colormatch

The deep winter colour palette

Winter at its deepest, with three of autumn’s darkest shades let in.

Deep winter, or dark winter, is the corner of winter that sits closest to autumn. It stays cool and clear — black and pure white both work here — but depth decides: deep violet, pine green, sapphire and royal blue do more for this colouring than winter’s icy pastels.

Because it borders autumn, three warm shades work here that no other winter can wear: warm aubergine, brick red and forest green. They are dark enough to keep the palette’s weight, and they are why a deep winter is not restricted to cold colours alone.

Also known as dark winter.

Deep winter colours to wear

Seven shades from the winter palette, chosen for the quality this subtype is named for, and three borrowed from autumn — the season it leans towards.

  • Deep Violet#4A2A7A
  • Pine Green#14483C
  • Sapphire#15487D
  • Royal Blue#1F4FA3
  • Magenta#A51A6D
  • True Red#C5102C
  • Fuchsia#C2247D
  • Warm Aubergine#5A3540
  • Brick Red#93342C
  • Forest Green#3B5C3B

Deep winter neutrals

The quiet shades to build around. These are shared with the parent season, because neutrals shift far less between subtypes than the colours do.

  • Pure White#FFFFFF
  • Black#000000
  • Charcoal#33363B
  • Cool Navy#1C2A45

Shades to be careful with

Muted, golden and earthy colours tend to flatten a cool, high-contrast colouring and can make the skin look sallow.

  • Mustard#C8971F
  • Terracotta#A9552C
  • Olive Green#6B6B2F
  • Warm Beige#CDB08A
  • Salmon#E58B7B

Signs this is you

  • Very dark colours suit you, and pale ones make you look unwell.
  • People tend to call your look striking rather than gentle.
  • Black near your face looks deliberate rather than harsh.
  • Golden and muted colours such as mustard or khaki turn your skin sallow.

The one it gets confused with

Cool winter is the neighbour, and both are cold and strong. The pale end tells them apart: hold icy pink under the chin in daylight. On a cool winter it lifts the face and reads as a proper colour; on a deep winter it looks thin and leaves the face drained, and a charcoal or pine green next to it puts everything back.

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Wearing it

  1. One dark shade and one strong colour

    Charcoal or cool navy with sapphire, or black with true red, gives this colouring the weight and clarity it wants at the same time. Three colours at once is more than the palette needs.

  2. Keep the borrowed warm shades deep

    Warm aubergine, brick red and forest green work because they are dark. A lighter version of the same warmth — rust or terracotta — sits outside what this colouring can carry, even though it looks like a near relation on the rail.

Questions about deep winter

What is the difference between deep winter and bright winter?

Deep winter is decided by darkness and bright winter by clarity. Deep winter takes winter’s darkest shades and borrows three dark ones from autumn; bright winter takes the most saturated shades and borrows three warm brights from spring. A deep winter looks overtaken by the clearest colours, and a bright winter looks slightly dulled by the darkest.

Why is there no brown in this palette?

Because the neutrals here are pure white, black, charcoal and cool navy, and brown carries the golden warmth that flattens a cold colouring. What brown normally offers — weight without the starkness of black — comes instead from warm aubergine and forest green. Those give you the warmth at a depth your face can take.

Does deep winter mean I should wear black all the time?

No, though black is genuinely yours. A wardrobe of nothing but black wastes the strongest part of this palette, which is the colour: sapphire, true red, pine green and deep violet all hold their own at the same depth. Use black as the neutral it is, not as the whole outfit.

Where this sits