The colours you should NEVER wear with red: Fashion expert reveals the combinations that will make you look older than you are as red becomes this season's hot shade

You know summer has arrived when your navy sweater all of a sudden looks like school uniform and you’re once again drawn to the colours of wildflowers or – this year – chocolate and lemon meringue.

Are designers getting their colour inspiration from food in 2025? No. But there has been a distinct shift away from the brights we expect at this time of year in the direction of warm colours we associate with colder months – brown, burgundy, ginger, shades of plum - but also apricot and mango.

This is good news – especially for older complexions. They blend in more easily with the clothes we own than parrot green and tropical turquoise. They suit the British summer better: seriously, how often do you wake on a Monday feeling in the mood for bright cobalt blue? They’re also less harsh against the skin (very important) and less high impact, so they’re far more versatile and good for more than two months of the year.

That willow green (olive to us) Victoria Beckham trouser suit the Princess of Wales wore earlier this month is a case in point: the muted colour looked far more modern than emerald or sapphire and she can rewear it year round. It will work with purple (another colour that’s sticking around for summer), blues and soft yellows. It’s what you might call a hardworking colour.

Best of all there are all kinds of colours on the menu for summer that are unfamiliar. The number one enemy of midlife style is getting stuck in a rut: same jeans shape; same hair style; same old colours. Trying something new when it’s as easy as adding in a dash of apricot... that’s doable, and fun.

Here’s how to make colour work for you this summer:

1. Start with rethinking your base colour. 

Navy is popular for a reason – softer than black and it goes with everything – but it’s also a conservative choice and we fifty-plusers need to keep surprising. The strong alternative now is chocolate which works well combined with any colour you would naturally put with navy, especially blues or any of the reds and corals. (Off white and olive green or khaki are other good base colours to play with, too).

Once you step back from navy and black (keep them for high summer), it becomes much easier to wear combinations of soft lighter colour. Try French Connection’s tailored wide-leg trousers in chocolate (£69, johnlewis.com) or Reiss’s Dora wool blend checked single-breasted blazer (£148, reiss.com). Very Kate as it happens.

 2. Pick a colour any colour but make sure you like it; you haven’t worn it in recent memory; and it has some zing. 

(Don’t confuse the new gentler colours with pastels like mint and baby blue - kryptonite for the over fifties.) Try a peach sorbet blouse (£75, meandem.com) instead of off-white and see the difference it makes.

 3. Say no to jewel colours and brights, yes to more muted new colours.

Pale but sharp, or butter yellow is a great way to freshen up jeans or tailoring. Try white tailored trousers plus a yellow knit short sleeve top (£22.99, zara.com) or Whistles does a wool v-neck button front tank (£79, whistles.com). A pale yellow pinstripe wide-leg trousers and matching waistcoat (£120 and £99, mintvelvet.com) could be the answer to your dressing up worries.

4. It’s all about the new ‘off’ colour combinations. 

Forget the ones we’ve taken for granted for years – red, white and blue; pink and navy - these are the pairings handed down by our mothers and they’re potentially ageing or just dull. Instead wear unusual colours together that unexpectedly sing (designers such as Prada have shown us the way). A colour block cardigan is a good place to start – try Zara for a selection (£29.99, zara.com). 

5. Ditch pink for red. 

Red is back on top as the glamorous choice across all seasons (see Hayley Atwell at the Mission: Impossible premiere this month), but this summer it’s staking a claim to be the new, 100 per cent more wearable, everyday pink. For maximum return wear it in big blocks, either 50/50 or all over. If you are looking for a crimson crepe long-sleeved shirt dress, Baukjen has just the job (£149, baujken.com). There was plenty of red on the catwalks for autumn, too, including a bright red skirt worn with a papal purple top at Prada, so that’s what’s in store, along with plenty of red accessories. You can buy a red cotton midi skirt at Mint Velvet now, plus optional matching, structured, elbow-length T shirt (£99 and £35) to make up a co-ord.