Purple is a color rarely found in nature - a fact that instantly draws attention to anyone wearing it and sometimes makes it appear artificial. Purple has traditionally represented luxury, royalty, wealth and sophistication; this color of power also has a feminine and romantic appeal.
The Perfect Shade of Purple
From lilac, magenta and violet to lavender, pomegranate and plum, purple is coloring the world of fashion. This regal hue is making a splash everywhere from runways and Hollywood premiers to city streets.
Pulling off wearing this bold punch of color means selecting the right shade for the occasion and time of day. Here are some tips for matching your mood or occassion with the perfect shade of purple:
- Let your passions shine through for a night out on the town - go glam by swathing yourself in deep, rich jewel tones paired with metallic details and accessories.
- Opt for less pungent shades such as lilac and lavender for a feminine daytime ensemble.
- Add just a dash of the purple trend to any outfit with a purple sash, bolero, tights, belt or shoe.
- Be bold with a deep purple coat, trousers, blouse, shift dress or evening gown.
Designers In Love with Purple
Alberta Ferretti
Alberta Ferretti's entire Fall 2008 Ready-to-Wear collection featured opulent shades purple and black making bold statements while remaining pretty as jewel tones splashed down the runway on simple, yet feminine silhouettes.
Highlights included an impeccible purple coat in shiny Mikado silk to a fine-gauge grape turtleneck worn atop a wrapped chiffon skirt, and deep purple velvets.
Roberto Cavalli, Just Cavalli
Just Cavalli was all about this regal tone as Cavalli's fall 2008 Ready-To-Wear collection featured models swathed in deep, rich aubergine flowing fabrics, and plum speckled knit mini-dresses, and even accessorized with chocolatey-purple furs, blazers, and lavender shoes.
Gap & Banana Republic
Gap and Banana Republic generously use purple in their recent collections, from shirts, shorts and tanks, to blouses and dresses to wear at the office, and flowing gowns for a more formal night on the town.
Comments
Royal Purple and color standards
the color in the bottom photo is beautiful. Is that magenta? I wish there were standard names for the color spectrum. It's difficult to name and find a color if there's no wavelength or frequency number to refer to( or pigment reference?). The pigments that the ancient royals found were what color?
Tyrian Purple & So Many Other Purples!
Isn't the color of that dress divine!? It's super hard to be very accurate defining colors online too, since each person's monitor may be calibrated slightly differently, and computer screens are very limited in the colors they can accurately represent since they only use red, blue and green to make all colors.
The folks at Banana Republic just call the racer dress (and other garments of the same fabric in their collection) "purple", but that doesn't really help us too much, since purple can be so many different shades. I don't think it's magenta - it's not quite pink enough for that... I think it's more of a grape color, but it's all pretty subjective. I think it also depends on how you see - my boyfriend is partially color blind, so he can't discern between magenta, lavender, grape, or aubergine!
The purple pigements that the ancient royals found were called Tyrian purple or a dark, purple-blue "Royal" purple. They used to harvest it from marine mollusks, which of course would make it very rare and expensive. Here's a story on the topic that gets into the history of Tyrian purple, color standards for it and what it might actually look like: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrian_purple