Pantone Spring/Summer 2026 - New York Palette: Tea Rose, Acacia, and Sycamore

If you are new to my blog, I typically do a series twice a year on the Pantone seasonal colors. The Pantone Color Institute is an entity that works with the world of fashion, art, and interior design, sharing their seasonal color choices twice a year: Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter. The two major fashion venues of New York and London each have their own set of colors, though there is often some overlap. Last week I started with the New York Palette. Click on the NY link and you’ll see a Pinterest pin of the colors. My colors may not be an exact match to the palette colors, but I provide these combos to give you an approximation of colors that you might already have in your closet.

Today I am combining Tea Rose, Acacia, and Sycamore. It seems any more color palettes do not strictly lean towards what we once thought was traditionally spring or what we traditionally thought of as fall. Now we see dark tones on the spring palette and light pastels on the fall palette. The biggest challenge is getting my own brain to accept these colors for each of these seasons. I like my dark greens, rich burgundies and earthy golds in the fall, but I too am still open to learning and change, although it is harder than it used to be.

For the pretty Tea Rose pink I chose this Chaps, plaid skirt that I found on clearance at Kohl’s. My mom used to have tea roses growing in her yard many years ago. She had a yellow, a white, and a pink variety. The pink was very similar to this color, and they had such a beautiful smell. You can see how I styled this same skirt for a transitional summer to fall outfit here. For a few plaid skirt options, check out these on Amazon.

It was windy and cold when I took these, so I didn’t spend too much time trying to get perfect shots. Ha, ha.

My Sycamore colored sweater is Croft and Barrow brand and was a thrift find. The lighting was definitely playing with the color of this sweater. It is much darker, but you can see the picture was very bright, even though I was in the shade. Check out this pretty Lauren Conrad sweater from Kohl’s, and this Natural Reflections one from Bass Pro.

I am not a huge fan of the Acacia color. It is an odd yellowy green, or greenish yellow, depending on how you want to look at it. The only thing I had with this odd color were a couple of scarves and this is the one I settled on as I thought it went well with the sweater, and wasn’t too overwhelming for the skirt.

I decided to keep my shoes and bag in a darker green color, though not as dark as Sycamore. My Adidas sneakers are newer, bought this January with a gift card from Christmas. They were on clearance at DSW. Here is a page with a number of green sneakers from DSW.

My bag is a thrifted Gloria Vanderbilt piece. Check out these green bags at Kohl’s, Portland Leather, and Target.

What do you think of these colors? Do you like the mix of dark with light? How do you feel about darker colors in the Spring and lighter colors in the fall? I’d love to hear your thoughts so be sure to leave a comment or two. I leave you with a picture of my crazy, wind blown hair. Ha, ha.

I’ve included a few shopping links. I do not make any money off of these links, but I want you to have options for purchasing in a color you like.

Have a great day!

Thinking About Fall - Transitional Style - Lightweight Skirt

When we start thinking about fall, we are probably starting to yearn for our cozy sweaters, scarves and boots. As the weather begins its journey through the waning days of summer we know the days will still be plenty warm, but the evenings might start cooling off, especially after the sun goes down. That is a good time to think about layers. Why not pull out a few of your medium weight sweaters and a couple pairs of ankle boots and start using them, even though the start of fall on the calendar is not for another month?

Today’s outfit revolves around a light weight skirt that I picked up just a few weeks ago at Kohl’s on the clearance rack. It is obviously from this past spring, perhaps even related to Easter style, so I thought this would be a good piece to take from warm summer day, to cool weather appropriate with just a few simple changes.

For a cute, breezy, summer look I thought this Chaps plaid skirt would pair well with a fun graphic tee. You have see this thrifted No Boundaries tee on the blog before. You can see it styled with a denim pencil skirt, and a fringe vest. Isn’t it funny that I did the front knot with the fringe vest as well? The shirt is a little over sized and very stretchy, so knotting it is easy. The skirt is not lined, but I wasn’t going anywhere and it is not sheer, so unless I had on a pair of dark panties, there was no show through worries.

I wanted to highlight the pink and the white letters in the tee, so chose pink and pearl accessories.

I thought the Steve Madden white tennis shoes a good choice to keep the look fun and casual.

To make the transition to cooler weather, I once again reached for the color brown. I love brown in the fall. My husband likes the color brown on me, so I have been trying to incorporated it into a year round color, but it is often hard to find. For this look, instead of a jacket I chose my cozy, thrifted Old Navy cardigan.

Once again, I chose a more chunky necklace with shades of brown, gold, and coppery bronze. I really wasn’t sure how I felt about this look, but now that I see it, I like it. Brown and pink are always a winning combo and the contrast of the gray tee gives it interest and keeps it from being overly two-toned.

I went with my taller Sonoma suede boots, because I liked the more slouchy look with this casual outfit. They give it a bit more of a boho vibe. Most of the boots I own, that I have bought new I got at Kohl’s. I like both So and Sonoma brand. They fit my feet well and allow room for socks or tights. They are ultra casual, but still make an outfit look polished and complete. I’ll provide a few shopping links at the end if you are thinking about a new pair for fall.

My bronze cross body bag is another staple in my closet. I bring this one out every fall.

Here are the two looks side by side.

Do you have a summer skirt that you would like to wear longer? What can you add to make that skirt still useable in the cooler weather? I’d love to hear your thoughts, so leave me a comment or two.

I’m including a few shopping links. These are affiliate links. All opinions are my own

Have a great Tuesday!

Pantone Color of the Year - Classic Blue

Since I do the Pantone Color Series twice a year, it seemed to make sense that I introduce the Color of the Year. For the year 2020, blue is the chosen color. Classic Blue, as it is called is a medium, dusky blue reminiscent of the the evening sky. Pantone describes it this way:

“An expansive presence, Classic Blue is evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky opening a world of possibilities.”

— Pantone Website

This is the sort of blue that would look good head to toe, or as in my outfit, be the perfect pop of color against other backdrops. I think this blue will look good on almost anyone and is a color that can be worn all year round.

The wind was doing some crazy things to my hair, so my daughter was doing her best to capture good shots regardless. A number of the pieces in this outfit were given to me for Christmas.

The gray and blue plaid skirt is older and Croft and Barrow brand. There was a time when skirts like these were very trendy. I’ve had my share and have worn them often to church in the winter time. While they may not be the most coveted skirt, these tea length pieces are perfect to wear with boots. I chose to wear my Seven Dials combat boots. I wanted to keep the look a bit more edgy and modern.

This fuzzy faux fur bomber jacket was a Christmas gift from my hubby. It is so soft and I had been coveting all the ones I saw at Kohl’s when I was working. This one he found at Walmart and is No Boundaries brand. Walmart has definitely upped their fashion game.

The gray pullover sweater I have on under the jacket is a brand called Ellen Tracy and was thrifted. A number of retailers carry the Ellen Tracy brand, including Macy’s, Nordstrom, Belk, and others. For this look, I tucked the whole sweater into the skirt. The skirt has a finished waist line, as opposed to elastic. I think a finished waist is just a little more classy than elastic.

The scarf, necklace and bracelet were all Christmas gifts from my husband and oldest daughter, who went shopping together. She was the one to do the research on the Pantone color of the Year. Indeed, blue was the theme, but what a pretty blue it is.

This bag was a thrift find. I often find purses when I thrift shop. They are so much cheaper than their full price counterparts at various retailers and I don’t even by the big name brands. I just don’t like spending a lot of money on clothing or accessories. I also like variety. Sure, I could buy one bag for $500 or I could get a whole year’s worth of thrifting for that much.

What do you think of Pantone’s 2020 Color of the Year? Do you like this blue? Why or why not? Do you have a plaid skirt in your closet like this one? If you do, how do you style it? Be sure to leave me some love in the comments.

I’ve included a few shopping links. These are affiliate links, which means if you click on a link I get a few cents. If you purchase something through a link a get a few cents more. I appreciate every penny!

Have a great day.

Photo credit Rebecca Trumbull.