Lavender

Where it sits

Light Summer palette

Lavender 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 12: close enough to mistake for it on a hanger, far enough to tell apart on a person.

Lavender is sold in two versions and only one of them is this. There is a warm, pinkish lavender that leans toward lilac, which is a Spring color. And there is a cool, slightly grey lavender that leans toward periwinkle, which is this one. The test is whether it looks better beside peach or beside powder blue. This lavender belongs with the blue.

On a Light Summer it does what a pastel is supposed to do, which is lift the face without competing with it. The season's low contrast means strong color overwhelms, and lavender is about as much saturation as a Light Summer wants near the face. It pairs with the rest of the palette naturally: powder blue, soft rose, dove grey. With navy it looks sharp in the right way. With black it looks like a mistake.

The practical problem is that pale purple is hard to buy outside spring. It appears in resort and spring drops, usually in the warm version, and disappears by August. When the cool version shows up in a real garment, a knit or a shirt rather than a scarf, it tends to go fast, because every Summer and most Winters can wear it.

Easily confused with

Three colors sit twelve points off: Light Spring's light warm periwinkle, the Summer periwinkle shared by True and Soft Summer, and Soft Summer's dusty lavender. The Spring one has warmth this color lacks and reads peachy on a Summer. The Soft Summer one has more grey and reads flatter on a Light Summer. The periwinkle is bluer and could pass for this on most people.

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, 7 in-stock pieces across Marine Layer, STAUD and Christy Dawn sample within a close match of #B7A7D0. 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.

Cassie Dress

Lilac

$795 at STAUD

Aviva Skirt

Lilac

$495 at STAUD

Lexi Pointelle Long Sleeve Scoop Tee

Lilac

$54 at Marine Layer

The Ingrid Sweater

Purple

$288 at Christy Dawn

The Clarissa Skirt

Lavender Mist

$228 at Christy Dawn

Lexi Pointelle Tee

Lilac

$45 at Marine Layer

Tried & True Crew Tee

Lilac

$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 #B7A7D0 today, so they are the words to search for.

Marine Layer

Lilac

STAUD

Lilac

Christy Dawn

Purple, Lavender Mist

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 · ← Cool soft rose · Cool mint → · All colors