Colour after 50: Red alert

I was trying clothes in a boutique awhile ago when a 50+ woman stood in front of a mirror in a red jacket. I looked at her admiringly, and said that I liked it on her. "It's a kind red", she said, and I understood right away.

The red drew but did not dominate the eye. Reds are pesky. A great shade will spark an ensemble; the wrong one kills any vestige of elegance; it's as loud as a bully in a bar.

The mean reds

This is a recent shot from the colour-rich blog Advanced Style, and let me only say the cigarette is the least of this woman's risks.

She's going to damage her eyesight in this garish, almost neon red. Advanced Style seems to have a "Older? The more colour, the better!" aesthetic. While I sometimes admire the people photographed, or at least salute their nerve, this woman is more three alarm fire than red-hot mama.

Is Gloria Allred subliminally influenced by her name?


Aaaand... I have to show Nancy Reagan, here in Valentino red, her trademark. I found it overpowering on her thin frame.

Aggressive, aging, brassy reds. Some women can wear a bright red, but few look good in a big swath of near-neon.

When reds flatter

Talbot's stretch Cotton Trench from this season is called "Paprika", a red with a hint of brown. Not nearly as aggressive and aging as the nearly-neon reds above.


The colour of this Marc by Marc Jacobs knit jacket is called "Poinsettia"; it's a pink red, softer than screaming red-red, but with plenty of presence.

If you're a red-lover, be fanatical about fabric quality, and spend more to score a sublime red.

You're unlikely to find kind reds in low end, where jarring, dull or nasty hues abound. Barbara Tfank's deep red dress is discreetly stunning; the shade doesn't wear her or fatigue the eye.

Rachel Stevens in a tomato red dress; a shade often worn by deep brunettes. Luscious shade, but not always kind to those of us who could be Rachel's mum. When tomato works, it sizzles. Try it and get an honest evaluation from your friends. I have a friend in her 80s who is divine in her tomato bouclé Chanel-style jacket and gray pencil skirt.

There are many other flattering reds, from crimson through garnet, the berries, wines and violet-reds. To show a red to advantage, quality is paramount; any red shade can easily look cheap and harsh with inferior dye or fabric.

Avoid primary red, except for small accessories.

There will be a red that sings for you, but persist and be picky till you know what it is.

Wearing red with other colours

Red and black is very high contrast, and therefore considered a 'power dressing' strategy; I usually don't gravitate toward it as a rule- too tough. But I would break the rule and the bank to wear this Erdem dress.

Red with white carries a youthful, almost naive connotation that makes a 50+ woman look rather unsophisticated. These Courreges dresses are child-like and "adorable", which at one point in life signals desperation or simply being stuck in your cheerleader years.

Red, white and blue: patriotically American and not very original.

This medium-contrast Babette San Francisco ensemble, red with denim blue, avoids the commonplace and softens a highly saturated red.

Red with gray, like this Donna Karan suit, is classy, and much softer than black. The quality of the jacket lends the red a richness that makes the difference.


Camel and red is classic Mad Men retro, which you can just see in the Talbot's trench and pants, and again here, on Victoria Beckham's Birkin. (Beckham apparently owns every colour and skin made.)

Dries van Noten, master of colour, shows that red (in this case, an assertive tomato cashmere) and camel do not have to look conservative.

Advanced class: the third colour

Ruby red skirt with soft fern green jacket and charcoal sweater, by Bill Blass.

Along the same audacious lines, wine with true red, and please note the vivid green skirt, from J. Crew.

If you add one more colour, green is interesting with red, and the third colour keeps it from reading "Christmas".

The master, Van Noten again, and I'm ending here because it doesn't get more refined than this: slate blue, khaki, and berry charmeuse pants.

Red: Get it right and you'll light a room, get it wrong and people would rather see you exit.