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Do Parents' Seasons Predict Kids' Seasons?

1/8/2018

I can only speak from anecdote and personal experience with regard to this question. (Looking forward to the day when I have the resources to do real research in this area!)

I don't think that parents' seasons have no effect on kids' seasons. Since skin tone is heritable, it makes sense that season would be heritable.

But I don't believe we can predict with great accuracy a child's season from a parent's season-- just as we can't predict with great accuracy a child's hair or eye or skin color based on the parent's.

We can make good guesses-- two Winters are probably likelier than average to have a kid who can wear black, don't you think? -- but we can't know for sure.

I don't see clear patterns in the families I know. In my own family of origin, my mother and father -- a (probable) Bright Winter and a Soft Summer -- produced a Dark Winter daughter, which you might very well expect, and a Soft Autumn daughter, which you probably would not expect.

In my family of generation, as they say, I combined my Soft Autumn genes with those of a Light Summer. We made two Light Springs. They're warm, like me, but they're more saturated than either of us. Who would have predicted it?

What combinations do you see in your family? Share in the comments! :-)

32 Comments

Willow

1/8/2018 11:44:59 am

My mother and father were both summers and my brother and I are both summers. I am a Light Summer and my children's father is a Light Spring. Our children are a Light Spring and a Soft Autumn. (Though I was always convinced I'd have summer children!)

Katrina

1/8/2018 12:15:49 pm

Interesting! I *think* I have a Winter parent and an Autumn parent, but don't know for sure. I was analyzed as Light Spring, but I am really uncomfortable with it and can't quite believe that is accurate. I would have put my brother in Soft Summer and myself in Soft Autumn.
So it's all a big question mark for me. But I will be very interested to read what others' experiences have been.

Mandy

1/8/2018 12:42:55 pm

My mom is a Winter, my dad is a Spring. Amongst their 9 children we have Winters, Autumns, Summers, and Springs. I'm a SSu, my husband is a TW. We have a SA, BSp, and a winter of some sort (she's 5 months so it's hard to tell).

1/8/2018 03:40:03 pm

My mom is a Soft Summer. I'm not sure exactly what my Dad is--my best guess is one of the Soft seasons, but I wouldn't rule out True Summer. I'm a Dark Winter (or at least I'm 98% confident I am--nobody in my family has been professionally draped) and my brother is a Bright Spring. My middle sister is most likely a Light Summer, though there's a chance she's actually a True Summer or maybe even a Light Spring. My youngest sister is most likely a Soft Summer, possibly a True Summer. I can see what are most likely two Soft seasons producing Summer children and even a Dark Winter, but I'm not sure how my parents produced a Bright Spring son!

5/8/2019 06:42:01 am

Update for anyone who's interested: I draped my family with Rachel's draping card set, and it turned out I was right about half of the family, but I got some surprising results with the rest.

My mother is a Soft Summer and my brother a Bright Spring, as I had already figured out from the shirts they looked best in, and my youngest sister was confirmed as my first guess, Soft Summer.

I was surprised to discover that I was a True Winter instead of a Dark (at least I was in the right ballpark). I'd always thought I could handle warmth, but in the end, there was no contest as to my best season--I looked tired washed out, and vaguely blurred in everything except TW, but the TW cards made me look awake, alive, and in-focus.

My dad and middle sister really surprised me--they turned out to be Dark Winter and True Winter, respectively, despite both having medium-light, seemingly mousy coloring. Just goes to show you really can't tell unless you drape!

A Dark Winter and a Soft Summer producing Winter and Summer daughters seems logical enough . . . but I ask again, how on earth did my brother come out a Bright Spring?!

Lisa

1/8/2018 05:01:53 pm

Most common trend is that grandparents and grandchildren share season, for example two soft parents have bright season children if one (or more) of the grandparents are bright.

Bright season parents always have soft children.

Soft parents have bright children.

It seems like brights/softs are not opposites but complementary.

Jennifer

1/8/2018 06:34:08 pm

I’m a confirmed soft summer and my husband is likely one of the neutral autumn seasons. My oldest is either true (most likely) or soft summer and my youngest son is a bright spring. My parents were both winters with very dark hair.

Kristy

1/8/2018 09:09:42 pm

I am a true winter (pretty much the classic four seasons winter), while my mom and sister are definitely leaning toward dark autumn. My husband is most likely dark winter and our son looks dark winter to my eye as well. Everyone in my family has dark hair/eyes (except my mom, whose eyes are jade green) and some degree of olive complexion so the differences seem subtle, yet there is a huge difference in what colors flatter each of us, interestingly.

Victoria

1/9/2018 10:59:38 am

I am a draped Bright Winter and my husband is a draped Dark Winter. Our daughter seems to be a Soft Autumn, though Soft Summer might be a close second. She is much lower contrast than either of us, but quite neutral leaning as am I. Just as Bright is TMIT for me and I can wear many of the darker Bright Spring Colors, Soft seems to be TMIT for her.

Beth

1/9/2018 12:46:28 pm

This is all so interesting, I’ve been fascinated by this subject for as long as I’ve know about PCA.
I’m a true spring. Very fair golden skin, reddish golden blonde hair, vivid hazel eyes that are much more green than brown. Mum is a soft autumn, auburn hair, muted very fair skin and soft green eyes. Dad is a dark autumn. Dark hair, golden skin and dark hazel eyes. It’s funny, because when people see black and white photos of mum from when she was young, they think there is a strong resemblance between us, until they see her in colour - then the resemblance disappears. I always find it interesting how season and chroma can make the same features look incredibly different.
My husbands family are nearly all muted- he, his dad and one sibling are all soft summers, his mum is a true autumn and his other siblings are dark autumn and soft autumn. It will be interesting to see how our kids turn out- there will probably be a huge fluke and they’ll all be winters.

Kamila

1/10/2018 05:53:50 pm

I've been waiting for that kind of post!
My mother is a Warm Spring, my father a Cool Summer. I am a Soft Summer and my brother is a Soft Autumn. I obviously got my father's Summer essence but with a hint of warmth from my LSp mother. What I find interesting is that you might have a new season, mixed from your parents but some people have the same season as one parent. I know two Winters, I think both probably Clear, with basically identical coloring and they have a Light dominant season child, probably Spring. I often see people who share similar seasons having very opposite colored children. Confusing ;)

Kamila

1/10/2018 05:55:27 pm

* Wsp

Alex

1/14/2018 04:09:32 pm

I am (I think) a Dark Winter. My mother is also (I think) a Dark Winter. My father is (I think) a Soft Autumn. My sister is a Soft Summer. My brother-in-law is a Light Summer. My nephew and niece are probably both Springs.

It's interesting: when I looked at old black-and-white photos of my parents when they were young, the difference in their contrast levels is so striking. In black-and-white photos my mother's hair and eyes look almost pure black and her skin looks almost pure white - very hight contrast. In black-and-white photos my father's hair, eyes, and skin are almost the same - very low contrast.

Abir

1/27/2018 02:36:17 pm

Hmmm... I wonder if black and white photography can be used to determine season. At least chroma.

Heidi

1/16/2018 08:54:42 pm

My family was "typed" in the 80s with my brother (blonde hair, green eyes, slightly darker skin), mother (chestnut brown hair, denim blue eyes) and father (almost black hair, hazel eyes) all being Winters and I was told I was a Summer. I'm not sure if we all just changed or if the woman typing us was incorrect. I'm absolutely a Bright Winter, many of the summer colors really wash me out (anything pastel, heathered, muted is terrible on me). The clearer and brighter the better on me. When I was younger, I had lighter hair and eyebrows (now they are a very dark cool brown) and my eyes are turquoise-ish, although they change depending on what I wear. I also have freckles and slightly lighter skin which may be why she thought I was a Summer :). At this point, we all agree my mom is a True Summer (her hair is now a lovely soft gray) although she can certainly wear most True Winter colors as well. I'm guessing my dad would be considered a True Winter-cooler colors are best on him. I think my brother would also be considered a True Winter but not totally sure about that. My husband is a Deep Winter, he had black hair when he was younger (it's now all silver) and deep cool brown eyes. I'm not totally sure about my 10 year old son. If my husband and I are any indication, his hair and eyebrows will get much darker in a few years and I'm guessing he'll be a Winter too (or already is). He has medium brown hair, and lighter brown eyes than my husband, almost hazel. He looks great in saturated colors: cobalt, kelly green, cooler oranges, deep red, black, not as great in muted colors. Interestingly, a really bright yellow is really bad on him as it is my husband. My entire extended family (cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents) are all Winters and Summers as well.

ruby

1/17/2018 09:02:24 am

I think all my immediate family are autumn blends. Mum, one sibling, and me seem to be TA. Dad is probably SSu. Other two siblings look like DA or DW. My neice who is the daughter of the TA sibling and a possible SA looks DA to me. There is a photo of her as a baby lying on a warm dark red blanket, she looks completely at home whereas the pink babygro she's wearing looks like it belongs in another image. When she was a little older she had a mustard coloured top that suited her perfectly even though it really wasn't a typical toddler colour.

Jennifer

1/18/2018 04:11:39 pm

So glad you did an article about this! It is something that my husband and I have talked about a lot! Our family has been pretty straightforward so far, my husband is soft autumn, I’m soft summer, and we have two kids, one is soft summer and one soft autumn!! We have cousins with a more interesting dynamic however, true winter and dark autumn parents with two light spring kids! On another note, I also find it interesting to see how style types are within a family. One of my daughters is a natural like me, so I know what kind of clothes to get her, but the other is a natural-gamine and I feel totally lost! I can’t help but wonder where the gamine came from, I can’t think of any relatives who are gamine....

1/21/2018 04:55:05 pm

Interesting question about whether style types run in families, Jennifer. I know that in my family, my parents' dominant essences have definitely passed on to us kids, and bizarrely, my brother seems to share an essence in common with our paternal uncle and cousins that probably skipped our dad. But secondary and tertiary essences can be hard to determine from looks alone, so unless I got the whole family to sit down for an analysis (unlikely), I can only guess at some of the essences in our family tree.

My dad's dominant essence is Dramatic; it wouldn't surprise me if he also had some Natural, but I'm not sure. My mom's dominant essence is Natural; I think she might have one or two additional essences, but I can't put my finger on what they might be besides ruling out Dramatic. I might tentatively rule out Gamine and Ingenue too--she's never felt comfortable in anything cropped-length, snug, and neat. I currently believe that I'm an Ingenue-Dramatic-Romantic-Natural (I have to take the Style ID Calculator again to be sure). My middle sister definitely has one or both of the youthful essences, and I think she also has some Natural because she looks right in the same kind of square, Natural t-shirts that my mother and I pull off. I see the Gamin mischief in my brother's features that our uncle and cousins have, but I think he's also very Natural because he looks good in loose, relaxed athletic clothing. He also looks good in smooth, shiny fabrics, but I'm not sure if that's because he also has a little Romantic (he's certainly got the hair and eyelashes for it!) or because he's a Bright Spring. My youngest sister took after our dad very strongly, and she is predominantly Dramatic like him. She prefers a much tighter and sleeker fit in her clothes than the other women in the family. I sometimes think I can see a bit of Gamine in her, and I wouldn't rule out a bit of Romantic or Ethereal--a guy once told her she had "elven features." She seems to be the only one of us who didn't inherit any Natural from Mom.

I find it interesting that all of us kids inherited at least one of our parents' dominant essences (I may be the only one that has both), but only my youngest sister has one of them as her own dominant essence. The rest of us somehow seem to have more dominant youthful essences, which I have a hard time seeing in my parents. There's some Gamin(e) on my dad's side of the family, and there might be one or both youthful types on my mom's side, so I guess it's possible for style essences to skip generations.

Beth

1/21/2018 06:26:52 pm

This is really interesting, and something that I’ve only recently begun to think about. I’ve always been very different style wise to my mum, as in, she usually thinks the clothes I pick out are hideous until she sees me in them, and the clothes she would put me in horrify me. But, having considered it, we do share an essence. It’s just that when that is placed into context with our other essences, it appears so different. My mum is an ethereal-natural-gamine. I am an ethereal-classic-romantic. I’m 5 inches taller than my mum, and very hourglass shaped. Mum is short, and when young she was a teeny tiny pear shape, really petite. (I’ve never been petite, not even as a child) But we both share ethereal faces. We have faces that at a first glance look classic, but on closer inspection, do have an otherworldly fairy quality to them. However, because the rest of our style identities are so different, the way we use ethereal totally different. I need the long flowing lines and love sheer fabric and sparkle. Mum uses ethereal to soften her more dominant natural-gamine, which gives her otherwise androgynous profile a feminine edge.

I definitely inherited the classic from my dad. We both struggle with casual dressing, my dad doesn’t have any natural in him at all. However, give us a wedding or black tie event to attend, and we’re both in our element, whereas my mum struggles with feeling overdressed.

Katja

1/22/2018 03:37:05 am

Very interesting question about whether style types run in families! I have been thinking about that too. My experience is that style types run in families. I also believe that it's possible for style essences to skip generations like you pointed out, KC.
Beth, I really like your description of you and your mother! An essence can manifest differently depending on your other essences in your style ID. And we must not forget : we are all unique. Even people with the exact same style ID look different from each other because of that.

And Beth, I'm curious. Did you and your mother had a professional style analysis or did you figure it out yourselves?

Beth

1/25/2018 03:43:45 am

Hi Katya,

I worked out my mums style ID- she doesn’t believe in colour and style analysis, which is hilarious, because when she was young and trusted her instincts, she got its right nearly 100% of the time. As for my style ID- a trusted friend assisted me. I was really struggling to look at myself objectively, plus I took a lot of Kibbe tests online which didn’t really help, as I do not have a definite result in Kibbe (as most Ethereals find I’ve discovered since). I asked my friend to help, and she was really honest with me about my face and proportions, plus what I look best in.
I would love to have my Style ID done professionally, however none of the systems local to me have use Rachel’s system, and I’m worried I’d end up spending money on something which would not satisfy me.

Shawna link

1/26/2018 07:16:20 pm

I can relate to some of what you are saying. I am pretty sure my mum is a classic leaning dramatic in Kibbe, and I probably am too in the Kibbe system but it doesn't work quite as well for me as it does for my mum ( not that she uses Kibbe just that she is more successful with all of hte guidelines whereas I have to tweak more ). I didn't want to be the same style as my mother or at least for awhile I thought that maybe I had just blindly copied all I knew so I tried being a natural but it doesn't really work that well for me-confess I love boho looks but they don't work very well on me. I think I have a touch of ethereal too which is perhaps why Kibbe is less accurate for me. I think my ethereal shows up in being needing to relax the classic look slightly and better going with the lighter colours of my seasonal palette which is Autumn. I get loads of compliments in cream. camel, golden beige, and burnt peach. I think maybe natural might be my fourth essence which is why I pull off slightly faded boot cut denim paired with more fitted tops. No local style ID people where I live either and nothing to really justify spending money on it as I'm retired and mostly an at home person. Sure love Rachel's website though and would probably pay for an in person consult with her just cause I think she's so great. Must convince her to come to Canada!

Kels

1/25/2018 12:22:43 am

A great thread. My dad is a Natural, and my mom is an Dramatic-Classic with a dash of Ethereal. My mom has a brilliant sense of style and is a shopaholic, but was entirely uncomfortable with styling me when I was younger, because she'd try to force her Classic or Dramatic sensibilities, and then wonder why I got T & A and shoulder meat sticking out? I'm a Romantic Natural. My teenaged years were a mess. And now, whenever I complain about my hair, she's like, "shave it off! Tie it up! Just put it under a headscarf! It's liberating," and I'm like, "I'll be a liberated, big-lipped potato!" Those with great bone structure don't know how good they have it. Interestingly enough, every woman for a couple generations back on my dad's side has been a Romantic Natural, so I can look to them for advice occasionally.

Anyhoo, Mom's a Bright Winter, Dad's a Bright Spring, my brother is a Dark Autumn. I have no clue whether I'm a Dark Autumn like my brother, or a Bright Winter like Mom, but I will be finding out after my next paycheck ;)

Shawna link

1/26/2018 01:56:02 am

My Dad is a probable Dark Winter, my Mum is a one of the neutral cools but harder to tell-she wears Dark Winter, True Summer and Soft Summer colours well. I think my brother is also a neutral-cool type but I am purely warm, a Warm Autumn in the tonal system. My maternal grandfather is the only family member I know of who was warm and who chose warm colours to wear.

Anne

2/14/2018 05:03:16 pm

My parents are an autumn and a summer. I am a spring but my siblings are autumns. My husband is a winter and we have a spring child and an autumn child.

Anat

3/3/2018 03:51:32 pm

Weirdly enough, both my parents have distinctly warm coloring (warm spring and warm autumn), but out of three children I am the only one with warm coloring, my brothers have very cool coloring (cool summer and cool winter). Out of my parents 7 grandchildren, only one has distinct warm coloring so far - my father jokes we have a one-Ginger-per-generation quota...

Lisa

3/12/2018 12:18:42 am

I am true winter and I believe my mother is as well and my father a true summer, so pretty predictable. I’m pretty sure my husband is a soft summer. We don’t have kids yet, but it will be interesting to see! My sister and law seems to be a dark autumn (not 100% sure). My mother in law is hard to determine due to gray hair and rosacea.

Rachel

3/14/2018 03:20:59 pm

If it helps, it seems to me like rosacea is more common in Summers than in other seasons. I don't have real evidence for that; it's just my anecdotal observation. :-)

Champagne

7/29/2020 11:05:16 am

Very interesting article! My entire family (uncles and cousins included) is made of generations and generations of soft summers and soft autumns, my mom is a soft summer, my dad is a soft autumn, my brothers, sister and I as children all looked light spring, but growing up one of my brothers turned out to be a soft summers, other brother a soft autumn, my little sister a soft summer and I am a soft autumn.

Rebekah

10/10/2021 05:38:24 pm

My family:

True summer mother (true winter mother and likely true winter father, a sister who’s a winter and a sister who’s likely also true summer) and soft autumn father (warm autumn mother and spring or summer father, a true spring or autumn sister and a likely summer sister):

1. Bright spring child
2. Soft autumn child
3. Bright spring child

My husband’s family:

Light spring mother and dark autumn father:

1. Dark autumn child
2. True spring child
3. True spring child

Our family:

Myself (bright spring) and my
Husband (dark autumn):

1. True autumn child
2. Dark autumn child
3. Light spring child
4. Bright spring child
5. Soft autumn child

3/10/2022 06:24:11 pm

My mom is an aqua blue-eyed warm spring and my dad is a hazel-eyed warm autumn. Both my brother and I are summers - I am a soft summer with neutral-cool skin and warm tones in my grey eyes and dark ash blond hair, while my brother is a cool summer with no warmth in his fair skin, cool grey eyes and dark ash brown hair. It amazes me that my two completely warm parents could produce my completely cool brother. But both my grandfathers were summers (not sure specific sub-season) so it seems the soft, cool tones skipped a generation.

Claudia

4/22/2022 12:06:53 am

Interesting article! I do think there is a slight genetic component since skin color, eye color, and hair color are all heretiable traits - however since all are determined by a multitude of different genes, you can’t say with certainty what season your offspring will be because of random genetic recombinations. In my case, my mom is a Deep/Dark Winter and my dad is a Bright Winter. Both my brother and I are Bright Winters, which is definitely not surprising. I’m dating a True Autumn, so it’ll be interesting to see how our kids come out.

Truth is Beauty

Do Parents' Seasons Predict Kids' Seasons?

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