Dusty cornflower

Where it sits

Light Summer palette

Dusty cornflower is an anchor color in Light Summer. Its closest relative outside the palette is Bluebell #7A93C4, a True Summer color, at a perceptual distance of 3. That is near enough for that season to wear it as a neutral, with the accents kept in its own palette.

At RGB 126, 147, 200 the blue leads by a clear margin, the green is in the middle and the red is not far below it. The red sitting that close to the green gives it the violet cast. The moderate saturation is the dustiness. It is the color of a cornflower in shade. Lighten it and it becomes Light Summer's periwinkle; clear the grey and add red and it becomes True Spring's warm periwinkle.

A Light Summer wears it as her strong blue: a knit, a dress, a blazer, trousers. It is the color to reach for when the pastels feel too pale, and the deepest color that still looks like her. It works with soft white, dove grey and soft navy, and it pairs well with soft cool pink and lavender.

Retail calls it cornflower, periwinkle, bluebell, hydrangea and denim blue. Marine Layer's Sky and STAUD's Coast have landed on it. Cornflower is the most reliable name. The version to avoid is the bright one, which heads toward cobalt and belongs to the Winters.

Easily confused with

The nearest color is True Summer's bluebell at three points; they are the same color for shopping purposes. Light Summer's own periwinkle and the Summers' shared periwinkle are both eight points away and lighter. True Spring's warm periwinkle is ten points off, clearer and a little warmer. Light Spring's light warm periwinkle is thirteen points away and paler. A True Summer wears this one outright, and a Soft Summer can wear it as a slightly clear version of her own periwinkle.

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, 9 in-stock pieces across Marine Layer, Frank & Eileen and STAUD sample within a close match of #7E93C8. 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.

Rosemary

Blue

$328 at Frank & Eileen

Cloud 9 Rugby Polo

Faded Blue & Gold

$118 at Marine Layer

Cloud 9 Terry Sweatshirt

Sky

$85 at Marine Layer

Eileen

Blue

$258 at Frank & Eileen

Tried & True V-Neck Tee

Faded Blue

$42 at Marine Layer

Stroll Silk Dupioni Pant

Coast

$495 at STAUD

Mae

Blue

$228 at Frank & Eileen

Ellie Puff Sleeve Sweater

Bluebell

$92 at Marine Layer

Lexi Rib Sun-In Crew Tee

Dutch Blue

$58 at Marine Layer

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 #7E93C8 today, so they are the words to search for.

Marine Layer

Faded Blue & Gold, Sky, Faded Blue, Bluebell, Dutch Blue

Frank & Eileen

Blue

STAUD

Coast

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 Light Summer guide · All in-stock Light Summer pieces · ← Light sea green · All colors