Following on from last week’s article on the colour green and what it can do for you, I thought I would turn to a colour that is similarly underestimated and overlooked. This colour would be purple.

First of all, when it comes to purple, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship. When I was younger I used to think it was great. All I ever wore was black back then so I thought wearing a hint of purple here and there made me super edgy and cool. However, with hindsight, the kinds of purple I was picking did not flatter my skin tone and often washed out my skin, leaving me looking a little bit dead. Which isn’t a great look, I’m sure we can all agree.

So for many years now I have steered away from purple all together. However, in the last few months, I’ve started to come around to it. I think it is the ideal accent colour that, when used in small doses and in the right shades, can really bring a look to life.

The Colour Purple

But how does purple work in a style sense? During Greek and Roman civilisations purple was often considered as a sign of royalty due to it’s rarity as colouring and being affordable only by the elite. It occurs by mixing different elements of red and blue and is situated between navy and violet on the colour wheel – although violet is often considered a hue of purple.

Based on it’s position in the colour wheel, complimenting colours would be yellows and dark blues, while a nice contrasting colour would be either green or orange. However, I would suggest bearing these colour combinations in mind for when you are using purple in small doses rather than, for example, blocking colouring yellow trousers and a purple shirt together.

If you do want to use purple in a significant way, I would keep the rest of your outfit in shades of black, grey and navy, in order to help anchor the colour.