What Colours Go With Turquoise? 10 Outfits and Jewellery Tips

Turquoise goes with white, sand, coral, navy, chocolate brown, hot pink, grey, black, denim blue and mustard. It is a bright, light blue-green named after the stone, and like the stone it looks best against plain, warm or sun-bleached colours. On holiday, white and sand are the easy answers; for the rest of the year, brown, grey and mustard take it somewhere less beachy.

Turquoise tends to come home from the holiday and stay folded until next summer. Pin it in the Wdrobe app, where the stylist reads your local forecast, and see it dressed for a grey autumn day.

Turquoise or teal?

The two get mixed up. Turquoise is lighter and brighter and reads as sea and summer; teal is deeper and reads as autumn. To check, hold yours next to something navy: turquoise looks clearly lighter, while teal looks almost as deep.

If it turns out to be teal, what colours go with teal clothes is the better guide. Either way, keep the two in separate outfits, because blue-greens a few steps apart look as if one of them faded in the wash. And if your piece is pale enough to look minty, the mint green pairings will fit it better.

Ten turquoise outfits, from beach to office

1. Turquoise and white at the beach

Both colours bounce light around, which is why this is the pairing people picture on holiday. Let one be clearly bigger than the other.

Outfit formula: turquoise swimsuit + white linen shirt worn open + white drawstring trousers + tan leather slides.

2. Turquoise and sand for a long lunch

Sand is the quietest partner turquoise has, and it makes the colour look expensive rather than touristy. For more around that neutral, see what colours go with beige clothes.

Outfit formula: turquoise knitted tank + sand linen midi skirt + raffia mules + woven shoulder bag.

3. Turquoise and navy for a day on the coast

Navy is the dark anchor, the colour of deep water beside shallow. It keeps turquoise from looking too sweet.

Outfit formula: turquoise cotton shirt + navy cropped trousers + white canvas trainers + tan leather belt.

4. Turquoise and coral for a holiday dinner

Coral is close to the complement of turquoise, so the pair makes a lively warm and cool contrast. Wear one as the outfit and the other as an accent; what colours go with coral covers the reverse.

Outfit formula: coral linen midi dress + turquoise stone necklace + tan flat sandals + raffia clutch.

A turquoise dress on a model by a pool tells you little about how it will look on you. Preview it on your own photo before ordering.

5. Turquoise and chocolate brown for autumn

Turquoise stone often has brown veins running through it, and brown clothing does the same job: it makes the blue-green look earthy instead of tropical.

Outfit formula: turquoise lambswool jumper + chocolate brown cord trousers + brown loafers + brown leather tote.

6. Turquoise and hot pink for an evening out

The loudest combination here, and a good one on holiday. Keep both shapes simple and let gold sandals tie them together. What colours go with hot pink has more on handling the pink.

Outfit formula: hot pink sleeveless top + turquoise silk midi skirt + gold flat sandals + small gold clutch.

7. Turquoise and grey for work

Grey turns down the holiday mood, which makes it the office pairing. A light or mid grey suit sits better than charcoal, which can look severe beside such a light colour.

Outfit formula: light grey trouser suit + turquoise silk blouse + grey suede loafers + pale grey leather tote.

8. Turquoise and black after dark

Black makes turquoise sharper and less seasonal, so this works for an evening in any month.

Outfit formula: turquoise pleated midi skirt + black fitted sweater + black block-heel sandals + black shoulder bag.

9. Turquoise jewellery with denim

Turquoise and denim is the classic Southwestern pairing, and the easiest way to wear the stone. Plain fabrics give it room.

Outfit formula: dark rinse straight jeans + white vest top + turquoise cuff and rings + cognac ankle boots.

10. Turquoise and mustard for a retro autumn

Mustard and turquoise is a retro pairing that suits cooler months. Keep the mustard in a thick fabric so it reads as autumn rather than a second bright colour.

Outfit formula: mustard cord mini skirt + turquoise cardigan + brown opaque tights + brown knee-high boots.

Wearing turquoise jewellery

Turquoise stones have long been set in silver, most famously in Navajo and Zuni jewellery from the American Southwest, and silver is still the easiest setting to wear, keeping the stone cool and bright. Gold settings make it warmer and suit a holiday or evening outfit.

The clothes under the jewellery matter more than the metal. A turquoise necklace or pair of earrings looks best against plain white, denim, brown, black or rust, with a simple neckline. A busy print hides the stone, and a turquoise top beside a turquoise necklace rarely matches, so choose one.

A turquoise necklace needs a plain neckline under it, and most people find out which tops have one while already running late. Check which of your tops leave room for it.

What to keep away from turquoise

Most turquoise mistakes come from putting another loud colour next to it. Bright orange or red at the same size as the turquoise makes the outfit shout. Coral is the softer way to get that warm contrast, and even then one of the two should be small.

Bright greens such as lime or kelly sit too close to turquoise's green side and read as an almost-match. And a pastel pile-up, turquoise with lilac, baby pink and lemon, looks like a sweet shop. One pale partner is plenty.

Sandals, bags and metal for turquoise clothes

For shoes and bags, warm tan and cognac leather sit most naturally beside turquoise, the way the brown veins sit in the stone. Raffia, straw and woven bags suit the holiday outfits, and white canvas trainers suit the casual ones. Gold sandals work for evening. Save black shoes for the black and grey outfits.

On the clothes themselves, silver buttons and buckles suit the beach outfits, and gold hardware suits the evening ones.

Frequently asked questions

What colours go with turquoise for ladies?

White, sand, coral, navy and chocolate brown are the five to start with. A turquoise top with a sand or white skirt covers summer, and a turquoise jumper with brown trousers takes it into autumn. Tan sandals or brown loafers finish both.

Do turquoise and teal go together?

Usually not. Two blue-greens that close look like two attempts at one colour. Wear one, with white, navy or sand beside it.

What colour dress goes with turquoise jewellery?

White, black, denim, chocolate brown and rust dresses give turquoise jewellery a plain background. Keep the neckline simple and the fabric unpatterned so the stone stands out.

Is turquoise a summer colour?

It is most at home in summer and on holiday, but it works all year. In wool or cord with chocolate brown, grey or mustard, it looks autumnal rather than beachy.

For holiday packing, our comparison of AI stylist apps looks at how each one handles the weather where you are going, and outfit colour combinations explains why turquoise works best as the only bright colour.

A turquoise top often makes the suitcase and then gets worn on one day out of seven, because the other six were never planned around it. In Wdrobe you can lay out each day of a trip using clothes you own, which means the turquoise piece comes out twice with different partners. Plan your holiday days around the turquoise piece.