EFL Championship
Claret and blue is the best colour pairing in English football and the hardest to wear. Here is how to get away with it.
The problem with claret and blue
Claret on its own is easy. It is close enough to burgundy that it reads as an ordinary autumn colour — nobody clocks it as football. You can wear a claret jacket to a wedding and to the London Stadium and only one set of people will know why.
The sky blue is where it goes wrong. Put the two together at full strength and you are in kit, and everybody can see it. So the rule on this page is simple: claret does the heavy lifting, sky blue arrives small — a tipping on a collar, a stripe on a cuff, a lining you only see when the jacket is open.
Get that ratio right and you are dressed. Get it wrong and you are in fancy dress.
Section 01 · Home
The everyday palette. Deep claret as the base, sky blue used sparingly enough that it looks like a design decision rather than a scarf.
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links below are affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes what goes on this page — if a thing does not work in claret, it does not get listed.
adidas
The closest thing on any shelf to a claret trainer, and the suede is what saves it. In leather it would look like a club shop item; in suede it just looks like a nice pair of trainers that happen to be the right colour. Gum sole keeps it off-duty.
Fred Perry
The one garment that does both colours for you. The twin tipping puts a couple of millimetres of blue on a claret collar, which is exactly the ratio this page is arguing for. Any wider and you are wearing a shirt.
Lambswool knitwear
Winter base layer for the whole palette. Under a navy or stone jacket it reads as a colour choice; on its own with jeans it reads as claret. Same jumper, two different signals, which is the whole trick.
Section 02 · Away
Away kits are usually the quieter palette, which makes them the easier one to actually wear. White with a claret trim gives you the club without any of the risk — this is the section for people who like the idea but not the attention.
adidas
The most wearable thing on this entire site. Nothing about it says football until it is stood next to the burgundy jumper, and then it does all the work of making that jumper look deliberate.
Heavyweight cotton
The away kit reduced to one garment. Get a heavy one — 200gsm or over — because a thin white tee under a claret overshirt looks like a vest, and that is a different look entirely.
Harrington
Neutral shell so the claret underneath does the talking. Honest note: this jacket works for about eighty of the clubs on this site, which is exactly why it is worth owning.
Section 03 · Classic away
Every so often the second colour gets promoted and West Ham turn out in sky blue. It is the away kit people get sentimental about, and it flips the whole rule on this page — blue leads, claret becomes the accent. Louder, and better for it.
adidas
Sky blue suede is a genuinely difficult trainer to pull off and this is the one that manages it. Works because the shape is old enough to carry a colour that bright without looking like running shoes.
Rugby shirt
The one place both colours are allowed at full strength, because a rugby shirt is already a shirt and everyone knows it. If you are going to commit, commit here rather than trying to be subtle about it.
Cagoule
Terrace item that is not pretending to be anything else. Cheap enough to be honest, bright enough that people three rows back know exactly which end you are sat in.
Prices and availability change constantly. Check the retailer’s page before you buy — that’s the price that counts.
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