Butter yellow and gray is a soft, low-contrast pairing that looks good on a gray day. These four outfits put pale yellow knits, a silk skirt, a dress and a striped shirt with gray flannel, cashmere and suede. Nothing here is loud, and that is the point.
Butter Yellow and Gray Outfits to Try This Fall
For 2021, Pantone named two Colors of the Year instead of one: Ultimate Gray and Illuminating, a bright yellow. It was a strange choice at the time and a smart one in hindsight, because yellow and gray really do need each other. Gray keeps yellow from looking sugary, and yellow keeps gray from looking tired.
The version I wear is softer than Pantone's. Butter yellow is the pale, creamy kind, closer to the inside of a croissant than to a lemon. Against gray flannel and cashmere it looks warm without being bright.
A quick test: hold something butter yellow under your chin in daylight. If your skin looks rested, wear it near your face. If it looks washed out, wear it as a skirt or a bag.
Start With One Piece of Each
Bottega Veneta's Gemellini bag is butter yellow Intrecciato leather, and it goes with every gray coat you own. Jennifer Behr's Veronica necklace sets pale yellow quartz in gold tone. For gray, Acne Studios' fringed wool scarf is the easy pick, and Jimmy Choo's Romy 85 pumps in gray suede are the kind of heel you can wear to work.
A Butter Knit, Gray Trousers
The Row's Kate sweatshirt is pale yellow cotton blend, and it is the piece I would build this whole pairing around. Joseph's Viola flared pants are gray cashmere blend, so the outfit is soft from top to bottom while still looking like you tried. Roger Vivier's embellished Belle Vivier pumps in gray suede dress it up, and Polo Ralph Lauren's Polo ID mini bag brings the yellow back.
Gray Knit, Butter Skirt
Arch4's Cimmie turtleneck is gray cashmere and about as plain as a sweater gets. Alix of Bohemia's Lyra Sunlight skirt is the opposite, a pale yellow silk midi with a soft sheen. Jimmy Choo's Frankie ankle boots in gray suede keep it practical, and Cult Gaia's Eviana clutch is a marbled yellow.
How to wear it: tuck the turtleneck in all the way. Silk skirts look best with a clean waist.
The Butter Dress, a Gray Cape
Matteau's strapless midi dress is butter yellow cotton poplin, ruched through the body. On its own it is a summer dress. Under Max Mara's Derrik cape in light gray cashmere, buckled and trimmed in leather, it is ready for October. Christian Louboutin's Cassia flannel ballerina pumps are gray, and Gabriela Hearst's Soft Demi clutch is charcoal snakeskin.
What I would skip: yellow shoes with this. The dress is enough yellow, and gray at the feet keeps it calm.
A Gray Blazer, a Butter Shirt
Chloé's wool-blend chiné blazer is gray with a cape detail, the kind of small thing that makes a jacket feel special. Lido's striped cotton-poplin shirt brings the butter yellow, and CO's pleated midi skirt in dark gray wool and cashmere sits underneath. Chloé's striped shoulder bag repeats the yellow at the hip. Tuck the shirt into the skirt and let the blazer hang open.
Gray Does the Heavy Lifting
Gray is the half you probably own already, in a coat, a sweater or a pair of trousers. So butter yellow is the piece to buy, and I would buy it as a knit or a shirt you can wear near your face, or as a bag if you are not sure yet. Keep the gray soft, flannel and cashmere rather than anything shiny, and the pairing stays warm all fall. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Butter Yellow and Chocolate Brown Outfits to Try This Fall and Butter Yellow and Baby Blue Outfits to Try This Fall. If you would rather wear the shade as one piece, I rounded up butter yellow dresses that do what white does without the laundry anxiety.
