Cool sky blue

Where it sits

Light Summer palette

Cool sky blue is an anchor color in Light Summer. The nearest color on the same side of the warm–cool line is Periwinkle #8E9BC4, a True Summer and Soft Summer color, at a distance of 15: close enough to mistake for it on a hanger, far enough to tell apart on a person.

At RGB 127, 182, 220 the blue leads, the green is in the middle and the red is well below. The wide gap between blue and red is what makes it a clear blue; the height of all three is what keeps it light. It is the color of a midday sky in spring. Add grey and it becomes soft grey-blue; lighten it and it becomes powder blue; push the saturation and it turns into the bright blues that belong to the Winters.

A Light Summer wears it at the face: a shirt, a knit, a summer dress, a scarf. It makes light eyes look clearer, blue eyes especially. It works with soft white, dove grey and soft navy, and it pairs well with soft cool pink and lavender in low-contrast combinations.

Retail calls it sky blue, cornflower, French blue, coastal blue and oxford blue. Boden's Blue Oxford and Marine Layer's Coastal Blue have landed on it, and the classic blue oxford shirt is often exactly this color. It is in stores all year in shirting and mostly in spring elsewhere. The version to avoid is the bright one: if it looks electric, it is a Winter blue.

Easily confused with

The nearest colors are Light Summer's own powder blue and soft grey-blue, both thirteen points off. The periwinkles of the Summers and Light Spring are fifteen to sixteen points away and lean violet. True Spring's clear warm blue is eighteen points off and noticeably stronger. Nothing is under twelve points, so this color does not have a twin in another season; the nearest wearers are True Summer, on whom it reads a shade light and clear, and Light Spring, on whom it reads a shade cool.

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, 5 in-stock pieces across Marine Layer and STAUD sample within a close match of #7FB6DC. 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.

Lexi Rib Sun-In Scoop Tee

Soft Blue

$35 at Marine Layer

Luxe Sueded Tee

Coastal Blue

$58 at Marine Layer

Women's Luxe Jersey Crew Tee in Coastal Blue

Coastal Blue

$58 at Marine Layer

Form Tee

Faded Sky

$102 at STAUD

Swing Crew Tee

Coastal Blue

$42 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 #7FB6DC today, so they are the words to search for.

Marine Layer

Soft Blue, Coastal Blue

STAUD

Faded Sky

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 · ← Soft grey-blue · Soft cool pink → · All colors