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Your Color Palette

Soft Autumn outfits and wardrobe

A season palette is at its most useful as a shopping filter. Build on two neutrals, spend your colour near the face, and almost everything you own will combine.

Start with two neutrals

  • Soft cream#F0E8D8
  • Oat#D3C3A8
  • Camel#B79B75
  • Warm taupe#8C7A62
  • Soft olive brown#57503F

Then add colour near the face

Tops, knitwear, scarves and collars — this is where the palette earns its keep.

  • 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

The rule that matters most

Colour affects your skin in roughly the 30 cm around your face. Below the waist it barely matters — so if a favourite colour is off-palette, move it to trousers, a skirt or a bag rather than getting rid of it.

Tonal dressing suits this season particularly well: two or three neighbouring palette colours in one outfit look expensive on muted colouring.

Frequently asked

How do I build a capsule wardrobe as a Soft Autumn?

Start with two neutrals — soft cream and camel — for trousers, coats and shoes. Add three or four palette colours as tops and knitwear, since those sit near the face. That is roughly twelve pieces that all combine, and it is why a season palette saves money rather than costing it.

What colours should a Soft Autumn wear to a wedding or an interview?

For an interview, use your deepest neutral with a palette colour near the face — authority without severity. For a wedding, soft terracotta or dusty brick photograph particularly well on this colouring, which matters more than usual on a day that is entirely photographed.

Can a Soft Autumn wear denim?

Yes — denim is effectively a neutral. Choose the wash by depth: mid to dark washes work best, and very pale washes tend to wash this colouring out.

Does this mean I can only wear these colours?

No. It means these are the colours that need no effort. Anything outside the palette is still available to you — it just works better away from the face, in a smaller quantity, or balanced with a palette colour next to your skin.

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