Cool slate grey

Where it sits

True Winter palette

Cool slate grey is a neutral in True Winter. Its closest relative outside the palette is Slate blue #6E7F94, a Soft Summer color, at a perceptual distance of 9. That is near enough for that season to wear it as a neutral, with the accents kept in its own palette.

At RGB 108, 117, 125 the three channels sit close together with the blue just ahead. That small lead is what makes it cool rather than warm, and it is the whole difference between this grey and the mushroom greys of the Autumns. The saturation is almost nothing. It is a grey first and a blue a very distant second.

A True Winter wears it as the quiet neutral. Trousers under a black jacket. A knit with a white shirt. A coat over everything. It pairs with every color in the palette because it does not argue with any of them, and it gives the strong accents, hot pink and emerald and sapphire, something to sit against that is not black.

Retailers call it slate, grey, charcoal, steel, pewter, or storm, and most of what sells as grey is warmer than this. Hold the garment against a white. Cool slate grey looks faintly blue. A warm grey looks faintly brown. The difference is small in the hand and large on a face.

Easily confused with

Soft Summer's slate blue is nine points away and bluer. Soft Summer's muted teal and Soft Autumn's muted teal are ten and thirteen points off and greener. True Summer's dusty blue is fifteen points off. All of them carry more color than this. On a Soft Summer, cool slate grey looks a little flat. On a True Winter, slate blue looks a little soft. The greys are the most shareable colors in the system.

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).

In stock in this color today

As of November 11, 2026, 8 in-stock pieces across STAUD and Marine Layer sample within a close match of #6C757D. 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.

Suri Alpaca Oversized Cardigan

Charcoal

$118 at Marine Layer

Aspen Coat

Charcoal

$288 at Marine Layer

Thatcher Pant

Graphite

$395 at STAUD

Jade Skirt

Graphite

$275 at STAUD

Flo Pant

Zinc

$228 at STAUD

Glide Jacket

Zinc

$333 at STAUD

Freda Silk Dress

Zinc

$557 at STAUD

Sorrento Cashmere Sweater

Ash

$425 at STAUD

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 #6C757D today, so they are the words to search for.

STAUD

Graphite, Zinc, Ash

Marine Layer

Charcoal

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

The True Winter guide · All in-stock True Winter pieces · True red → · All colors