Scarlet, crimson, cherry, rust, ruby. Whatever you call it, wearing red is something most men go pale over. Unless your name is Jared Leto or your favourite team plays in the stuff, chances are you won’t have much claret hanging in your closet. Not because it’s unattractive (quite the opposite), but because it’s a big colour.

It’s a primary colour, but it’s also the most primal. The chest-beating alpha male of the colour wheel, associated with power, status and desire. Studies in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology reported that women were more likely to find a man attractive when he was associated with red. And sportsmen who play in red have been found to win more often and have higher levels of testosterone.

No other colour is so rich in symbolism. It’s fire and passion, anger and sin. Going into the red means you’re in debt, but in China, red is associated with good luck and prosperity. It’s communist and Republican at the same time. It’s the colour of blood, of danger, of lust. Throw in Coca-Cola and Santa Claus, and you have a hue that means a lot of things to a lot of people.

So what does all of that mean for how you wear red? Well, here’s something else that the colour is closely associated with: caution. Red clothes are statement clothes, whether it’s the flash of a sock or James Dean’s scarlet Harrington jacket. You can always opt for toned-down versions like burgundy or even a dusky pink, but at its boldest, red is the exact opposite of a neutral; making it very easy to get wrong and find yourself red-faced.

How To Wear Red

Minimalist menswear may have ceded ground to colour-pop streetwear and retina-scorching designer collections, but wearing red is always something to be carefully considered. It grabs attention and doesn’t always play nice with other shades, so think about how and when you roll out the red closet.