Brown Color Combos: Rust

sallyinstpaul
5 hours ago
3 min read

Today I am continuing my brown color combos for fall/winter outfits series with rust, a color that is very easy to mix in outfits with all shades of brown. I have 5 rust + brown outfit examples to inspire you in ways to wear the season's trendiest color.

First, I want to share a corduroy skirt in a dark rust color that I added to my wardrobe just prior to fall last year and that I am looking forward to wearing for many cold seasons to come. This skirt, and the first outfit I will share with you below, demonstrate how thin the line between rust and brown is. While the skirt would contrast with very deep shades of brown, when paired with lighter, warmer brown colors, it tends to blend very well.

Now, on to the outfits...

Outfit #1: In this look from last winter, I combined shades of brown, rust, and black for a very neutral-tone outfit with a good amount of visual interest from the mix of textures: a wool moto jacket with faux leather lapels, the corduroy skirt, a simple striped cotton T-shirt, a woven fabric scarf, and leather boots. I certainly could have skipped the black in this look altogether, but the black horse print on the scarf suggested the black jacket (and the striped top), and I really enjoy how the warm brown tones look with black. If you are sometimes stumped about how to wear brown and black together, I highly recommend choosing a warm brown and/or adding a color in the cinnamon/cognac/rust family.

Plus size outfit idea for women over 40 — OOTD #1: 12/31/24

Notice that the brown of the scarf is a great match for my cognac leather riding boots. The dark rust of the corduroy skirt is clearly distinctly deeper in value and more "colorful" (less neutral) than the scarf/boots but coordinates very well without a lot of contrast.

My all-DIY daily bracelet stack started with a paper bead bracelet set I made in shades of brown and tan (page to bead examples here). I supplemented with beaded bracelets in black, brown, and mixed metals. {bicone paper bead tutorial} {stretch bracelet tutorial}

To match the scarf, I made a pair of bead soup earrings with brown and black wood beads and silver horse charms. I like how well the silver stands out against the brown background of the scarf.

Next I have four outfits that pair my brighter rust pants with darker brown shades.

Outfit #2: This is an example of using Jodie's color recipe to create an outfit with a solid color that isn't in the print...but that feels like it could be! The woodland critters top has both a warm brown and a burgundy-purple color, and to my eye, the rust tone of the pants fits "in the span" of those colors (I feel like I could mix the brown and burgundy colors to get something very close to the rust). I added darker brown in my accessories, including the sloth pendant and the leather flats.

Outfit #3: This look has the exact same woodland critters top, rust pants, and dark brown flats as the previous one, but I have added a sage green cardigan and creamy gold scarf (two colors from the print) to create a more layered multi-colored outfit.

Outfit #4: I started this outfit by choosing simple solid pieces in three colors: dark brown T, rust pants, and ivory cardigan. I added a brown necklace and the same leather flats to match the top. The multi-colored scarf came last to help tie together, but the outfit would still work well as a colorblock look without the print scarf. Note: I don't think the scarf contains the rust color of my pants, but it has a variety of brown shades and a dark orange color that makes the rust (i.e., a warm brown-orange-red color) feel compatible with it.

Outfit #5: This look uses a very similar formula to Outfit #3 - the rust pants with a brown print top, warm green topper, and light gold scarf. In this case, I bookended the scarf (and my hair) with gold loafers instead of the brown flats to match the top.