Buttermilk

Where it sits

Soft Autumn palette

Buttermilk is an anchor color in Soft Autumn. The nearest color on the same side of the warm–cool line is Warm beige #D8C09A, a True Spring color, at a distance of 10: close enough to mistake for it on a hanger, far enough to tell apart on a person.

At RGB 235, 217, 168 the red leads, the green is close behind and the blue is clearly lower. The red and green together make yellow; the height of all three makes it pale. The blue not being very low is what keeps it soft rather than lemon. It is the color of cream with a little saffron in it. Lower the yellow and it becomes the warm creams of the deeper Autumns; darken it and it becomes Light Spring's light camel.

A Soft Autumn wears it as a light near the face: a blouse, a knit, a summer dress, a shirt under a taupe jacket. It gives lift without the glare of white. It works with warm taupe, mushroom grey and soft chocolate, and it pairs well with sage green and muted teal.

Retail calls it buttermilk, butter, vanilla, straw and pale gold. Spring is when most of it is in stores. The versions to avoid are the clear lemon, which belongs to the Springs, and the greenish one sold as chartreuse cream.

Easily confused with

The nearest color is True Spring's warm beige at ten points, deeper and less yellow. The warm cream shared by True and Dark Autumn is eleven points off and paler in color. Light Spring's light camel is twelve points away and darker; True Spring's cream is thirteen and whiter. Nothing is under ten points, so buttermilk does not have a twin, but all the Springs and Autumns have something nearby and most of them can wear it.

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, 10 in-stock pieces across STAUD and Frank & Eileen sample within a close match of #EBD9A8. 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.

Clarke Jacket

Butter Studs

$277 at STAUD

Angelique Linen Dress

Butter Studs

$263 at STAUD

Valencia Linen Dress

Butter

$298 at STAUD

Monterey Pointelle

Lemon Yellow

$398 at Frank & Eileen

Gwen Mini Dress

Butter

$242 at STAUD

Margi Dress

Butter

$277 at STAUD

Lisa Linen Top

Butter

$193 at STAUD

Sonoma Silk Skirt

Key Lime

$297 at STAUD

Calluna Dress

Lemon Grove

$297 at STAUD

Auden Dress

Lemon Grove

$357 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 #EBD9A8 today, so they are the words to search for.

STAUD

Butter Studs, Butter, Key Lime, Lemon Grove

Frank & Eileen

Lemon Yellow

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 Autumn guide · All in-stock Soft Autumn pieces · ← Muted teal · Warm mushroom → · All colors