Autumn has its own palette. The bright, clean colours of summer give way to warmer, deeper tones. You do not need to change your whole wardrobe to move with the season. The quickest way in is your bag.
A leather bag in the right shade pulls an outfit into autumn on its own. Here is how to wear the season's two lead colours, chocolate and burgundy, and what to pair them with.
The autumn colours to know
Two shades do most of the work this season: chocolate brown and burgundy. Both are warm, both are rich, and both sit happily next to the colours already in your wardrobe. Around them sit the season's other regulars: camel, cream, olive, navy, charcoal and denim. Get the bag right and the rest falls into place.
Our new autumn styles come in exactly these two shades, so you can bring the season in without guessing.
How to wear a chocolate brown bag
Chocolate is the friendliest of the autumn shades. It is a warm neutral, which means it goes with almost everything and never fights an outfit.
Pair it with cream and camel for a soft, tonal look. Wear it with denim for something more relaxed. Set it against olive or forest green if you want a bit more depth. Chocolate also does the quiet trick of tying an outfit together when you are wearing more than one brown, which is easier to get right when your bag leads the way.
The Abi Chocolate Leather Bag is the structured option, with a gold twist-lock and room for the day. For lighter days, the Lucy Chocolate Leather Bag has a small crescent shape that sits neatly under the arm.
If you like suede, the Izzie Chocolate Suede Bag brings a softer texture to the same warm tone, with a gold chain strap and a roomy interior. One styling note worth knowing: dark suede can transfer colour onto very pale fabrics, so keep the chocolate Izzie away from cream and white outfits and pair it with denim, camel and deeper shades instead.
How to wear a burgundy bag
Burgundy is the shade that makes an outfit feel considered. It is deeper and more of a statement than brown, but it is far easier to wear than people expect.
It looks best against navy, charcoal and grey, where the warmth of the colour lifts a cooler outfit. It also works beautifully with denim, camel and black, and it is a lovely partner for forest green or a soft pink if you want to be braver. Because burgundy carries so much colour on its own, you can keep the rest of the outfit simple and let the bag do the talking.
The Rosie Burgundy Leather Bag is the roomy shoulder shape, made in Italy and worn over the shoulder or across the body. The Abi Burgundy Leather Bag is the neater, structured cut. And the Lucy Burgundy Leather Bag is the small one for evenings and lighter days.
Let the gold hardware do some of the work
All four of these bags are finished with gold-tone hardware, and that matters more in autumn than you might think. Gold warms up the whole palette. It flatters chocolate and burgundy, and it sits well with camel, cream and denim. If you wear gold jewellery, your bag will pull the look together without any effort on your part.
One bag, three ways
To show how far a single autumn bag stretches, take the [Rosie Burgundy Leather Bag]:
- With a cream knit, camel coat and jeans for the weekend.
- With a navy suit or tailored trousers for work.
- With a black dress and boots for the evening.
Same bag, three looks, one shade doing the heavy lifting each time. That is what a good autumn colour buys you.
Find your autumn shade
You do not need much to move an outfit into the season. The right bag in chocolate or burgundy is often all it takes. Find yours in the shade that suits your wardrobe.
