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#102A56

Blackened navy

A Deep Winter color

Blackened navy

anchor color 2 of 10 in Deep Winter. Also called Dark Winter in other systems.

By Kathleen Olsen · Updated November 11, 2026

Hex
#102A56
RGB
16, 42, 86
HSL
218°, 69%, 20%

Blackened navy is navy with the blue pulled most of the way down to black. It is the Deep Winter neutral for anyone who finds true black a little hard against the face. Cooler and darker than a True Winter navy, and too cold for any Autumn.

Where it sits

Deep Winter palette

Blackened navy is an anchor color in Deep Winter. Its closest relative outside the palette is True navy #1B2A4A, a True Winter and Bright Winter color, at a perceptual distance of 8. That is near enough for those seasons to wear it as a neutral, with the accents kept in their own palette.

Most navy on a shop floor is one of two things. Inky navy, which is near-black with blue in it, and bright navy, which has enough blue to read as a color. Blackened navy is the first kind. In daylight it reads as a very dark blue. Indoors it reads as black that has been softened. That second reading is the useful one.

It works as a Deep Winter neutral because it carries the season's two defining qualities, depth first and coolness second, and does it with less severity than black. Next to the palette's clear accents, emerald, cool blue-red, icy pink, it recedes the way black would. Next to camel or rust, the blue in it turns grey.

Hex values are approximations. Screens vary, dye lots vary more, and two garments tagged navy by the same retailer can sit twenty points apart. Treat #102A56 as a center, not a boundary.

Easily confused with

The color this gets mistaken for is a true navy, which is bluer and a touch lighter. On a True Winter, blackened navy looks slightly muddy. On a Deep Winter, true navy looks slightly loud. The gap is small enough that both seasons borrow across it.

The nearest named colors in other seasons, by perceptual distance (ΔE in CIELAB; under 10 is hard to tell apart on a screen, over 25 is a different color).

True navy #1B2A4A

True Winter and Bright Winter neutral · ΔE 8

Warm navy #2A3B63

Bright Spring neutral · ΔE 9

Warm navy #2C3D66

True Spring neutral · ΔE 9

Soft navy #3C4657

Soft Summer neutral · ΔE 23

Soft navy #43526A

Light Summer neutral · ΔE 23

Sapphire #1C3F94

True Winter anchor · ΔE 27

In stock in this color today

As of November 11, 2026, 17 in-stock pieces across STAUD, Marine Layer and Boden sample within a close match of #102A56. The dot on each card is the color we sampled from the garment itself; trust it over the photograph. Links are affiliate links: we earn a commission when you buy through them, at no cost to you.

See everything in Deep Winter

What it's sold as

Retailers almost never use the palette name. These are the color names on the in-stock pieces that sample within a close match of #102A56 today, so they are the words to search for.

STAUD
Dark Sapphire, Nightfall, Midnight, Loser, Spf 0
Marine Layer
Twilight, Moonlit Blue, Navy & Gold, Navy & Cream
Boden
Deep Aurora Blue, Zodiac Purple, Midnight Ocean

A retailer's name for a color says nothing about its undertone. "Navy" at one shop is a True Winter color and at another a Spring one. The sampled dot on each card above is what we trust.

Questions

Is blackened navy a Deep Winter color?

Yes. Blackened navy (#102A56) is an anchor color in the Deep Winter palette, and close enough to a Bright Winter or True Winter color for those seasons to wear it as a neutral.

Is blackened navy closer to navy or to black?

Navy, technically. RGB 16, 42, 86 has more than five times as much blue as red. In most indoor light it reads as a softened black, which is why it works as a black substitute for people who find pure black severe.

Can a True Winter wear blackened navy?

Yes, as a neutral. It sits closer to black than True Winter's own navy, so it is a shade heavier than ideal. Keep the accents clear and cool and it holds.

Can a Dark Autumn wear blackened navy?

Not near the face. Dark Autumn and Deep Winter share depth but split on temperature, and this navy is firmly cool. Dark Autumn's version of the same job is dark chocolate.

What is the difference between blackened navy and true navy?

Light and blue. A true navy carries more of both, so it reads as a color where blackened navy reads as a dark. If a navy coat photographs as blue, it is probably the true kind. If it photographs as black, it is probably this.

The Deep Winter guide · All in-stock Deep Winter pieces · ← Black · Black cherry → · All colors

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