Dress Blues
SW 9176 · #2B4360 · LRV 5 — cool blue tone, very dark — reads black in most rooms.
- 1Dress Blues5
- 2Waterloo13
- 3Charcoal Blue19
What Color Is Dress Blues, Really?
Dress Blues reads as a cool blue tone — very dark — reads black in most rooms. The notes below cover how Sherwin-Williams SW 9176 behaves in different light and the closest matches at competing US brands.
Best Rooms and Uses for Dress Blues
Dress Blues earns its keep as a statement: accent walls, a front door, cabinetry, a moody powder room, or exterior trim where you want sharp contrast. Blues calm a room, which makes them popular in bedrooms, bathrooms and home offices.
How Lighting Changes Dress Blues
At LRV 5, Dress Blues is about as dark as paint gets — it reads near-black on a wall and reveals its character only in direct daylight or under warm bulbs. Its blue undertone is the part to watch: it gets picked up by whatever sits next to it, so test it against your trim, floor and the room's main light before committing. In rooms with little natural light it can feel heavy, so reserve it for spaces you want to feel enveloping.
Most complaints about Dress Blues are a light mismatch. Upload a photo of your actual room and see it on your walls — then ask for the same wall in north light or evening lamps before you buy a single sample.
Need It From Another Brand?
Any paint counter can custom-tint Sherwin-Williams SW 9176 directly. If you would rather stay in one brand's own deck, these are the closest stock matches, measured as ΔE2000. Under 2 is a difference you will not see on the wall.
| Brand | Closest color | ΔE | LRV | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Moore | Cefalú Beach2061-20 · Benjamin Moore | 3.4 | 8 | Color page → |
| Valspar | Nordic NoirP034 · Valspar | 2.2 | 5.9 | Color page → |
| Dutch Boy | Beyond The Stars339-7DB · Dutch Boy | 1.6 | 5 | Color page → |
| HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams | Dress BluesHGSW 9176 · HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams | 0.0 | 5 | Color page → |
| Hirshfield's | Star-Studded0620 · Hirshfield's | 2.4 | 7 | Color page → |
| Annie Sloan | Napoleonic BlueNAPOLEONIC BLUE · Annie Sloan | 4.9 | 5 | Color page → |
Similar Sherwin-Williams Colors
The nearest shades to Dress Blues within Sherwin-Williams's own range, ranked by perceptual color distance — useful when you want the same look a touch lighter, darker, or warmer.
WCAG 2.1: AA is 4.5 : 1 for normal text, 3 : 1 for large text, AAA is 7 : 1.
Coordinated palette
Generated by hue-rotating #2B4360 in HSL space. Pair Dress Blues with one accent and one neutral — the swatches below are starting points, not final picks.
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