I had the intense pleasure of draping a rather clever Summer this afternoon. Even before she was draped this attentive woman had already figured out that bright shiny silver was ‘too blingy’ and yellow gold too yellow. Black mascara, she said, was too domineering (she wears brown). She told me of her fondness for rose gold which is great for Summers and looks particularly good on blondes I think (she’s blonde). All this came out as we were going through the drapes. I was impressed.

The fascinating thing about very cool people is that when you start off with the bright shiny silver drape and the bright shiny gold drape, the bright silver clears the skin beautifully and the gold makes the person look as though they have severe jaundice. The differences are very obvious. She was a very easy person to drape right from the start. Warm colours made her look very sickly, cool so very much better. The Winter drapes were obviously too domineering. In the Summer drapes (especially after we’d put on blusher and lipstick, which looked amazing) all I could think about as I looked at her was a garden filled with Summer flowers: lavender, roses, carnations, wisteria, forget-me-nots, sweet peas, pink astilbe, hydrangeas. If Autumn is the warm, cosy, comforting season of food and spice and crunchy leaves then Summer is the cool tranquil garden overlooking a beautifully-kept Italian lake. Beside the lake sits a weeping willow swaying in the breeze. Summer isn’t a tropical island, that’s Spring. It’s not cosy, that’s Autumn. It’s cool but it’s not dramatic and high contrast like Winter.

Summer has a lot of blues, from baby through to midnight, from a definite blue through to the blue-greens of water: gentle turquoise, cool jade and teal. In the middle of the blues you’ll find cornflower, marine blue and periwinkle. Denim is Summer’s very best friend. Almost all shades suit, from the pale stonewashed denim through to mid/dark blue. Avoid blue/black or anything that’s been given a brown or dusty yellow tint to make it look ‘used’. Summer’s colour combinations are beautiful, reminiscent of a watercolour painting.

The colour descriptions are so pretty: pearl, white sand, cocoa brown (a rose brown rather than, say, bitter chocolate). The colours sky, orchid, wisteria, lilac and clover are beautiful when worn together. Generally speaking, the more colours the better. If two colours look a little odd together, add a third. Try and find a pattern with lots of Summer colours in it. If looking for footwear then a burgundy brown or a lighter rose brown are very useful and can often be found in the shops (in amongst the unsuitable shades of tan, black, bitter chocolate and camel). On the subject of footwear, I bought a “dark tan” Kiwi shoe polish from the local supermarket a while back which is a reddy brown. This came in very useful as I bought a pair of boots that turned out to be the wrong shade of brown (they were a very muted brown/black and didn’t seem to sit well with the rest of my wardrobe). The polish gave them a wonderful burgundy red finish which was exactly what I needed.

Summer isn’t sharp or harsh, it’s soft and circular like the curve in the body of a cello or a tear drop. It’s good to have this in mind when choosing jewellery, especially watches. Circular stones are pretty, as are marquise and pear. This watch is a little on the shiny side (if we’re being picky) but the pink mother-of-pearl face is perfect, as is the shape.

Brushed silver and moonstone would be perfect on this person, mother-of-pearl is also fantastic. Rose gold is a clever choice on blondes. Labradorite is a wonderful gemstone. Its shimmery, ethereal quality make it perfect for a Summer. Brushed silver frames would make excellent glasses, as would rose brown, blue and navy. A silver-grey velvet coat would look stunning, one in blue (ink for those who can carry a little more depth) would be wonderful and a little more practical. Batik fabric can be very useful as the change between the different colours is often gradual and soft.

Make-up colours can be tricky. Rose and rose-amethyst are very pretty lip colours. Foundation has to be very cool, which means that the wrong (too warm) foundation will look orange, a frequent frustration for Summers. Pick a cosmetics company that understand cool/warm undertones, sometimes these are called pink (cool) or yellow (warm) undertones. You will get a better foundation match with them.

In terms of hair, often Summers berate themselves for having mousy hair when the reality is it’s a beautiful medium-brown that isn’t being flattered by the right colours. Whatever you do, don’t let the hairdresser add warmth. They seem to be so keen to do so but you want ash blonde highlights, not honey or caramel. Your natural hair colour will always flatter you so stick with that if you can bear to, especially if your hair is a darker brown.

Avoid fake tan. I know that might be hard to hear, so many seem to love it. The right colours will always give you that healthy glow you so desire and will save you ruining your bed sheets!

For now I shall leave you with this image that, I think, beautifully summarises Summer.