True Summer colour palette
Every colour below is chosen to sit with True Summer colouring, which is strongly cool, moderately light and moderately soft. Hex codes are included so you can match a shade exactly when shopping online.
Core palette
The 20 colours that suit True Summer best.
- Cool raspberry#C2185B
- Rose red#D81B60
- Soft rose#E091AE
- Dusty pink#C97B9B
- Cool berry#A85C7A
- Soft plum#7E5A82
- Cool lavender#9575CD
- Periwinkle blue#7986CB
- Cornflower#5C7CB0
- Cool blue#3F6FA8
- Teal blue#4A8FA8
- Soft teal#6DA9B5
- Cool jade#88B5AA
- Soft emerald#6E9E8A
- Soft sage#A3BCA0
- Dusty blue#B9C6D6
- Soft orchid#D0C0D8
- Pale rose#E8D5DC
- Slate#8895A8
- Cool aubergine#5D4E6D
Neutrals
Buy these first. Neutrals are what you wear most, and they are where most wardrobe mistakes happen.
- Soft white#F0EFEC
- Cool grey#C7C6C4
- Medium grey#8E8F92
- Blue grey#5A6B7C
- Cool navy#2F4058
What to skip
For the full reasoning on each, see colours a True Summer should avoid.
- Orange
- Golden yellow
- Black
- Pure white
- Warm rust
- Camel
Frequently asked
How many colours are in the True Summer palette?
This page lists 20 wearable colours plus 5 neutrals to build a wardrobe around. You do not need all of them — most people live in six or seven, and the neutrals do the heavy lifting.
What are the best neutrals for a True Summer?
soft white, cool grey, medium grey, blue grey and cool navy. Neutrals matter more than accent colours because they are what you wear most days, and they are where people most often go wrong — usually by defaulting to a neutral that belongs to a different season.
What is the best colour for a True Summer to wear near the face?
Cool raspberry (#C2185B) is the safest high-impact choice. Anything worn near the face — collars, scarves, knitwear — has the strongest effect on how your skin reads, so spend the palette there first and worry about trousers later.
Can I use these hex codes for makeup or hair dye?
Use them for clothing and accessories, where a screen colour maps reasonably well to fabric. For makeup and hair, use the dedicated pages — pigment on skin behaves differently from dye on cloth, and the recommended shades there account for that.