The Go-To Guide for Autumn Colours

Understanding the Autumn Colour Palette

Just as the leaves change colour, so should the colour of the pieces you incorporate into your daily style. Summer is no more, so it’s time to shelve your white pants, your pastel shirts, and your summer loafers. Whether dressing casually or otherwise, it’s crucial to understand how to use the colour palette of autumn to look your best this upcoming season.

But which colours fall into the autumn colour palette? Today we’ll be guiding you through the rich tones that make up this seasonal palette. 

Orange – An Autumn Staple

Quickly, what is the first colour that comes to mind when you think of autumn? For most of us at Aklasu, it’s orange. The colour instantly brings forth images of pumpkin patches, autumn leaves, and perhaps the colours of numerous professional sports teams (who all tend to garner attention in autumn).

Admittedly, incorporating the colour orange into a smart wardrobe can be challenging. Orange can often come across as garish if not incorporated properly into your look, and can call too much attention to itself. For autumn, we prefer darker shades of orange such as rust, burnt orange, and bronze, as we believe it can add a warm touch to any autumn outfit.

For orange, we think it’s all about the accessories. An orange tie (like Aklasu’s Burnt Orange Grenadine Tie), pocket square, or scarf, when paired with more neutral colours such as brown or navy blue, is the perfect way to embrace that warm, almost nostalgic autumnal feel into your wardrobe. 

Olive – The Cool Autumn Tone

While the colours of autumn tend to fall on the warmer side of the palette, not all autumn colours necessarily feel warm. Enter olive, the perfect cool tone that evokes the feel of autumn without being overtly warm. Like a good drummer in a band, olive provides a solid backbone to an outfit without detracting from the rest of the look.

Because olive isn’t a commanding colour, we like to incorporate into larger pieces that take up more real estate on our bodies. Overcoats, suit jackets, sweaters, and pants are all wardrobe pieces in which olive thrives. An olive Chesterfield or Loden coat for example are brilliant pieces of outerwear that can truly tie an autumn outfit together perfectly.

As a cooler tone, olive pairs well with other warm autumn colours such as burgundy and brown, in addition to complementary neutral colours such as grey, navy, and black. While it may not evoke the same warm autumnal imagery that colours like yellow and orange do, olive still provides the perfect cool touch to a solid autumn fit.

Burgundy – The Mature Autumn Colour

If orange had a mature, more sophisticated older brother, it would be burgundy. Likely the second most thought of colour when reminiscing on autumn (apple orchards and autumn leaves come to mind), burgundy is a strikingly bold tone that provides a deeper warmth to an outfit without coming across as obnoxious. However, like it’s younger brother orange, burgundy can be excessive when not integrated properly into your autumn outfit.

Burgundy is a fantastic colour due to its versatility. Whether incorporated through accessories or through a main piece in your wardrobe, burgundy adds a touch of complexity to your outfit that can’t be denied. While a full burgundy suit may only work in certain occasions, a burgundy tie (like Aklasu’s Burgundy Grenadine Tie), waistcoat, or pocket square paired with a navy suit is smart, yet bold. A burgundy sweater paired with a grey or navy coat achieves the same effect as well. Lastly, burgundy is a colour that can be great for footwear. Oxblood is a shade of burgundy that works well for autumn dress boots (such as chukka boots), or dress shoes. 

Yellow – Autumn’s “Risk and Reward” Colour

We at Aklasu like to christen yellow as autumn’s “risk and reward” colour for a very simple reason; while it may not seem like yellow can be a colour that can compliment your wardrobe, when yellow works, it really works.

We should probably clarify that the shade of yellow is crucial to how effective it will work in your wardrobe, especially in autumn. While lighter shades such as canary yellow or lemon yellow will instantly evoke spring and summer, a gamboge, or even gold is quintessentially autumnal in feel.

As a complementary colour, yellow can work well with colours like burgundy, brown, navy blue, and grey. We like yellow as an accessory colour. If yellow becomes too dominant in an outfit, it can look somewhat cartoonish or dated. However, a pop of yellow incorporated in to a pocket square, tie, or sweater in an otherwise understated outfit can really bring a lovely touch of warmth to a cool autumn day.

Colours can be difficult to navigate, but with the right guidance you’ll be able to look your best, especially this autumn season. Complementary colours will always complement each other, no matter which trends shuffle in and out.