Soft mauve

Where it sits

Soft Summer palette

Soft mauve is an anchor color in Soft Summer. The nearest color on the same side of the warm–cool line is Cool grey #9AA0A6, a True Summer color, at a distance of 11: close enough to mistake for it on a hanger, far enough to tell apart on a person.

At RGB 158, 142, 158 the red and blue are level and the green sits a little below. The level red and blue make it a violet; the small gap to the green is why it reads as almost grey. It is the color of heather seen from a distance. Add blue and lightness and it becomes dusty lavender; take the violet out and it becomes True Summer's cool grey.

A Soft Summer wears it as a neutral with a mood: a knit, a coat, trousers, a silk blouse. It does the job of grey with more warmth toward the skin. It works with soft white, dove taupe and soft charcoal, and it sits well next to dusty rose and slate blue.

Retail calls it mauve, heather, lilac grey, thistle and elephant. Boden's Soft Lavender and Frank & Eileen's Elephant have landed on it, along with STAUD's Ash and Light Pebble at the greyer end. Mauve is the most reliable name. The version to avoid is the pinker, clearer one sold as orchid, which is brighter than the palette.

Easily confused with

The nearest color is Soft Summer's own dusty lavender at six points, lighter and bluer. True Summer's cool grey is eleven points off and has no violet. True Summer's grey-taupe and Soft Summer's dusty rose and slate blue are all around fourteen to fifteen points away. Nothing in a warm palette is close: Bright Spring's warm grey is the nearest at seventeen points and reads beige beside it. A True Summer can wear soft mauve; on her it reads a shade muted.

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, Frank & Eileen, Christy Dawn and Boden sample within a close match of #9E8E9E. 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.

The Camelia Blouse

Lavender Mist

$188 at Christy Dawn

Devyn Shrug

Graphite

$295 at STAUD

Monterey

Elephant

$278 at Frank & Eileen

Larson Sweater

Light Pebble

$295 at STAUD

Kat Brushed Cashmere T-shirt

Soft Lavender

$220 at Boden

Serrano Cashmere Relaxed Crew

Ash

$475 at STAUD

Montecito Sweater

Bayside

$398 at Frank & Eileen

Glide Jacket

Zinc

$333 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 #9E8E9E today, so they are the words to search for.

STAUD

Graphite, Light Pebble, Ash, Zinc

Frank & Eileen

Elephant, Bayside

Christy Dawn

Lavender Mist

Boden

Soft Lavender

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 Soft Summer guide · All in-stock Soft Summer pieces · ← Slate blue · Eucalyptus → · All colors