Off White vs Ivory: Which Very Light Neutral Is Yours?

More than you’d think. Old Lace sits in both families, so the overlap isn’t a figure of speech.

Every shade in both is very light and nearly neutral: Floral White, Seashell, Old Lace, Linen and Antique White on one side, Ivory, Old Lace, Eggshell and Alabaster on the other. There’s no dark member and no vivid one.

So if you’re hoping one of them will add depth or punch to an outfit, neither will. Both are quiet by nature.

Each family still has an order of its own. Inside off white, Floral White is the lightest shade and Antique White the one with the most presence. Inside ivory, Ivory is the lightest and Eggshell has the most presence.

Hue, and only just. The main shade of off white, Old Lace, leans orange. The main shade of ivory, Ivory, leans yellow, and both sit in the same orange range, which is why they pass for each other.

Past the main shades, it blurs. Floral White, Seashell and Linen show no clear hue, and Antique White leans orange. In the ivory family, Eggshell leans yellow, Old Lace orange, and Alabaster shows no clear hue.

Near your face, that’s a whisper, not a change of depth or strength. In my view, the word on the tag matters less than the white you see on your own skin.

Nine of the twelve sub-seasons have both in their palette. Light Spring has an Ivory of its own, and both whites land on it. Soft Summer matches both to Off-White. Cool Summer and Light Summer match both to Soft White, and Bright Spring matches both to Warm Off-White.

Cream is the match for both in Deep Autumn, Warm Autumn, Soft Autumn and Warm Spring. For all nine, both whites sit in the palette, so the choice is yours, and a quick test near your face can break the tie.

The palette white each one names is a shopping hint: Ivory, Soft White, Off-White, Warm Off-White or Cream.

Three take off white only: Bright Winter, Deep Winter and True Winter. For them Old Lace matches Pure White, which is in their palettes. Ivory is only close: Pure White, a neighbor of ivory, is the white that stands in for it.

Their axes explain the split. All three are strong on contrast and saturated or very bright in color. Bright Winter goes furthest, and Pure White is the white to measure against for all three.

Ivory has six partners on this page: navy, black, camel, burgundy, sage green and gold. The ivory page shows the version each sub-season wears.

Off white has no set pairings here. Start from the white of your own palette, and put beside it the neutrals you’d put beside that white.

To check at home, follow the setup in color draping at home: a bare face, daylight, one cloth at a time. Haven’t found your sub-season? The free color analysis quiz points to a likely season and hints at your sub-season. Check what it says at the mirror.