colormatch

The soft autumn colour palette

Autumn at its quietest, with three of summer’s cool, greyed shades let in.

Soft autumn, or muted autumn, is the corner of autumn that sits closest to summer. The warmth is still there, but it is held back: olive, moss, warm aubergine and forest green suit this colouring far better than pumpkin or mustard at full strength, which look loud against it.

Because it borders summer, three cool shades belong here that no other part of autumn can wear — sage green, mauve and seafoam. They sit close to the greyed autumn shades without breaking the palette, and they are the reason a soft autumn can wear a grey-green or a dusty mauve and still look warm.

Also known as muted autumn.

Soft autumn colours to wear

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

  • Warm Aubergine#5A3540
  • Deep Teal#255F60
  • Forest Green#3B5C3B
  • Olive Green#6B6B2F
  • Moss#7C8A43
  • Brick Red#93342C
  • Rust#8F3D1E
  • Sage Green#8FA392
  • Mauve#9B7F96
  • Seafoam#8AB8AD

Soft autumn 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.

  • Cream#F0E4CC
  • Chocolate Brown#4E3424
  • Khaki#A08E63
  • Bronze#8A6A3A

Shades to be careful with

Cold, icy colours can clash with golden warmth in the skin and often make the face look washed out.

  • Icy Pink#F0CDD8
  • Fuchsia#C2247D
  • Pure White#FFFFFF
  • Cool Grey#9AA0A6
  • Black#000000

Signs this is you

  • Rich, saturated warm colours look heavier on you than you expect.
  • Your hair, eyes and skin are close in depth, with a blended rather than striking look.
  • Khaki, olive and bronze are the colours you already own most of.
  • Gold jewellery suits you, but brushed or antique rather than polished.

The one it gets confused with

Warm autumn is the neighbour, and both are warm and earthy. The difference is strength. Hold pumpkin near your face in daylight, then sage green. If pumpkin seems to shout and sage settles quietly, you are a soft autumn; a warm autumn wears pumpkin as an ordinary colour.

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Wearing it

  1. Build the outfit from two quiet colours

    Olive with khaki, or warm aubergine with mauve, gives the low contrast this colouring wants. A strong colour against a pale one puts the attention on the join rather than on your face.

  2. Use the cool borrowed shades near the face

    Sage, mauve and seafoam are the gentlest things in the palette, which makes them useful for shirts and scarves. Keep the deeper earth colours for the layers further out.

Questions about soft autumn

Why does this palette contain summer colours?

Because soft autumn leans towards summer, and the three borrowed shades are the most muted that summer has: sage green, mauve and seafoam. They are cooler than anything else here, which is what the lean means in practice, and they are the shades to reach for when the earth colours feel heavy.

What is the difference between soft autumn and deep autumn?

Softness against depth. Soft autumn takes autumn’s quietest shades and borrows from summer, so the whole palette stays medium. Deep autumn takes autumn’s darkest shades and borrows from winter, so it goes the other way. Both are warm; they part company on how much weight the colouring can carry.

Why do so many colours look almost right on me?

Because a muted colouring sits near the middle of the range, where few shades clash outright and few lift the face either. That is what makes soft autumn hard to pin down without a palette. The reliable check is the shadow under the eyes: the right shade settles it, and the wrong one deepens it.

Where this sits