a garden in hell, and no holly

“i want this place to look like a garden,” diana vreeland told the decorator billy baldwin, “but a garden in hell.” what he made for her in new york was a living room drenched in red, the walls and curtains covered in what vogue once called, as virginia chamlee recounts¹, “flamboyant scarlet-flowered cotton”. vreeland also said² that she could not imagine becoming bored with red: “it would be like becoming bored with the person you love.”

what is striking about the room, looking at it now, is that nothing in it says christmas. it is about as red as a room can be, and there is no holly in it anywhere. that is the lesson to take into december. red accessories for christmas look elegant when the red seems to belong to you, and costume-like when it seems to belong to the season. wear one red thing, keep the rest of the outfit in colours that have nothing to do with the festive shop window, and avoid the pairings that quote father christmas directly.

why december red goes wrong

the difficulty is not red itself. december already has a red uniform. it is on the crackers, the wrapping paper, the department store windows and the man in the grotto, and anything that looks like a quotation from it reads as fancy dress.

almost every costume effect comes from one of a few habits. too many red pieces at once is the first: hat, scarf, jumper and lip together, so that the red becomes a theme rather than a choice. red with fluffy white trim is the second, for obvious reasons. red with a bright holly green is the third, because it reproduces the colour scheme of a christmas card. and the last is novelty texture, sequinned reindeer, tinsel knits and bells, which is charming at the right party and never anywhere else.

vreeland’s room avoided all four. one red, many textures, no seasonal references, and the confidence to let the colour stand on its own.

the grown-up rules for festive red

start with quantity. one red accessory reads as a decision, and two can work if they sit at opposite ends of the body, gloves and a lip, perhaps, or a bag and a shoe. three is a theme, and a theme is what you are trying to avoid.

then build the outfit from colours that belong to winter rather than to christmas: charcoal, navy, camel, chocolate, black, ivory, a deep olive. red on navy says january as much as december. red on bright green says greetings card.

choose the red itself with care. a clear cherry or a deep, lacquered true red looks more considered than a flat pillar-box red, which sits too close to the shop-window version. if you are unsure, hold the piece next to a red lipstick you love. if they could sit together on a dressing table, you have the right shade.

finally, let texture do the work that decoration would otherwise do. smooth leather, satin, silk, velvet and cashmere all hold red with depth and a little light, and they make it look like fashion. felt and fluffy acrylic make it look like something from the seasonal aisle.

the easiest red accessories for christmas

some accessories carry red more easily than others in december, and it is worth knowing which.

a red lip carries almost no costume risk at all, because it has belonged to evening glamour, all year round, for most of a century. red leather gloves come close behind. they are a small area of colour, they are practical in the cold, and they move with your hands, so the red reads as gesture rather than decoration. red shoes are similarly safe, because they are far from the face and look like a fashion decision. a structured red bag is easy too, especially a small one carried against a long dark coat.

the trickier pieces are the ones nearest the head. a red scarf sits close to the face and can look like school uniform, and a red beret or bobble hat is the single most santa-adjacent thing you can wear. a red velvet hair bow is lovely for one particular party and best left there.

outfits that feel like december, not a theme

for a long lunch, a camel coat over an ivory roll-neck and tan wool trousers, with a small red leather bag and brown suede boots. it is warm, soft and reads as the season without a single bauble.

for a winter walk, a navy coat, a grey shetland jumper, dark jeans and brown boots, with red leather gloves. the gloves arrive with you and come off at the door, so the red belongs to the cold.

for an evening, a black velvet dress with long sleeves, sheer black tights and red satin pumps, with pearl or gold earrings and nothing else. the red is at the floor, the face is clear, and the velvet does the festive work.

for a work party, a charcoal trouser suit, a white silk shirt and a red lip. it is the sharpest of the four and the simplest.

red and green, if you must

you can wear the two together, provided you change the greens. swap holly for olive, moss, bottle or forest, colours with some grey or black in them. keep one of the two small: a forest-green coat with red gloves, or a red dress with an olive suede bag. and never, under any circumstances, add white fluff.

the present that outlives the season

red accessories are popular christmas presents for the obvious reason, and they are more wearable than a red jumper because the colour comes in a small dose. if you are buying for someone, choose a shade and finish they could wear in february as happily as on the twenty-fifth. gloves make that kind of present: something given in winter and worn for many winters afterwards.

wutong makes no red glove. if one deep colour is all you need this december, try its plum python-print suede gloves, and for a black pair with movement there are the fringe gloves.