Colors that go with Mauve for an outfit
Mauve · #B784A7
Mauve (#B784A7) — a dusty purple-pink — pairs best with muted red, terracotta & clay, deep charcoal, and teal. Build the outfit around muted red, drawn from 8 historically-grounded combinations below.
An outfit wants one or two decisive partners — a neutral anchor and a single accent beats a full rainbow.
About mauve
Mauve is a dusty purple-pink — a gently muted, warm colour that reads as mid-toned. As a warm tone it looks most resolved next to cool and neutral partners that temper its warmth, and it needs both lighter and deeper shades nearby for the value contrast the eye reads as finished. That balance is what makes it feel bold in an outfit.
- HEX
- #B784A7
- RGB
- 183, 132, 167
- HSL
- 319°, 26%, 62%
- CMYK
- 0, 28, 9, 28
Accessibility: put light text on mauve for below AA (decorative use) legibility (contrast 2.9:1 against off-white).
Why mauve pairs with muted red, terracotta & clay, deep charcoal, and teal
Across the 8 historical combinations below, mauve sits most often beside muted red, terracotta & clay, deep charcoal, and teal. That tracks with colour theory: a warm, mid-toned tone like this one wants cool and neutral partners that temper its warmth so the scheme feels intentional rather than flat, and both lighter and deeper partners supply the light-to-dark range the eye needs. An outfit wants one or two decisive partners — a neutral anchor and a single accent beats a full rainbow.
- muted red
- terracotta & clay
- deep charcoal
- teal
Using mauve in an outfit
Build the outfit around muted red and terracotta & clay. Because mauve is mid-toned, it can cover larger surfaces, with teal added for depth.
8 combinations with mauve, from the 1933 Dictionary
Eugenia Red | B & Maple +2
Plate 282 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Eugenia Red | B, Maple, Cobalt Green, Lilac.
#b984af #da525d #c59f6b #96d1aa
Eugenia Red | B & Lincoln Green +2
Plate 280 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Eugenia Red | B, Lincoln Green, Laelia Pink, Taupe Brown.
#ca92a8 #da525d #555832 #7a4456
Vistoris Lake & Laelia Pink +2
Plate 337 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Vistoris Lake, Laelia Pink, Violet Carmine, Black.
#ca92a8 #6d4145 #713b4c #111314
Light Brown Drab & Vinaceous Tawny +2
Plate 244 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Light Brown Drab, Vinaceous Tawny, Andover Green, Antwarp Blue.
#b59392 #c56127 #6d7e77 #007190
Light Brown Drab & Raw Sienna +2
Plate 268 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Light Brown Drab, Raw Sienna, Deep Slate Olive, Nile Blue.
#b59392 #bb7125 #253122 #bce4e5
Olive Yellow & Sea Green +2
Plate 347 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Olive Yellow, Sea Green, Helvetia Blue, Lilac.
#b984af #a6a159 #00b49b #005b8d
Indian Lake & Dull Violet Black +2
Plate 331 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Indian Lake, Dull Violet Black, Light Mauve, Violet.
#9a72aa #c53c69 #1e0e3f #4f4086
Spectrum Red & Orange Yellow +2
Plate 257 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Spectrum Red, Orange Yellow, Blue, Aconite Violet.
#a36aa5 #e31f26 #fcb315 #006eb8
Mauve in other settings
Other colors
From the archive
Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.
- All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
- Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
- Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
- CSS custom properties — every plate, one stylesheet
- 378 museum SVG plates — print-ready at any size
- Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues
Launching soon. The free archive stays free, always.
Library
Go deeper on colour
The colour-theory books behind pairings like Mauve — history, reference and the science of what works together.
Book links are Amazon Associates affiliate links. Your price is unchanged; a small commission supports the archive. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.