Why you need to be on red alert this season
STOp reading this right now if you’re not a fan of red. Nothing for you to see here. But to be honest, there’ll be nothing else for you to see all winter. I can’t remember the last time I saw a shade dominate a season so completely.
The autumn/winter catwalks staged a red rampage at Givenchy, Max Mara and Valentino, to name a few. When it comes to wearing red this season, more is more is more. Slather it on, head to toe. Don’t stop at the flaming bold blouse. Match it with fire engine red trousers, and finish with scarlet shoes, a bag, and why not jewellery as well?
Even the most cursory skim of the High Street yields a veritable red sea but River Island ( riverisland.com) seems to have embraced it best.
The elegance of the long, frilled sleeve blouse for £30 is showstopping on its own, but it’ll look great with the £38 skinny cropped trousers and £45 comfortable mules, or the on-fire strappy patent sandals for £36.
And if you’re feeling especially adventurous, throw on the excellent tassel earrings at £ 8, too ( thus ticking off another huge trend — trafficstopping earrings).
Of course, not everyone wants to be seen from space. Any of these pieces will work beautifully alone.
AcHIc alternative to head-to-toe red is to team a red piece with another bold, contrasting colour.
At calvin Klein, designer Raf Simons put hot reds and brilliant blues together. Victoria Beckham recently made a red top pop by pairing it with sky blue trousers — so much more modern than the predictable pairing of red and black.
If you want to make an easy, sexy, date-night splash, look no further than the perfect midi dress from Zara (£69.99,
zara.com). It’s beautifully silky and satiny and the sort of length that lends itself well to either stilettoes or box-fresh white trainers.
I’m planning to tick the red box in one simple statement by investing in a fabulous red coat: the £80 River Island red belted trench will be coming home with me.
It’s a bold, cheerful twist on a faithful classic and will go over jeans and a white shirt at weekends, a black dress for the evening or a grey trouser suit for work. In fact, this season red has evolved into something of a new neutral.
As with most bold trends, you can easily take a more low-risk approach. If you just want to get the red doubledecker rather than be mistaken for it, wearing a little bit of red is fine.
For a start, why even bother trying to resist the fabric ankle boots from Zara for £59.99? The perfect heel height for work, they really are all you need to give a plain suit or dress a gentle kick into autumn/winter 2017.
Similarly, if you’re going to buy a new bag (of course you are!) make it red, like the £28 cross-body from River Island.
The real beauty of red? There is a shade to suit everyone — look for ‘cooler’ blood reds if you’re pale, while darker skin tones can pull off warmer, orangey reds.
Whatever shade you go for, the answer to the question ‘what should I wear?’ is going to be red. Always red. For quite some time to come.