Oxblood is a color that you may not know much about, or just confuse it with burgundy. It’s certainly a unique color, but there can be many ways in which this color can be a unique addition to your outfit.
Yet, many may struggle to color match and pair such a deep and bold color. It’s not as hard as you think and can be as easy as wearing burgundy.
Oxblood is essentially a blood red color but even darker than most dark red colors. Imagine burgundy but with a little bit of a brown hue.
Here’s our guide to this non conventional color pairing, keep reading to learn more about oxblood and how to style it.
Shoes
Shoes are probably the most common and popular way to show off some oxblood color! It’s not only easy and simple but is one of the best ways to display the color without being too in your face.
Oxblood Doc Martens are a thing of beauty and also the ‘classic’ or at least original colorway for these shoes which are becoming more popular in the US.
The chunky shoes are great for pairing with a classic pair of blue jean denim for more of a punk look, get some tartan trousers to really embrace that UK Punk look, it can be really original and paired with many other items.
Girls can get really experimental with what they pair with these Oxblood Docs, leggings, skirts, even using them to give a rough finish to a business pant suit, no one will mess with you in curb stomping Doc Martens!
For something more smart and classy, oxblood is an amazing color for brogues.
The swelling color suits leather well, and while the Doc Marten oxblood color is more bold and clear, and a little more red, oxblood on leather can be quite non-uniform.
This is actually a great feature as the oxblood can be a little red, a little brown, but quite dark so it can be versatile to wear with some different suit color combinations.
The shoes themselves are just really cool in this color and it gives them a lot of character which transfers to your outfit.
Animal Skin
As we mentioned oxblood looks awesome when on animal print, faux or real. So this can be a great way to style the color.
If you really want to style out this color some alligator skin or snakeskin can really bring out some of the texture that makes the color so great. Whether this is on a handbag, a belt, or even a pair of trousers or jacket!
You can really go for a more statement outfit with this color if you chose to wear pants or a jacket, yet something small like a a handbag or a belt can really bring a dark colored outfit together and be a small statement piece that doesn’t overtake a whole outfit.
Accessorize!
With this in mind, oxblood can be a great way to color your accessories and bring this dark and brooding color into your outfit without making it the main statement. If you have lighter features then this can really help bring them out.
An oxblood scarf can really pull together a neutral fall outfit and stay in line with the seasonal colors, or it can bring texture to a dark outfit.
Pair your accessories with a pair of oxblood shoes and then the texture of your outfit can really start to blend together.
You can also get oxblood colored accessories thata re wood in their base, an oxblood hair claw or hair clip could really be nice with blonde hair or make brown hair seem even darker, and can be the statement piece of what was previously a neutral outfit.
Layer it up!
As you can see from the previous suggestions, oxblood can really bring some depth to an outfit, so no matter what garment is colored in oxblood, it can be really useful for layering different colors.
In a neutral outfit oxblood really can mellow out the bright or light colors. With a light colored shirt a oxblood vest or shirt underneath can really help the lighter shades sing with this darker color.
The brown and black hues of oxblood can be better for matching with neutral colors like cream and beige than burgundy.
Oxblood can even bring depth to what is a dark outfit, for example wearing a black suit with oxblood shoes can really bring depth to other colors that aren’t just hues of black.
Darker features can really benefit from a dark red color and can help them brighten out and be more neutral.
PRO TIP: Oxblood cosmetics can also be worth considering to soften an outfit or make it bolder. Oxblood has become a popular lipstick color around the world for its unique shade of red. If you want to experiment with darker colored lipsticks this can be an easy place to start.
But even some oxblood nail polish can really help an outfit sing, and if you want to bring out your features this can be a fruitful approach.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, Oxblood can be a really versatile color that is often best used to layer outfits and to bring out other colors as well. It is a really underrated layering color that can suit almost any season.
Oxblood can both balance a neutral outfit with light colors as well as bring depth to a darker outfit.
Oxblood is perhaps most popular within the world of shoes, oxblood is the typical color for the classic Doc Marten as well as a great color for many other leather shoes, especially brogues, and accessories.
Moreover, oxblood is also popular in the world of cosmetics and is both a popular lipstick and nail polish color.
Oxblood can be a little intimidating as a color to wear sometimes as it is so dark and brooding but it can be a really rewarding and effective color in the fashion world once you get comfortable with how to pair it.
Hi, my name is Jenna Reign and I have teamed up with my best friend, Sam, to deliver you all of the style secrets to help you stay ahead of the trends. We both met in fashion school and have been inseparable ever since!
Despite our deep love for fashion, even we found it difficult navigating our closets when trying to leave the house for the first time since the pandemic was announced. Were the trends still evolving, or did they get put on hold like the rest of the world?
