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t’s easy to fall into the habit of wearing black every day, but there’s a whole color wheel of possibilities out there. Before you head out to shop for your summer wardrobe, find out how to choose colors that will make you glow, discover the classiest color combos, and learn which accessories will take outfit from ok to wow

Every day, there’s yet another sign that winter is fading and spring is creeping in. A warble of a morning bird. The crocuses popping up, purple heads bobbing. The wind, no longer harsh, but mild and caressing.

After spending months bundled in bulky layers, we fling open our closet doors and yank our wardrobe to the fore. What to wear. What to wear?

I have nothing to wear!

I must go… shopping!

But wait, ladies! Before we hit the racks, we have something to discuss. Because it seems the contemporary frum woman has come to predominantly rely on one color: black.

Good ol’ black. It’s so safe. Black has been a savior to us all, myself included. Skin glows against black. Waists are whittled in black. Footwear is a breeze to coordinate in black. It makes shopping a simple enterprise indeed.

However, I am of the opinion that we have come to rely too much on black. To illustrate: I desired a rainbow of attire for my nuptials, and nearly every shade of the spectrum was represented between my immediate family and my husband’s. Yet while perusing the proofs, the only ones in color were the women and children of my wedding party. In the background, there is a sea of black.

Rewind 20 years to my sister’s wedding album. Then, frum female fashion was quite different: There is nary a black suit to be seen.

Why did this metamorphosis take place? I don’t know. Perhaps there was a fashion shift, as it’s nigh impossible to even find evening wear that isn’t black — and so I tried to explain to my father, who would grumble when my mother would return from a sale with yet another black jacket or skirt.

We may have lost our desire to stand out in bright and festive hues. And, black is universally flattering; buttercup yellow, not so much. No one wants to see herself in a simchah hall mirror and wince that the magenta of her new jacket highlights the redness in her cheeks.

I’ve heard the tales of my Babi’s firm opinions about color and clothing. Her two elder daughters’ skin tones were vastly different, and so they dressed differently. My aunt is dark-skinned; my mother’s epidermis was alabaster. Since Ma was prone to redness, Babi nudged her toward cool blues, while my aunt was allowed more vibrant hues.

What Season Are You?

My first stop is to research “seasonal typology.” We begin with the Swiss painter, Johannes Itten, a “color theorist.” Itten associated seasons with certain shades and noted that certain skin tones looked better when paired with specific colors. In his 1961 book, The Art of Color, he wrote: “Every woman should know what colors are becoming to her; they will always be her subjective colors and their complements.”

Suzanne Caygill was also a color theorist, but she applied it to her work as a fashion designer. She believed there was a connection between color and personality, and her seasonal typology had more subdivisions than a mere four (64 personality types, gulp). Her 1980 book is titled Color: The Essence of You.

Carole Jackson, a psychologist, published her Color Me Beautiful that same year, and it took the decade by storm. She simplified Caygill’s system by sticking to the seasons themselves.

I haven’t dabbled in seasonal color typology before, so I take a few online tests. My skin has a yellowish tint (it’s a real pain to find a foundation, and I usually end up mixing two shades); I think my hair is “golden brown”; and while I have no idea if my eyes are steel blue, true blue, pale blue, or green blue, my results for three quizzes all result in a resounding “Spring.”