There is a color my sister keeps calling “that fancy red” and I have to keep gently correcting her. It is oxblood. Or burgundy. Or dark cherry, depending on the day and the lighting and my mood.
Whatever you want to name it, this deep red-toned red has quietly become the backbone of my cold-weather wardrobe. I fell into it a couple of winters ago when I bought one deep red sweater on a whim and then, well, everything sort of snowballed from there.
The reason I love it so much is that it feels rich and a little dressed up without trying too hard. It plays nicely with the neutrals I already own, and it saves me from wearing black head to toe (again).
So if you have been eyeing this shade and wondering how to actually wear it, here are 20 outfit combinations I keep coming back to.
20 Ways to Wear This Deep Red Shade All Season Long
Oxblood Leather Jacket With Black Jeans
This is the outfit I reach for when I want to look like I tried but I did not really try. A deep red leather jacket over slim black jeans is just so easy. Add a plain tee underneath and some ankle boots and you are done.
Honestly, oxblood outfits like this one are the whole reason I stopped buying black jackets. A rich red does everything a black one does, but it has a little more to say.
Oxblood Sweater With Cream Trousers
A soft deep red sweater tucked (loosely, I am not a tucker by nature) into cream trousers looks so warm and expensive. The cream lifts the red and keeps the look from feeling too heavy.
I wore this to a lunch date last October and my friend Dana asked where the trousers were from. They were old. Very old. But the red sweater made them look new again.
Oxblood Midi Skirt With Grey Knit
So here is where the magic starts happening with grey. A flowy oxblood midi skirt paired with a chunky grey knit is my idea of a perfect fall Saturday.
Add tights and boots and a big scarf and you have an outfit that works for the farmers market in the morning and dinner at your parents’ place in the evening.
Dark Cherry Cardigan With Blue Jeans
Nothing complicated here. A dark cherry cardigan buttoned up over your favorite blue jeans is casual and cozy and a little bit charming.
dark cherry outfits like this always remind me of my grandmother, who owned exactly one cardigan in this shade and wore it every single autumn until it fell apart. I keep hoping mine ages half as gracefully.
Dark Cherry Dress With Brown Boots
A dark cherry dress with tall brown boots is such a good one-and-done outfit. You put on the dress, you pull on the boots, and you look like you thought about your outfit for an hour when really it took you four minutes.
The brown boots warm the whole thing up. Black boots work too, of course, but the brown feels softer and more autumnal, if that makes sense.
Dark Cherry Blazer With Black Trousers
For the days when I have to look like a grown-up who has her life together, a dark cherry blazer over black trousers is my quiet secret weapon. It reads polished but not stuffy.
And a red blazer, in fact, does something that a black one never manages. People remember you. In a good way. I have gotten more compliments in this blazer than in any actual outfit I have ever spent money on.
Brown Suede Jacket With Burgundy Skirt
Now we get into the brown and burgundy territory, which is my personal favorite pairing of all. A brown suede jacket over a burgundy skirt is warm and rich and looks like fall itself decided to become an outfit.
A brown and burgundy outfit works because the two colors sit so close together on the warm end of things. They do not fight each other. They just kind of hum along nicely.
Chocolate Brown Sweater With Burgundy Trousers
A deep chocolate brown sweater with burgundy trousers is a look I stumbled into by accident and then wore three times in one week. So comfortable. So easy.
Add a thin gold necklace if you want a little something extra. Or don’t. The colors are doing the heavy lifting already.
Burgundy Coat With Brown Boots
A long burgundy coat is one of those pieces that makes every single thing underneath it look better. Throw it over jeans and a tee, add brown boots, and suddenly you look put together.
My husband once told me this coat “looks like a coat someone in a movie would wear,” which is possibly the nicest thing he has ever said about my clothes. I have not let him forget it.
Brown Leather Jacket With Burgundy Dress
A soft burgundy dress with a brown leather jacket thrown over top is the outfit for when the weather cannot decide what it is doing. Chilly in the morning, milder by noon, cold again by dinner.
The jacket toughens up the dress just enough. And you can take it off and tie it around your waist when the sun finally comes out, which mine always seems to do right after I overdress.
Pink Sweater With Burgundy Skirt
Okay, this pairing surprised me. A soft pink sweater over a burgundy skirt sounds like it should not work, and then you put it on and it absolutely does.
A pink and burgundy outfit feels a little unexpected and a little romantic, and it is proof that these two shades are actually cousins, not strangers. Pink is just burgundy that got some sun.
Blush Pink Blouse With Burgundy Trousers
A blush pink blouse tucked into burgundy trousers is soft and pretty and works so well for the office or a nice-ish dinner. The pink keeps it gentle. The burgundy keeps it grounded.
I wore something very close to this to a baby shower last spring and felt lovely all afternoon, which is not a thing I say often about outfits worn while balancing a plate of tiny sandwiches.
Pink Coat With Burgundy Dress
A pale pink coat over a burgundy dress is a bit of a moment, I will not lie to you. It is bold. It is playful. It is not for the day you want to blend into the background.
But on the days you feel like being a little more, this combination delivers. The pink coat is the star and the burgundy dress is its very supportive best friend.
Grey Blazer With Burgundy Trousers
Grey and burgundy is such a grown-up, quietly chic combination. A structured grey blazer over burgundy trousers looks like something a very stylish architect would wear, and I mean that as the highest compliment.
burgundy and grey outfits are the ones I turn to when I want to look sharp without a single ounce of effort showing. Grey calms the red down. The red keeps the grey from being boring.
Burgundy Sweater With Grey Jeans
A cozy burgundy sweater with grey jeans is the outfit equivalent of a slow Sunday morning. Nothing fancy. Just soft and comfortable and easy on the eyes.
I keep a pair of grey jeans specifically for this reason. They pair with the reds and the pinks and the browns better than my blue ones do, and I did not expect that at all when I bought them.
Grey Coat With Burgundy Skirt
A long grey coat over a burgundy skirt is the kind of outfit you see on a woman walking briskly across a city square and you think, wow, she has it figured out. That woman could be you.
Keep the rest simple. A black turtleneck under the skirt, some tall boots, a little bag. Let the grey and burgundy do the talking.
Beige Trench Coat With Burgundy Dress
And now the beige combinations, which are my other great love in life. A classic beige trench coat over a burgundy dress is timeless in a way that never seems to go out of style.
A burgundy and beige outfit is what I would wear on a trip somewhere charming and slightly rainy. It just looks like travel and coffee and cobblestones. The trench never lets you down.
Burgundy Cardigan With Beige Trousers
A soft burgundy cardigan with beige trousers is the definition of quiet, easy dressing. It is cozy but it still looks like you meant to leave the house looking that way.
I basically live in this combination from October through February. It is comfortable enough for working from home and presentable enough to answer the door for the delivery person without hiding.
Beige Sweater With Burgundy Jeans
Burgundy jeans deserve so much more love than they get. Pair them with a slouchy beige sweater and you have an outfit that feels fresh and a little different without being difficult.
The beige sweater keeps the burgundy jeans from feeling too loud. And the burgundy jeans keep the beige sweater from being just another beige thing. They balance each other out, is what I am saying.
Burgundy Blazer With Beige Skirt
Last one, and it is a good one. A burgundy blazer over a beige skirt is polished and warm and works for almost any occasion you can think of. Work, dinner, a nice event where you want to look nice.
Add a cream blouse underneath and some low heels and you are ready for basically anything. This is the outfit I mentally reach for when I have absolutely no idea what I am supposed to wear.
