True Autumn Men: Suits, Shirts and Colours That Work

True Autumn is the warmest, richest season in menswear, and the one that suffers most from a wardrobe built out of navy, charcoal and black. Here is the palette translated into actual clothing.

True Autumn colouring is warm and saturated: golden or olive-leaning skin, hair somewhere between mid-brown and auburn, and eyes in amber, hazel or warm green. What it is not is high-contrast. Your features sit close together in depth, which is why stark combinations look borrowed rather than worn.

The default menswear uniform actively works against this. Navy, charcoal and black are all cool and most are high-contrast, and a True Autumn face next to a black crew neck loses its warmth and picks up shadow.

The True Autumn palette

Hex codes included, because online shopping is where a palette earns its keep and product photography lies constantly about colour.

• Pumpkin#C0622B
• Rust#A8431E
• Terracotta#B65B3A
• Mustard#9A7B1F
• Golden Yellow#D19A2E
• Moss Green#6E7A33
• Olive#6B6522
• Teal#1F6E6A
• Tomato Red#B23A25
• Camel#C79A5B
• Chocolate#5C3A21
• Warm Ivory#EFE3CB
• Deep Olive#4E5223
• Warm Navy#2E3A46

The full breakdown, including the neighbouring seasons, is on the season palette page.

Suits and tailoring

Brown is your navy. A mid-brown or tobacco suit does the job that charcoal does for everyone else, and it is the single most useful thing a True Autumn man can own. Olive is the second: an olive suit or an olive field-jacket-and-trouser combination reads as considered rather than costume.

If you need something conventional for work, go warm navy rather than true navy, and charcoal only in a brown-leaning shade. Avoid pure black tailoring. It will win the argument with your face every time.

Shirts

Cream and warm ivory beat optic white. Optic white is a cool, high-contrast colour and it puts a hard line under your chin. Warm ivory sits closer to your own colouring and lets your face lead.

Beyond that: tan, soft terracotta, olive, and a warm mid-blue that leans slightly green rather than slightly purple. Oxford cloth and chambray suit the palette better than crisp poplin, because texture and warmth work together here.

Ties and knitwear

Ties and knitwear are where the palette gets to be loud. Rust, mustard, moss and deep olive are all yours, and a rust knitted tie against a cream oxford is about as True Autumn as menswear gets.

Knitwear in camel, chocolate and olive will carry most of your autumn and winter. Steer away from anything icy or pastel: baby blue and cool pink read as borrowed from a different palette.

Denim

Denim is a genuine weak point for this season, because most denim is cool indigo. Look for warmer washes, brown-cast selvedge, or the slightly green-tinted indigo you find on older Japanese fabric. Stonewashed and grey-cast denim are the ones to avoid.

Alternatively, sidestep it. Chinos in stone, olive or tobacco do everything jeans do and sit inside your palette without a fight.

Outerwear

Camel is the obvious answer and it is the right one. A camel overcoat is the best single investment in this palette. After that: waxed cotton in olive or brown, a tan leather jacket, or a deep olive parka.

Black outerwear is the most common mistake. If you need a formal coat, choose deep brown or a very warm charcoal instead.

Hair and beard colour

If you colour your hair, stay inside the warm range: chestnut, chocolate, auburn and golden brown. Ash tones will fight your skin and make you look tired.

Beards usually run warmer than head hair, which works in your favour. If yours has copper or ginger in it, stop treating that as a problem to neutralise. It is the palette confirming itself, and it pairs naturally with rust and olive.

Grey coming in is not a problem either. Warm grey and salt-and-pepper sit fine against these colours; the thing to avoid is a cool ash dye over the top.

Metals, watches and glasses

Gold, brass, bronze and copper. A gold or bronze watch case, tortoiseshell or warm horn glasses, and tan or brown leather for belts, straps and shoes.

Silver and gunmetal are not fatal but they are inert against this palette, and stark white-gold reads cold. Brown leather beats black leather on almost everything you own.

What to avoid

The consistent enemies: pure black, optic white, icy pastels, cool grey, magenta, and anything dusty and greyed-off. Black and optic white are the two that do real damage because they are the two most common colours in a man's wardrobe.

If you must wear black, keep it below the waist and away from your face, and put cream or camel at the collar.

For the underlying reading, analyze your skin tone explains what undertone, depth and contrast actually are.

Not sure where you land? take the free color season quiz: six questions, no photo needed.

FAQ