Burgundy, Chocolate and Olive: How to Wear Autumn's Richest Colours

Autumn's colours are the easiest of the year to love and the hardest to commit to. A deep maroon bag looks wonderful on a shelf. Whether it works well with the typical navy coat, grey jumper and jeans that make up most of your actual week is another question entirely.

So here are our seasonal pairings. No rules about seasons or undertones - just what looks good with what, and which shade to choose depending on what already hangs in your wardrobe.

Deep Reds: Dark Maroon, Claret and Burnt Rhubarb

Deep red is the shade of the season, and it behaves far more like a neutral than people expect. In low winter light it reads almost as a very dark brown; under a lamp or in sunshine it shows its colour.

Wear it with: navy, camel, cream, charcoal, mid-blue denim, and - the pairing that surprises everyone - soft pink. A deep red bag against a camel coat is the single most reliable autumn combination there is!

Be careful with: bright red, orange and warm rust, which fight it rather than flatter it.

Choose it if: your coats are camel, navy or cream and you want one accessory that lifts everything without being the loudest thing you own.

Chocolate Plum

Brown has quietly taken black's place as the default smart neutral, and the browns that matter now are the deep ones; chocolate, coffee, and browns with a purple cast.

The old rule that you cannot wear brown with black is, thankfully, dead. A chocolate bag against a black coat looks considered rather than accidental, provided the brown is deep enough to look deliberate. Pale tan against black is the combination that reads as a mistake; chocolate against black does not.

Wear it with: cream, camel, olive, black, denim, and every shade of grey.

Choose it if: you have worn tan for years and want the same warmth with more depth - or if you want a single bag that will still look right in five years' time.

Olive Green

Olive is the most underrated colour in accessories. It is muted enough to sit quietly, but it is a colour, which stops an outfit looking like a uniform.

Wear it with: navy, black, cream, camel, denim, burgundy and rust. Olive and denim is a combination you can wear four days a week without anyone noticing you have.

Choose it if: your wardrobe leans navy and black and you want to introduce colour without introducing risk.

Volcano Grey

A cool, stony grey is the alternative to black for anyone who finds black hard against winter skin. It is softer, more modern, and it does something particularly good alongside camel and cream.

Wear it with: almost everything. Grey is the most obliging colour in the palette. It is especially good with pastels, which most autumn shades overwhelm.

Choose it if: you want a genuine everyday neutral but already own black.

Almond Beige and Other Pale Shades

The idea that pale bags are for summer only is a hangover from a time when leather was less well finished. A soft Almond Beige or Stone bag against a charcoal coat is one of the most elegant things you can do in November, and it is considerably more flattering near the face than black.

Wear it with: charcoal, black, navy, camel, chocolate and cream.

Be honest about: dark denim, which can transfer colour onto pale leather over time. Wipe it down regularly, or choose a mid-tone if you live in jeans.

Four Outfit Formulas That Always Work

1. The camel coat formula. Camel coat, cream knit, dark denim, deep red bag. Nothing else required.
2. The all-black rescue. Black trousers, black knit, black boots - and one bag in Burnt Rhubarb or chocolate. The bag becomes the entire outfit and does all the work.
3. The navy update. Navy coat, grey jumper, jeans, olive bag. Quiet, considered and impossible to get wrong.
4. The two-brown trick. Chocolate bag with tan boots - deliberately different shades of brown rather than a matched set. Matching browns exactly looks dated; contrasting them looks intentional.

The Cheapest Way to Test a Colour

If you are unsure whether a shade suits you, do not start with a bag. Start with a Strap, a Card Holder or a Coin Purse in that colour. Carry it for a fortnight and you will know. A strap in particular is the fastest way to change the entire character of a bag you already own, the same crossbody in black reads completely differently on a burgundy woven strap than on its original one.

One Practical Note About Matching

Your bag does not need to match your shoes. That rule left with the last century, and following it now tends to make an outfit look staged. What is worth matching is metal: keep hardware, jewellery and buckles broadly in the same family - gold with gold, silver with silver - and everything reads as more deliberate, whatever the colours are doing.

Ready to choose? Browse the season's shades across the crossbody collection, or see what has just arrived in new arrivals.