Deep Autumn vs True Autumn
The deciding axis is depth: Deep Autumn is the deep one and True Autumn is the light one.
Side by side
The deciding axis is depth — everything else about these two is close.
Deep Autumn
warm, strongly deep and balanced in clarity
True Autumn
strongly warm, medium in depth and moderately soft
The test that settles it
Do this in daylight, with no makeup, looking at your skin rather than at the fabric.
Deep Autumn: Mahogany #7B241C
True Autumn: Rust #C1440E
Hold each colour under your chin in turn. The right one settles your skin — shadows under the eyes recede and the face looks rested. The wrong one pulls those shadows forward and adds a grey or sallow cast. If you cannot see a difference, you are probably between the two, which is common and covered below.
Deep Autumn palette
- Mahogany#7B241C
- Deep brick#943126
- Tomato red#A93226
- Dark rust#6E2C00
- Deep amber#B9770E
- Dark mustard#9A7D0A
- Bronze gold#7D6608
- Dark olive#4D5320
- Forest green#1E5631
- Deep pine#0E4B3F
True Autumn palette
- Rust#C1440E
- Pumpkin#D2691E
- Burnt orange#B7410E
- Sienna#A0522D
- Brick red#8B3A2E
- Mustard#B8860B
- Goldenrod#DAA520
- Antique gold#C9A227
- Olive#808000
- Moss green#6B8E23
Frequently asked
What is the difference between Deep Autumn and True Autumn?
The deciding axis is depth: Deep Autumn is the deep one and True Autumn is the light one. Deep Autumn is warm, strongly deep and balanced in clarity; True Autumn is strongly warm, medium in depth and moderately soft. Everything else about them is close enough that the wrong call still looks acceptable — which is precisely why so many people sit between the two.
How do I tell whether I am Deep Autumn or True Autumn?
Test the deciding axis in isolation. Put mahogany (#7B241C) beside rust (#C1440E) against your bare face in daylight, and look at the skin under your eyes and around your mouth rather than at the fabric. One of them will settle your skin and the other will pull shadows forward.
What if both palettes look fine on me?
Then you are genuinely in between, and you should take the overlap. Wear the colours that appear in both palettes as your core wardrobe, and treat each season's extremes as occasional. Being between two neighbouring seasons is common and is not a failure of the system — it is what the boundaries look like from close up.
Which is more common, Deep Autumn or True Autumn?
Neither is rare. Judging by search interest, Deep Autumn is looked up more often — but that reflects how often people are told they might be one, not how many actually are.