Rust on deep, warm skin tones (Deep Autumn)

One of yours: with deep, warm colouring, rust sits ΔE 5.1 from the nearest Deep Autumn colour.

The answer

Yes. Rust sits inside the Deep Autumn palette. The nearest thing in the palette is #A04A20, ΔE 5.1 away. Under 12 reads as the same colour family; past 25 the two are visibly different colours.

It does not collide with anything on the season's avoid list, so the only question is distance.

How rust scores across all twelve seasons

Rust is an opinionated colour: True Autumn scores it 88 and Light Summer scores it 0. A gap that wide means the colour genuinely decides something, and getting it right is worth the effort.

Deep Autumn sits 2 of twelve at 87, 0 points behind True Autumn. That gap is the honest size of the compromise, not a verdict on the colour.

  • True Autumn: 88 (ΔE 5.0).
  • Deep Autumn: 87 (ΔE 5.1) <- this season.
  • True Spring: 71 (ΔE 11.8).
  • Light Summer: 0 (ΔE 34.4).

What to wear it with

The palette entries closest to rust are the ones that will read as a deliberate pairing rather than a near-miss, because a near-miss of two similar colours is more noticeable than a clear contrast.

  • #A04A20: deep, a rust (ΔE 5.1).
  • #9A5828: deep, a rust (ΔE 9.5).
  • #8C3A1C: deep, a rust (ΔE 9.6).

Updated 19 August 2026