Soft Autumn vs True Autumn
Soft Autumn
the cooler one
True Autumn
the warmer one
These two are close. Your own photo shows which one is you.
The deciding axis is undertone: Soft Autumn is the cooler one and True Autumn is the warmer one.
Side by side
The deciding axis is undertone, everything else about these two is close.
Soft Autumn
moderately warm, medium in depth and strongly soft
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.
Soft Autumn: Salmon #D98A76
True Autumn: Rust #C1440E
Hold each color 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 gray or sallow cast. If you cannot see a difference, you are probably between the two, which is common and covered below.
Soft Autumn and True Autumn palettes
Each row pairs a color with the nearest one left in the other palette.
Soft Autumn
True Autumn
- Salmon#D98A76
- Soft terracotta#C4705C
- Muted rust#B5654A
- Warm rose beige#C98F7A
- Dusty brick#B07C7C
- Soft mulberry#A86F7E
- Warm mushroom#8E7C6E
- Soft gold#C4A76A
- Wheat#D6BC7E
- Moss gold#A89B5C
- Pumpkin#D2691E
- Warm coral clay#C97B5C
- Terracotta#96604A
- Rust#C1440E
- Sienna#A0522D
- Warm plum#A0637C
- Bronze olive#7B683F
- Amber#D9A066
- Goldenrod#DAA520
- Antique gold#C9A227
Frequently asked
What is the difference between Soft Autumn and True Autumn?
The deciding axis is undertone: Soft Autumn is the cooler one and True Autumn is the warmer one. Soft Autumn is moderately warm, medium in depth and strongly soft; 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.
True Autumn vs Soft Autumn: which one am I?
Test the deciding axis in isolation. Put salmon (#D98A76) 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 colors that appear in both palettes as your core wardrobe, and treat each season's extremes as occasional. Being between two neighboring 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, Soft Autumn or True Autumn?
Neither is rare. Judging by search interest, Soft Autumn is looked up more often, but that reflects how often people are told they might be one, not how many actually are.