Crimson Coat Dress ... turns out, not just for Christmas.

Styling our bestseller for January and beyond.

I’ve previously (strictly) reserved crimson for Christmas and never beyond. Sometimes I’ll have a dalliance in November (rarely) but come January, the red is resolutely shelved for another 11 months.

The Crimson Coat Dress changed things.

All of a sudden, red is all I can think about wearing. I’ve a longing to order the dungas in the crimson before they disappear from the site, and I’m dancing around the decision because I have more pairs of Stalf dungas than I could shake a sick at, but let me tell you… The Coat Dress in Crimson Corduroy (deserves to be capitalised IMO) was a non-negotiable last year.

The beginning of un-christmas-ing red, for me, was taking it to the furthest point away from the festive season. As in, “how will I wear this big red Christmas Day statement-item come June 25th?” At this point I pounced on the section of my wardrobe usually only reserved for the summer holiday. See below outfit.

Definitely not a “no” from me. In fact, the result of pairing my most festive of items with my summeriest of dresses got me in the red-post-Christmas groove and I began to analyse why I’ve never tried this before.

What strikes me when I scroll back through my pre-Christmas Instagram inbox… red polarises you all.

There are many, many of you who are a lover of all things scarlet, that’s for sure, but those of you who are not so keen, are steadfast. Plenty of messages start with “I just can’t do red, but…” or “the crimson is not for me, however…” and yet, we repeatedly sell enough crimson in the first two and a half weeks of December to see us through until the sale launches (the perils of running a made to order business-model in the run up to Christmas are multi faceted, and something I will endeavour to chat through, here on Substack, later this year.)

Red… is a statement. Doesn’t matter which way you look at it, whether intentional or not. When you wear red, it shouts across the street and sings at the school gate (even my little red bobble hat makes a noise)… and moreover, it sings in a way that navy could never, black couldn’t imagine, beige could only dream of, even pink would struggle to imitate the impact that red makes.

Red always feels like you’re referencing something.

The colour of love. Of danger and drama, of romance and religion. Of power and playfulness. Of sexuality and sacrifice. The colour of fire engines and lollipops and Dorothy’s slippers. It’s all tousling about, vying for attention- one cannot go unnoticed when wrapped in red- it is when I receive the most compliments on my outfit and the best engagement with my work. That’s just fact.

The thing is, you can’t call red a neutral. It’s not a basic, never the safe option: it’s robust and loud. The thing I find it’s key to remember is that the “how do I feel” part of getting dressed is turned up loud when I wear red.

You see, red is already saying so many things without me opening my mouth. Have we ever associated a colour more with the various (and varying) facets and extremities of our humanity?

I think this is why, for me, it’s been reserved solely for “festive.” When I wear red in December, I say “merry and bright” … I say “rosy and filled with cheer.” December is the scarlet “safe-zone.” Come January, I will have have to wrestle the colour into line and make it work for what I want to say about myself, not what it says on my behalf.

The lesson for me was: how do I take back the reins? I’m not Jessica Rabbit or Marylin Monroe, Father Christmas or Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.

On the flip side, what red gives, it gives in bucketfuls. Red is pizzazz, red is the zsa zsa zsu. A flash of red is the je ne sais quoi, the cherry on the top of your outfit, and to douse yourself in crimson is to flush your personality with vibrance and confidence. Red is a magnet and you will attract. With red you are vital and energetic, bountiful and assertive, the world is your, ahem, lobster.

We’re not talking about being quiet here, we’re talking about celebrating our sartorial choices and throwing ourselves on our (post) merry way with wild abandon.

A question I asked myself after pulling on the above outfit with a mind to wear it out-out come Valentine’s day/my fiancé’s birthday:

Would I feel quite as sexy if this outfit was all black?

I think not. The combo seems drab by comparison.

In red, I embody the outfit. I become the feeling I want to put out into the world and as long as I’m prepared for that, it’s a win-win. In this outfit I will slink my way to dinner with a smile on my face.

GOOD GRACIOUS ME, ALL THIS WAY DOWN THE PAGE AND WE’VE NOT EVEN HAD A MOODBOARD! :