Do you feel pretty?

Spring is here, and there’s simply no place for drab raincoats or gloomy sweaters. The season has bloomed with fashions that are flirty, fun and unapologetically girly.

“It really is possibly the most uplifting collection of clothes coming into stores in years,” said Hal Rubenstein, fashion features director of In Style magazine. “The clothes themselves are happy and cheerful. There’s a certain kind of optimism in the clothes, with a huge emphasis on being pretty.”

So, when was the last time you tried on something pink? Or kelly green? Citrus, even?

Now is the time.

“Pink is still really huge,” said Kathy Schultz, Seattle-based regional reporter for Lucky magazine. “The thing I like about it is that there’s a shade for everyone. I’ve seen it in clothes to handbags to jewelry … even in the linings of handbags.”

Carrie Bradshaw would delight in the sheer girliness of spring 2004: Floaty fabrics. Ruffled skirts. Sequined sandals. Feminine florals. And color, color, color.

“I love citrus color for spring. I love charmeuse dresses for spring. I think people should experiment and try on something that they don’t normally wear,” Rubenstein said. “Wear color. Don’t try to disappear, because if you can do that, what did you gain by going out?”

Even in typically gray Seattle, retailers are showing hopeful signs of spring. Seattle’s newly opened Peridot is awash in color, from pale yellow skirts to ruffly floral tops to wooden clogs embellished with rhinestones and pink roses.

“Yellow and pink are the two hottest colors,” said Tweety Bui, co-owner of the boutique. “(Customers) like the big florals, white skirts with yellow flowers and white with pink flowers. That seems to be doing really well.”

Peridot carries its own private label as well as trendy brands including Free People, French Connection and Chinese Laundry, as well as denim by the hip (and celeb-friendly) Blujeanious.

Bui and partners Minh Nguyen and Nhung Mach also sell handmade sterling silver jewelry decorated with semi-precious stones.

“Chandelier earrings are still very big,” Bui said. “We’ve been selling so many of those. We’ve been making them every day.”