Home Color Guides What Colors Go With Burgundy
Burgundy is red that went to finishing school: dark, muted, and quietly formal, it pairs with cream, navy, camel, gray, black leather, forest green and gold — a longer list than red itself can manage. The ten outfits below anchor on a different burgundy piece each time, with exact HEX codes and the computed lightness gap behind every pairing.
#6d2a35 Ratio 1 : 1 · 50 / 50
Blend path between your colors
color-mix(in oklab, #6d2a35 50%, #ece3d2) Burgundy is red darkened and desaturated toward brown, and both of those moves make it easier to wear: darker means it anchors like a neutral, desaturated means it stops fighting other colors. Bright red demands to be the only loud thing in the outfit; burgundy merely suggests it. That is why it survives next to navy, camel and forest green — colors that clash with scarlet — and why gold hardware looks intended rather than festive.
The working rules: cream and off-white give burgundy its classic high-contrast read; navy and forest green partner it at matched darkness for the autumn register; camel and tan warm it up; gray cools it down; black leather sharpens it. The one trap is bright red — see the avoid list — because it is close enough in hue to look like a failed shade match rather than a choice.
Each card shows the outfit on a figure, the exact swatches with copyable HEX codes, and a computed read-out: the Oklab lightness gap and hue relation between the anchor piece and its strongest partner. Click any round swatch chip to swap that piece's color — the figure, the read, and the ladder recompute live. Print this page and the cards become tear-off palette sheets.
The everyday default
The canonical burgundy outfit: dark wine on top, cream below, brown leather at the feet. The lightness gap does all the work.
Oklab read: burgundy (L 0.38) vs gainsboro (L 0.92) — a 0.53 lightness gap (high contrast), a neutral anchoring the color.
Casual
The weekend proof that burgundy is a neutral: maroon sweatpants-grade pants, gray layer, white soles. Nothing tries, everything works.
Oklab read: burgundy (L 0.40) vs gainsboro (L 0.93) — a 0.52 lightness gap (high contrast), a neutral anchoring the color.
Business
The boardroom version: a burgundy blazer reads as personality, not rebellion, when the rest is charcoal and pale blue. Dark brown or black shoes.
Oklab read: burgundy (L 0.36) vs sky blue (L 0.81) — a 0.45 lightness gap (high contrast), a balanced mid-wheel contrast.
Evening
Evening burgundy: one saturated wine piece, black frame, gold at the ears and wrist. The jewelry is what keeps it from going somber.
Oklab read: burgundy (L 0.33) vs goldenrod (L 0.73) — a 0.40 lightness gap (high contrast), a balanced mid-wheel contrast.
Winter commute
The scarf-first version for anyone not ready to wear a whole burgundy garment: camel coat, cream sweater, blue jeans, wine at the throat.
Oklab read: burgundy (L 0.38) vs gainsboro (L 0.89) — a 0.50 lightness gap (high contrast), a neutral anchoring the color.
Seventies
The 1970s register: maroon and tan in one warm, tall-booted silhouette. It reads costume only if you add a third period piece.
Oklab read: burgundy (L 0.40) vs tan (L 0.74) — a 0.33 lightness gap (high contrast), a balanced mid-wheel contrast.
Smart casual
Burgundy and navy at matched darkness: the autumn pairing that reads coordinated rather than matched. White shoes keep it current.
Oklab read: burgundy (L 0.40) vs linen (L 0.94) — a 0.54 lightness gap (high contrast), a neutral anchoring the color.
Street
Streetwear’s favorite shade of red: a wine hoodie over black and white. The formula needs nothing else.
Oklab read: burgundy (L 0.35) vs gainsboro (L 0.93) — a 0.58 lightness gap (high contrast), a neutral anchoring the color.
Weekend
The rocker route: oxblood leather, white tee, blue jeans. Brown boots if you want it warmer, black if you want it sharper.
Oklab read: burgundy (L 0.36) vs linen (L 0.96) — a 0.60 lightness gap (high contrast), a neutral anchoring the color.
Autumn color
The boldest safe pairing: burgundy plus mustard is complementary on paper but muted enough in practice to read autumnal rather than loud.
Oklab read: burgundy (L 0.40) vs goldenrod (L 0.74) — a 0.34 lightness gap (high contrast), a balanced mid-wheel contrast.
Done browsing? Dress the figure your way. Click any round chip to swap that piece — preset colors from this page, or the custom picker for any color you have in mind. The read and the ladder recompute as you go.
Style it yourself
Oklab read: burgundy (L 0.38) vs linen (L 0.95) — a 0.56 lightness gap (high contrast), a neutral anchoring the color.
Four decor palettes built on the same anchor color, for the paint-store version of the question. Ladders show the Oklab blend between the first three colors.
The living-room default: a wine accent wall or armchair, cream sofa, walnut legs. Burgundy’s calmest register.
The bar-corner pairing: burgundy walls or banquettes, brass rail, charcoal ground. Where every good cocktail bar lands.
The study: maroon leather chair, forest green walls, ivory trim. The two darkest autumns in one room.
The bedroom version: oxblood bedding, warm gray walls, off-white lampshades. Dark, quiet, adult.
#e02525 The almost-match trap: close enough in hue to look attempted, far enough to look failed. Let one red own the outfit — in this family, that red is burgundy.
#b9e33c Burgundy’s whole register is restraint; neon anything breaks the spell, and lime breaks it loudest.
#ff4f9a Adjacent brights that read like a color-coordination accident. Blush is the pink that belongs next to burgundy — see the dusty-pink pairing on the brown page.
Cream and off-white, navy, camel and tan, gray, black leather, forest green, mustard, blush, and gold hardware. Burgundy is dark and muted enough to anchor an outfit like a neutral, which is why the list is longer than bright red’s.
Yes — it is one of the strongest pairings: both dark, both muted, distinct in hue. Navy sweater over burgundy chinos (or the reverse) reads coordinated without matching. Add one pale piece if the outfit feels heavy.
In wardrobe use they are interchangeable — both are dark reds. Strictly, burgundy leans slightly purple (named for the wine), maroon leans slightly brown (from the French marron, chestnut). If a shade reads plum-ish call it burgundy; if it reads brick-ish call it maroon.
Gold. Burgundy carries warmth from its red-brown base, and gold hardware matches that warmth; silver reads colder than the outfit around it. The exception is burgundy with a visible purple cast, which can take silver.
Bright red (the almost-match trap), neon shades of any hue, and hot pink. The common thread: colors that are close in hue but louder, or so loud they mock burgundy’s restraint. Muted and pale versions of the same hues are fine.