At the office
Navy blazer, orange blouse, cream pants
Oranges and yellows · 4 shades
What Colors Go With Orange? The Version for Your Sub-Season
What colors go with orange? Plenty. That part is easy. Choosing which orange is yours takes more care than you’d think.
Headline shadeOrange
#F26B1D- Apricot
#FBCEB1 - Pumpkin
#E07B2A - Burnt Orange
#CC5500
Five colors that go with orange
- Navy
- White
- Cream
- Olive
- Chocolate
Always works
Three orange combinations that always work
Each block has three colors: the color itself and two partners.
Orange + Navy + White
Orange + Cream + Olive
Orange + Chocolate + Denim Blue
Outfits
Orange outfits, by color blocks
Three ways to wear it, written as color blocks you can rebuild with what you own.
On the weekend
Orange sweater, denim blue jeans, white sneakers
For an evening out
Orange dress, black jacket, camel heels
Where does orange sit between red and yellow, and how do its four shades differ?
Orange, Apricot, Pumpkin and Burnt Orange are all red-orange.
What separates them is lightness and intensity. Apricot is very light and muted, the quiet one. The other three sit at medium lightness and are vivid.
Orange itself is the loudest of the four, so it needs the most room around it. Apricot asks for almost nothing.
A name on a tag isn’t a single color. Dye, fabric and the bulb over your head all move it, so judge the piece you are holding, not the word on the label.
Which sub-seasons wear orange, and which orange is theirs?
Six of the twelve have orange in their palette, in three versions. The axes of each sub-season help explain the pattern.
Warm Spring is very warm and bright, and its version is Pumpkin, matched with Bright Orange. Bright Spring is very bright and also wears Pumpkin, matched with Tangerine. Light Spring is very light, and its version is Apricot, matched with Peach.
Among the Autumns, Soft Autumn is very soft and desaturated, and its version is Apricot again, matched with Faded Peach. Warm Autumn wears Pumpkin, matched with Pumpkin itself. Deep Autumn is dark and rich, and wears the darkest of the four, Burnt Orange, matched with Spiced Orange.
The other six are not for you. Five of them sit close to a color they avoid.
Light Summer, Cool Summer and True Winter avoid Orange itself. Soft Summer avoids Bright Orange. Deep Winter avoids Peach. Bright Winter is not for you either, with no avoid-list flag.
Where does a vivid orange belong: at the collar or at the hem?
Start with the logic: one neutral, one accent. Orange is the accent, so give it a quiet partner.
Near the face, put something between orange and your skin. White or cream does it cleanly, and navy gives a darker frame. Vivid shades like Orange and Pumpkin are strong enough to take over a face. Apricot is the gentlest of the four near the face, for the sub-seasons that wear it, and the test against your skin decides.
My advice: drape the orange and its partner against your neck in daylight and watch which one your face answers. If the orange wins every time, move it lower.
Away from the face, orange asks for less. Olive and chocolate are two partners that sit well with it. To build a fourth outfit beyond the ones shown, try an orange blazer over a cream top with chocolate pants. Denim blue is the easy casual partner.
Which pairings make orange shout, and what stands in when your palette says no?
Two pairings to skip: red and hot pink. Orange is already strong, and a second strong color gives the eye nowhere to rest.
If your card says not for you, the closest color of your palette is a stand-in, not a match. For Light Summer it’s Soft White, for Soft Summer it’s Off-White. For Deep Winter and Bright Winter the closest are Pure Red and Bright Red, again stand-ins and not matches.
Orange can still live in pants, a bag or a belt, far from your face.
Your sub-season
Orange on each of the 12 sub-seasons
Your own version of orange, the colors of your palette that go with it, or the color that stands in for it. Each answer is computed from the palette of the sub-season.
- 6In your palette
- 0Close to your palette
- 6Not for you
Spring
Light Spring
In your paletteYour versionApricot#FBCEB1Matches your PeachGoes with it, in your paletteIvorySky Blue
Warm Spring
In your paletteYour versionPumpkin#E07B2AMatches your Bright OrangeGoes with it, in your paletteCreamGolden Ivory
Bright Spring
In your paletteYour versionPumpkin#E07B2AMatches your TangerineGoes with it, in your paletteWarm Off-WhiteWarm Lemon Yellow
Summer
Light Summer
On your avoid listClosest in your paletteSoft White#F7F5F2Orange sits close to Orange, one of the colors this sub-season avoids.
Goes with Soft WhiteSoft NavyLight Denim Blue
Cool Summer
On your avoid listClosest in your paletteSoft White#F4F4F2Orange sits close to Orange, one of the colors this sub-season avoids.
Goes with Soft WhiteNavyCool Periwinkle
Soft Summer
On your avoid listClosest in your paletteOff-White#F1EEE9Orange sits close to Bright Orange, one of the colors this sub-season avoids.
Goes with Off-WhiteGrayed NavyWashed Denim
Autumn
Soft Autumn
In your paletteYour versionApricot#FBCEB1Matches your Faded PeachGoes with it, in your paletteChestnutWarm Denim
Warm Autumn
In your paletteYour versionPumpkin#E07B2AMatches your PumpkinGoes with it, in your paletteChocolateBrick
Deep Autumn
In your paletteYour versionBurnt Orange#CC5500Matches your Spiced OrangeGoes with it, in your paletteEspressoWarm Burgundy
Winter
Deep Winter
On your avoid listClosest in your palettePure Red#D0102AOrange sits close to Peach, one of the colors this sub-season avoids.
Goes with Pure RedPure WhiteDark Chocolate
True Winter
On your avoid listClosest in your paletteIcy Pink#F6D5E3Orange sits close to Orange, one of the colors this sub-season avoids.
Goes with Icy PinkNavyPine Green
Bright Winter
Not for youClosest in your paletteBright Red#E3172BGoes with Bright RedBlackLight Pearl Gray
Not sure which sub-season you are? The free quiz gives you a first hint in two minutes: a hint, not a verdict.
What to skip
Pairings to skip with orange
- Orange + RedTwo strong colors fight for attention.
- Orange + Hot PinkTwo strong colors fight for attention.
Questions
Orange: your questions
Does navy go with orange?
Yes, navy is one of the partners listed for orange. It is dark and calm, so the orange stays the only loud color in the outfit. Cool Summer and True Winter, which skip orange, also list navy beside their stand-in, so they can keep it nearby.
Which of the four oranges is mine?
Your sub-season decides, and the cards above show each version. If you don’t know yours, the free color analysis quiz asks ten questions and names a likely season with a hint of your sub-season. It’s a direction, and it never watches your skin meet a color.
Can I wear orange if my sub-season avoids it?
Yes, away from the face. Pants, a skirt or a bag keep the orange out of the way of your complexion. The stand-in on your card is only the closest color of your palette, not a match, so don’t force it next to the orange.
How do I tell burnt orange from terracotta?
They overlap, but they aren’t interchangeable. Burnt Orange is medium in lightness and vivid, a red-orange. The comparison page, terracotta vs burnt orange, shows how to tell them apart and which sub-season takes which. The color guides hub has the rest.
What do I wear with orange and jeans?
Denim blue works because blue sits opposite orange on the color wheel, so each makes the other look stronger. Keep the orange to one piece and let the blue be the quiet one. A white or cream layer near the face gives the orange some room.
Keep exploring
More color guides
Pairings What goes with terracotta
Colors that go with terracotta: cream, olive, sage green, navy and camel. I show you which version belongs to which sub-season, and what to skip with it.
Pairings What goes with mustard yellow
Colors that go with mustard yellow, and the version that belongs to your sub-season. I explain what each shade does near your face and what to avoid.
Pairings What goes with pink
What colors go with pink? Here are the partners that work, the shades to choose from and the version each sub-season wears near the face, or away from it.
Go further
Not sure you’re a color season?
The quiz shows you your likely season and a sub-season hint, with no sign-up. A first hint, not a verdict.
One guide per sub-season
Full palette, capsule wardrobe, makeup, hair and a shopping list for each sub-season. Not on sale yet: join the waitlist.
How the method works
Twelve sub-seasons instead of sixteen, the three things we look at, and why a quiz is only a first hint.
Which orange is yours?
The free quiz shows you your likely season in two minutes. Then try the shades above against your bare face, in daylight: a first hint, not a verdict.