warmth (warm to cool), value (light to deep) and chroma (bright to soft). The axes come from the Munsell color system.
Each season has one dominant quality. True Summer is purely cool, Light Summer above all light, Soft Summer soft. Neighboring seasons share one quality, so the seasons form a circle.
Dress Your Palette uses the 12 seasons of the 12 Blueprints and Sci\ART tradition (Kathryn Kalisz, Christine Scaman). Every season’s palette is stored as perceptual OKLCH values, and a garment’s color is compared with them by ΔE2000 distance.
How a garment’s color is measured
The garment is cut out of the photo: skin, hair and background are left out.
Highlights and shadows are trimmed, and the remaining color is computed in OKLCH and CIELAB.
The color is scored for all 12 seasons. The shop’s color name is only a weak hint.
Black-and-white photos and prints that can’t be measured reliably are left out rather than guessed.
Kibbe type: the lines that suit you
David Kibbe’s system (Metamorphosis, 1987) sorts the lines of the body and face into 13 types from yang to yin: from sharp and long to soft and rounded. Your type tells which silhouettes, fabrics and details support your lines.
Dress Your Palette checks every garment against the book’s rules: silhouette, waist, shoulder line, how the fabric falls and the shape of the details. The rules are recorded with their sources, and each product shows which lines suit you and which don’t.
Kibbe is David Kibbe’s trademark. Dress Your Palette is not his service; it applies the published system.
Palettes
Choose a season and the wardrobe changes its cloths to that season’s colors. Every shade’s name is given in text.
Light Spring Spring
Watermelon
Apricot
Chocolate milk
Camel
Light yellow-green
Light aqua
Medium clear blue
Light warm violet
Metals: Yellow gold, Rose gold, White gold, Silver
True Spring Spring
Coral pink
Tomato red
Pecan
Marigold
Yellow-green
Kelly green
Aqua
Warm violet
Metals: Yellow gold, Brass, Rose gold, Copper
Bright Spring Spring
Poppy red
Bright gold
Lime green
Bright kelly green
Bright aqua
Royal blue
Bright violet
Hot pink
Metals: Yellow gold, Rose gold, White gold, Silver, Platinum
Light Summer Summer
Light watermelon
Cool mint
Light blue-green
Slate blue
Lavender
Light plum
Orchid pink
Powder pink
Metals: Silver, White gold, Platinum, Rose gold, Pewter
True Summer Summer
Raspberry
Rose pink
Powder blue
Steel blue
Plum
Lavender
Soft emerald
Cool teal
Metals: Silver, White gold, Platinum, Pewter
Soft Summer Summer
Soft raspberry red
Taupe rose
Soft sea green
Jade grey
Soft navy
Slate blue
Lavender grey
Soft plum
Metals: Silver, White gold, Pewter, Rose gold, Platinum, Yellow gold
Soft Autumn Autumn
Warm rose
Dusty terracotta
Milk chocolate
Dusty apricot
Muted mustard
Moss
Jade
Muted navy
Metals: Rose gold, Yellow gold, Bronze, Copper, Pewter, Silver
True Autumn Autumn
Russet brown
Brick
Tomato red
Salmon
Beige
Khaki
Olive
Teal
Metals: Yellow gold, Copper, Bronze, Brass, Rose gold
Deep Autumn Autumn
Mahogany
Deep tomato red
Pumpkin
Camel
Golden khaki
Olive
Deep teal
Peacock
Metals: Yellow gold, Bronze, Copper, Brass, Rose gold, Gunmetal
Deep Winter Winter
Burgundy
Deep true red
Emerald
Pine
Electric blue
Royal blue
Royal purple
Hot pink
Metals: Silver, Platinum, White gold, Gunmetal, Pewter, Yellow gold
True Winter Winter
Burgundy
True red
Pine green
Emerald
Hydrangea blue
Royal blue
Royal purple
Shocking pink
Metals: Silver, Platinum, White gold, Gunmetal, Pewter
Bright Winter Winter
True red
Bright green
Pine green
Hot turquoise blue
Cobalt
Bright periwinkle violet
Royal purple
Magenta
Metals: Silver, Platinum, White gold, Yellow gold, Rose gold
Kibbe types
Thirteen types from the original book. Choose yours in the sentence builder.
Dramatic
A long, unbroken, sharp vertical line. Angular, spare and strong; the scale is large and details are few.
Soft Dramatic
A long, large line: broad shoulders and a long, flowing vertical. Lush, abundant and large in scale.
Flamboyant Natural
Long, relaxed and unstructured. Broad shoulders, generous ease and rough natural textures; the scale is large.
Natural
Relaxed, unstructured and medium in scale. Natural, textured fabrics and simple, blunt details.
Soft Natural
Relaxed and unstructured, but with a defined waist or shoulder. Soft, flowing fabrics, rounded and loose details.
Dramatic Classic
Tailored, symmetrical, smooth and elongated. Sharp but restrained details, medium scale.
Classic
Moderate, symmetrical and refined. Tailored, with no extremes anywhere: neither sharp nor round, neither large nor small.
Soft Classic
Softly tailored, symmetrical and refined. Lines follow the body and taper gently; details are rounded and moderate.
Flamboyant Gamine
Short, broken and sharp lines, with asymmetry. Crisp, contrasting and playful; prints and details from medium to large.
Gamine
Broken lines in which sharp and soft alternate. Crisp, small in scale and contrasting.
Soft Gamine
Broken lines, a fitted cut and an emphasized, cinched waist. Rounded, abundant and playful details in a small scale.
Theatrical Romantic
A fitted hourglass and a defined waist. Delicate, ornate and glamorous details with a slight sharpness; prints from medium to large, jewelry abundant.
Romantic
Soft, round and curved. A defined waist, flowing and luxurious fabrics, rich ornate details, large soft prints.
Professionals
Don’t know your color season or Kibbe type? The most reliable way is an analysis by a professional, done from photos.
In a color analysis, a professional compares your face with fabrics or digital drapes in daylight. In a Kibbe analysis, they read the lines of your body and face from full-length photos.
This list will gather professionals whose analysis you can order online. It isn’t finished yet: the first recommendations are added once the services have been reviewed.
Any link that earns a commission is marked “Paid link” where it appears.
About
Who makes it
Dress Your Palette is published by Jon Dillemuth, a sole trader in Finland. It finds clothes, shoes, bags and jewelry that suit both your color season and your Kibbe type, and gives the reasons for every pick.
The first region is the United States. Shop products appear once partner shops’ product feeds are connected; until then the wardrobe shows each season’s palette.
Products are ordered by measured color fit and line fit. Commissions never affect the order or which products are shown.
Some shop links will be affiliate links: if you buy through one, Dress Your Palette may earn a commission at no cost to you. Each one is marked “Paid link”.
