Fall 2012 Trends: Maroon

I winced a little at the trend reports for 2012 when I started hearing “maroon” over and over again. My 1980s high school days were dominated by maroon. You all remember Etinne Aigner shoes, yes? And maroon tweed skirts. Maroon cowl turtlenecks. Maroon fair isle sweaters. There was so much maroon. I’ve spent the last thirty years saying, “Ha ha…do you remember all of that awful maroon we used to wear?” I’ve come to despise the word.

The resurrection of 30-year-old trends is one of the reasons that dressing in one’s 40s can be so difficult. It’s not that maroon is inherently ugly. It’s that it feels backwards to me. Old. Boring. Unfresh. Tired. All of the words that I really don’t want to be describing my wardrobe right now.

Looking at Diane von Furstenberg fall 2012 collection gave me some great inspiration for how to wear maroon without being reminded of my disastrous run for Senior Class President: namely, to mix maroon with taupe, black, grey, and even red. Like so:

1. Victoria’s Secret silk shirt, La Vie en Rose leather handbag
2. Cole Haan red patent belt, NYDJ ocelot print ponte skirt
3. Calvin Klein Dolly patent pump