5 Key 2026 Color Trends That Won't Freak You Out If You Only Wear Neutrals

Shop the low-key colors all the fashion people are wearing right now.

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Influencers wearing 2026 neutral color trends
(Image credit: @annabelrosendahl; @anoukyve)
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If you're someone who is averse to bold color and is understandably concerned about the very colorful S/S 26 runways, I'm just here to say that you have nothing to worry about. Yes, the models for seemingly every brand were clothed in traffic-stopping shades such as tangerine, kelly green, cobalt blue, tomato red, citron yellow, and royal purple, but you don't have to force yourself to wear those colors to look chic in 2026.

I'm here to talk about a handful of low-key color trends that you're likely to be far more comfortable with. Some of these may already be familiar with, and if that's the case, let this serve as reassurance and to put some fresh pieces to shop in the hues on your radar. If you wear any of these buzzy neutrals in 2026, your outfits will look just as forward and relevant as the ones that contain the aforementioned primary colors. Even the Pantone Color of the Year is a neutral, so there's that.

Keep scrolling to shop the five key 2026 color trends for the bold-hue averse (or just anyone who wants to shop for some new neutrals to wear with the primary shades).

Cognac

Chocolate brown is all well and good, but the new brown hue people are gravitating is cognac. It's the rich hue that's somewhere between camel and chocolate on the color wheel, and it's the perfect shade to wear as we transition into spring.

Influencer wearing 2026 cognac color trend

(Image credit: @livvperez)

Shop Cognac Pieces

Cloud Dancer

The Pantone Color of the Year for 2026 is one of the most low-key in recent memory. Cloud Dancer is best described as a soft, milky white that exudes a sense of calm. I'm sold.

Influencer wearing cloud dancer color trend

(Image credit: @sylviemus_)

Shop Cloud Dancer Pieces

Navy Blue

To the surprise of no one, rich navy blue is still very much a thing, and I especially like it as an alternative to black in the spring. These are tons of rich navy pieces on the market right now, so stock up.

Influencer wearing 2026 navy color trend

(Image credit: @lucywilliams02)

Shop Navy Blue Pieces

Oatmeal

Oatmeal heather is a key neutral for 2026, and popular brands such as COS and Reformation are stocking their new arrivals with pieces in the hue. It looks quite expensive, and works with every other color—neutrals and non.

Influencer wearing 2026 oatmeal color trend

(Image credit: @anoukyve)

Shop Oatmeal Pieces

Avocado

This one may come as a bit of a surprise, but I find that certain shades of green are very much neutrals. One of them is avocado, the muted mossy green that's elegant and versatile.

Influencer wearing 2026 avocado color trend

(Image credit: @annabelrosendahl)

Shop Avocado Pieces

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Allyson Payer
Allyson Payer
Senior Editor

Allyson is a senior editor for Who What Wear. She joined the company in 2014 as co-founder Katherine Power's executive assistant and over the years has written hundreds of stories for Who What Wear. Prior to her career in fashion, Allyson worked in the entertainment industry at companies such as Sony Pictures Television. Allyson is now based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She holds a BFA in theater arts. Her path to fashion may not have been linear, but based on the number of fashion magazines she collected as a child and young adult, it was meant to be.