Cream, ivory, bone and oat are all technically the same idea and none of them are white. Worn together they can look considered or they can look like laundry, and the difference comes down to how far apart the tones sit. Two shades that are almost identical read as a failed match. Two that are clearly different read as layering. The uncomfortable middle is where most outfits go wrong. The simplest way to avoid it is to build the outfit from pieces with different textures, since a ribbed knit and a satin skirt in slightly different creams look intentional in a way that two flat surfaces never will.

Pale fabrics show everything, including the construction underneath. A heavier knit or a lined skirt solves most of it. Where the fabric is genuinely light, the answer is a matching layer rather than a darker one, since a contrasting shadow under cream defeats the point. Check opacity in daylight, holding the fabric away from the body rather than against it. In knitwear, look for something with a visible surface, whether cable, rib or bouclé, because a flat pale knit picks up every shadow and can look thin even when it is not. Cuff and hem finishes stay visible in these colours, so they are worth a look.

This is the palette we recommend most often and the one that goes wrong most often, almost always because two creams sat too close together. Our working rule is to make the tones either near-identical or obviously different, and to let texture carry the outfit rather than colour. We would also be honest that these clothes need looking after, and if that is going to bother you it is better to know before you buy rather than after the first wear. If you take one thing away, it is that the gap between two near-whites should be either very small or very obvious, and never in between.