Each season has a unique color palette that can help you choose the best color combinations that are the most fashionable for the season. In the summer, you get bright primary colors and in the fall you get oranges, dark greens, and earth tones. In the winter, it is black and gray, and rich, dark shades. In the spring you get pastels, light shades, and of course, yellow.
Yellow is one of the colors most associated with the spring season. The season is one of rebirth, new opportunities, and a reawakening to nature. Yellow meshes well with this cycle of seasons and it’s one of the most fashionable colors to wear in the spring.
To help explain the connection between yellow and spring, we have created this breakdown. It goes through why yellow is a popular springtime color in general and why yellow is such a popular color when it comes to springtime fashion. Here is everything you need to know about the connection between yellow and springtime.
Why yellow is such a popular spring color
Yellow is a popular spring color, but how did this color become more associated with spring than any other season? Several reasons stand out as to why yellow became a sign of spring time, and they are varied. Some are based on yellow in nature, some are based on cultural symbolism, and some are even based on the physiological effects of yellow on the body and mind.
Nature
The biggest reason yellow is associated with spring is because spring is a time that features a lot of yellow in nature. More than anything, yellow is the color most associated with the sun. Spring is when the days start to be filled with sun again after the long winter so it is no surprise that yellow became a color people wear to celebrate the return of the sun and the life-affirming, positive vibes that come with it.
And Nature provides many other examples of yellow in spring as well. Many of the flowers that bloom in spring are yellow. Seeing these flowers start to poke up through the ground is one of the hallmarks of spring. Flowers like daffodils, tulips, crocus, pansies, forsythia, and more all fit this bill.
In addition to the sun and the flowers, yellow birds are associated with spring as well. Some of the birds that migrate back to cold-weather climates are yellow and seeing them is one of the first signs that winter is over for good. These birds include the Western tanager, the yellow-breasted chat, and a whole host of warbler varieties.
Cultural symbolism
Yellow means different things in different cultures, and in China and other Asian countries, it is the color of happiness that is often related to spring.
In the western world, another reason yellow is associated with spring is based on a religious holiday. Yellow is, along with white, the color of the Easter holiday in Christian religions. Over 1 billion Christians live in Europe and the Americas so it makes sense that the color of the religion’s major springtime holiday is also associated with the season.
Physiological Effects
Yellow is a color that stimulates our brains and our nerves. It helps make us more alert and gives us more energy. It is a color that denotes action, activity and interacting with others. It is also often the color most associated with happiness. These are all qualities that mirror the way people feel and behave in the springtime.
How to wear yellow in spring
Now that you know some of the many reasons yellow is such a popular spring color, you’re ready to start incorporating the color into your spring attire. One word of warning; yellow can be a lot if you wear too much of it or wear it the wrong way. You want to be judicious with the color in your spring outfits or you risk accidentally wandering into Big Bird territory. Here are the best ways to wear yellow in spring.
Yellow shirts
In spring, you want to go with a pale or bright yellow in general. Save the dark or mustard yellows for the fall. A pale, pastel yellow shirt is the perfect spring shirt. You can wear it with a suit or with jeans or slacks. You can even do a yellow t-shirt in spring. If you do want to go bright yellow, that generally works better for more casual looks but you can get away with it as an accent color – like a pinstripe – for dressier looks.
Yellow socks
Yellow socks are another option for a pop of this popular Spring color. No Cold Feet has more advice if you go that route. Socks are the perfect yellow vehicle because they are a complement to your outfit, not the main event. You can do all sorts of yellow patterns for socks too where yellow is the main color or an accent. It is all up to you how bold and yellow you want to get.
Yellow accessories
Yellow is a great color for accessories because, not only does it represent spring for you, it also helps make your outfit stand out in a crowd. You can do yellow or yellow accents with almost any accessory, but if you want to make it the main color for an accessory, we suggest a tie, pocket square, or sunglasses in spring. As an accent color, it works great with belts and suspenders, bags and briefcases, or sneakers.
Conclusion
It is hard to see the color yellow in an outfit and not think, SPRING IS HERE! Yellow is the color of spring for all sorts of reasons related to nature, culture, and the way it affects our minds and emotions. More than anything though, it is a color that makes many of us happy, and spring is the perfect time to celebrate that. When spring is here, go forth and wear yellow as much as you can.
