The color is usually decided before you are
Wards, clinics and shops set colors by role. Here is how to find yours and match it later.
Updated 20 September 2026 ยท KECOLS guides
- Ask three questions before you order
- What this catalog holds, by color
- Buying to match a piece you already own
- Where we cannot help
Most people shopping for scrubs are not choosing a color. They are matching one. The ward picked ceil blue for nurses and black for techs a decade ago, and a new starter gets told the color on day one, usually in a corridor, usually once.
So the job is narrower than it looks. You need the right shade, in your size, in a piece that will still match in a year when you buy the next one.
Tops, and the colors each line carries
See the department
V-Neck Scrub Top
V-Neck Scrub Top
V-Neck Scrub Top
Ask three questions before you order
- Does the dress code name a color, or a color family? Navy and midnight are two different garments in the same sentence.
- Does it cover the pants as well as the top? Some codes set the top only and leave the bottom to you.
- Does your badge or lanyard have to sit somewhere specific? That decides the neckline more than the color does.
What this catalog holds, by color
Across the Kecols range, 64 pieces are black and 36 are navy. Those two cover most dress codes we get asked about. Ceil and royal blue together account for 31, and the quieter end runs to 13 green, 12 wine and 37 grey.
| If the code says | Look at | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Navy | Navy, midnight | Midnight reads darker under fluorescent light |
| Ceil blue | Blue family | Ceil is lighter than royal, and the two do not mix on a ward |
| Black | Black | Black fades fastest of anything here, so buy the set together |
| Any dark color | Navy, black, green, wine | Check whether the code covers pants as well |
Buying to match a piece you already own
Dye lots move. A top bought this month next to a top bought two years ago can read half a step lighter, and black drifts toward charcoal faster than navy drifts toward anything. If you need a matched set, buy the top and the pants in one order.
Pants in the same color families
See the department
Five-Pocket Yoga Scrub Pants
High-Rise Cargo Scrub Pants
High-Rise Cargo Scrub Pants
Where we cannot help
We cannot tell you what your employer allows. Codes differ between two floors of the same hospital, and a color that reads navy on a screen can read black across a nurses' station. If the code is strict, order one piece first and hold it against a colleague's.