What Colors Go With Navy? Shades, Pairings and Your Sub-Season

Four shades: Navy, Prussian Blue, Oxford Blue and Indigo Dye. All four are blue and all four are muted, so none of them shouts.

Three are very dark: Navy, Prussian Blue and Oxford Blue. Indigo Dye is the only one that is merely dark, which makes it the lightest of the group. It is also the most intense. Prussian Blue is the least intense, the quietest of the four.

That gives you two ways to choose. Indigo Dye is the lighter, livelier one. Navy is the darkest of the four, and Prussian Blue is the quietest.

None of these names is one fixed color. A navy sweater and a navy suit can differ, so trust the piece in your hands more than its tag.

Five sub-seasons have navy in their palette: Deep Winter, True Winter and Bright Winter wear Navy itself. Cool Summer wears Prussian Blue, matched with its Navy. Bright Spring wears Oxford Blue, matched with Bright Navy.

Why those five? Look at their axes.

Deep Winter is dark and saturated, True Winter medium to dark and saturated, and both have high contrast. A deep blue holds its ground there. Bright Winter is very bright with very high contrast.

Cool Summer is very cool and moderate in contrast. Bright Spring is very bright, and its palette color is Bright Navy.

Three sub-seasons hold a neighbor of Indigo Dye, the lightest shade here. Light Summer’s is Soft Navy. Soft Summer’s is Grayed Navy. Both are low in contrast and soft, so a very dark blue near the face would overpower them.

Deep Autumn’s neighbor is Dark Petrol Blue. That palette is dark and rich and leans warm, so the blue comes with a little warmth in it.

Four are not for you: Light Spring, Warm Spring, Soft Autumn and Warm Autumn. Light Spring is very light and low in contrast, Warm Spring very warm, Soft Autumn very soft and desaturated, Warm Autumn very warm and rich. Nothing like navy sits in those palettes. Warm Autumn’s nearest color is Petrol Blue, a stand-in, not a match.

Navy is dark enough that a lighter color at the neckline carries much of the effect. White, baby pink and light gray all do that job.

Then look at the depth. A very dark navy right at the neckline can read as a shadow under the chin. With a Navy or Oxford Blue piece, let the lighter color touch the skin first. Indigo Dye, the lightest of the four, leaves more room.

The outfits above follow one rule: one neutral, one accent, navy as the anchor. Build your own the same way. A navy coat over a baby pink sweater is one. A navy sweater with light gray pants and a touch of mustard is another. Burgundy works best as the single accent, not as a second dark.

Camel and navy meet in the evening outfit: a camel coat over a navy dress.

Skip navy with black, and navy with midnight blue. The eye can’t find an edge between them, so the outfit reads as a single dark mass. If you are weighing navy against black, the navy or black comparison shows which one each sub-season takes. The navy or midnight blue comparison does the same for the other pair.

Your sub-season says no? Navy still has a place, just not under your chin. Pants, a skirt or a bag carry it fine, and a color from your own palette takes the neckline. Soft Autumn and Light Spring can do the same.