Burgundy: A Colored Neutral

Colored Neutrals: Installment Three

Happy day, reader dearest!

I LOVE wine! No, not that kind of wine. I mean the color wine! Oh, who am I kidding? I like that wine, too. Although it doesn’t like me the way it did when I was less vintage. (True about SO many things…) #amirite

FYI: I will be using the terms Wine and Burgundy interchangeably in this post.

Why is Burgundy Wine such a great color? Burgundy manages to be solid and traditional but not stodgy. It has the powerful allure of red without the flash.

Wine can be treated as a neutral. Not convinced? What color are traditional loafers? Yes, Oxblood. Which is just another name for a deep wine. You see them worn with everything. I. Mean. Every. Thing. That makes it a colored neutral, just like the ones I wrote about in the first two installments.

If you would like an introduction to colored neutrals, and other information (and links) about color, read this. The first installment is about teal, which may just be my favorite colored neutral. To catch the second installment, about Greens, read more here.

Related to burgundy/wine is eggplant. They often share the same names, which can be confusing! For our purposes today (and in the coming Eggplant post), wine is lighter and more red. Eggplant (and more purple wines) are darker and more, well, purple. (Surprise!) How we view color is very subjective and relative to the other colors and textures around it, so if you want to call something I term wine or burgundy by another name, please feel free to do so!

Burgundy

Like our friend Teal, Burgundy is another skin enhancer color for many people. Think about it: When we are healthy, our lips (or at least the inside of them) are a deep red… The color of the inside of our lips, or the deep flush of embarassment is a great color for us.

NOTE: Wine and Burgundy lipcolors are BIG this Fall/Winter season. For my lips, I prefer a sheer finish wine lipcolor rather than an opaque matte look. Since you can find both warm and cool wines, there should be one out there for anyone who wants to experiment!

If you are curious, the dress also comes in teal! It’s a tough call which I like better. The silicone and pearl bracelets may just end up on my holiday wish list.. Are you reading this, Santa?

The only place I find Wine tricky is when building a capsule wardrobe. Normally, if I am including red, I skip wine. And vice versa.

Other Ways to Look for Wine

When shopping online for wine, look for: Garnet, Ruby, Maroon, Port, Marsala and Oxblood as I mentioned above. You may also find Wine described as almost any kind of grape varietal: Merlot, Burgundy or Cabernet. Or fermented wine beverage: Mulled Wine and Sangria are common. Know that if you are thinking Bordeaux, you’ll also find it spelled Bordeau and Bordo. (My Middle Grades Language Arts self cringes.)

For an interesting romp through all kinds of fabulous color names, look for Ingrid Sundberg’s Color Thesaurus. I can’t link the site here because the security certifcate has expired, but it’s a fabulous resource… Sigh.

Fabulous Pairings

Whether you prefer Wine (deep and cool) or Maroon (deep and warm), here are some combinations to try! Time to look at the Color Wheel to find interesting combinations! (Of course, you can wear Wine or Maroon with any other neutral…)

Wine + Blush

Wine + Pink

Wine + Mustard

Wine + Persimmon

Wine + Teal

Wine + Wedgewood Blue

Wine + Light Blue

Wine + Forest Green (Uber 80’s)

Wine + Moss

Wine + Olive

Burgundy IRL

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So How About You?

Do you like wine? How about the color? Is it hard to find the right shade of wine for your coloring? I know when Marsala was Pantone’s Color of the Year back in 2015, it was a challenge to find cool wines. With what color do you like to pair wine? Had you thought of Wine as a neutral before? Or as a color? Do tell! I love to hear your thoughts…

Stylishly yours,