Light warm periwinkle

Where it sits

Light Spring palette

Light warm periwinkle is an anchor color in Light Spring. The nearest color on the same side of the warm–cool line is Warm periwinkle #7C8FD6, a True Spring color, at a distance of 18: close enough to mistake for it on a hanger, far enough to tell apart on a person.

At RGB 165, 180, 232 the blue leads, and the red and green are close together with the green just ahead. The red sitting that close to the green is what gives it the faint violet warmth. The lift in all three is what keeps it light. Pull the red down and add grey and it becomes Light Summer's dusty cornflower; darken it and it becomes True Spring's warm periwinkle.

A Light Spring wears it as the cool-looking color in a warm palette: a shirt, a knit, a dress, a scarf. It is one of the few blues that flatters a Light Spring, because the warmth in it agrees with her skin. It works with cream, light camel, soft stone and warm beige, and it pairs well with light warm pink, apricot and clear salmon.

Retail calls it periwinkle, cornflower, hydrangea, bluebell and lavender blue. Most periwinkle in stores is a shade cooler and greyer than this, which is the Summer version and is close enough for a Light Spring to wear. The warm one is rarer. Spring is when the most of it is in stores.

Easily confused with

The nearest color is Light Summer's periwinkle at five points, close enough that most people would call them the same. The Summers' shared periwinkle is eleven points off and greyer, and Light Summer's lavender is twelve and more violet. True Spring's warm periwinkle is eighteen points away and deeper. Because it sits so near the Summer side, this is the color to share with a Light Summer friend; on her it reads a shade warm but it holds.

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, 4 in-stock pieces across Marine Layer and Boden sample within a close match of #A5B4E8. 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.

Swing Crew Tee

Coastal Blue

$42 at Marine Layer

Anna Longline Cotton Shirt

Blue Oxford

$130 at Boden

Lexi Rib Sun-In Scoop Tee

Soft Blue

$35 at Marine Layer

Volume Sleeve Shirt

Blue Oxford

$130 at Boden

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 #A5B4E8 today, so they are the words to search for.

Marine Layer

Coastal Blue, Soft Blue

Boden

Blue Oxford

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 Spring guide · All in-stock Light Spring pieces · ← Light warm green · Apricot → · All colors