Periwinkle Blue
Retired1989-2006 · Color No. 108
Introducing Periwinkle Blue, made by The Fiesta Tableware Company from 1989 to 2006. It's a charming and delicate shade of blue with hints of purple, reminiscent of blooming periwinkle flowers. Periwinkle Blue adds a touch of whimsy and sophistication to any tablescape. Mix and match Periwinkle Blue with colors like White and Ivory for a soft and romantic table setting, or pair it with Paprika and Sage for a cozy and inviting combination.
Production
Periwinkle Blue was retired in 2006, so it is a hunt for secondhand pieces now. Fiesta Factory Direct is where the colors still being made are, if you are filling a set.
Shop Fiesta Factory Direct (opens in a new tab)Notes on Periwinkle Blue
Periwinkle Blue arrived in 1989 and ran seventeen years to 2006 - a long, quiet run for a color most people don't think of first. It's a pale blue with a distinct lavender cast, softer and cooler than Turquoise, and it sits close enough to the modern Sky that the two are worth comparing before you buy either. It's very much a color of its moment: periwinkle was everywhere in early-nineties interiors. As a table color it's a bridge rather than a lead, good for softening the gap between a strong blue and a neutral.
Using Periwinkle Blue on a table
Periwinkle Blue has enough color to be noticed without taking over, which makes it a good second or third piece - a salad plate or a serving bowl rather than the whole setting. Its mid lightness (L* 70) means most food reads against it without either washing out or vanishing. It nearly disappears against a white cloth (2.3:1), so it shows best on dark wood or a colored runner.
Below, 5 combinations built only from colors Fiesta has actually produced. Each says which rule it follows, and which pieces you can still buy today.
The pairing in its own description
Named in the descriptionThese colors are named alongside Periwinkle Blue in this guide's description of it.
Buy these to go with it
Periwinkle Blue was retired in 2006, but these are all in production now - the set you can actually finish buying.
Opposite on the wheel
Apricot sits roughly opposite Periwinkle Blue in hue, which is the highest-contrast pairing the palette offers. The neutrals keep it from shouting.
- Apricot
-
Your color Periwinkle Blue
- Red, 1936-1943
- Black
All blue
Every color here is from the blue family, arranged light to dark. A single-family table reads calm and deliberate rather than busy.
- Sky
-
Your color Periwinkle Blue
- Juniper
- Blue (Cobalt)
Three-way split
Heather and Chartreuse sit about a third of the way around the color wheel from Periwinkle Blue in each direction. Evenly spaced hues stay lively without any one taking over.
- White
-
Your color Periwinkle Blue
- Chartreuse, 1997-1999
- Heather
Where Periwinkle Blue sits in the line
Periwinkle Blue arrived while Turquoise, 1988-present was still in production, and is a similar weight than it - a clearly different glaze rather than a reformulation (ΔE 13.0). It has been in production 17 years against a median of 7 for its era - one of the colors the company kept. What else happened at the company in 1989 →
Closest colors in the palette
Ranked by CIEDE2000 (ΔE) against Periwinkle Blue. Under about ΔE 5 two colors are hard to tell apart side by side - useful when you are identifying an unmarked piece.
On the table alongside Periwinkle Blue
23 colors were in production at the same time. The 10 nearest in the timeline: