Purple is a colour full of symbolism and a long association with royalty.
The colour purple denotes affluence, supremacy, dominance and magnificent
opulence. It is also associated with spirituality, mystery and
pacification. Tones of purple can be used as a mourning colour instead
of black or white.
Read about Tyrian Purple below.
Purple is one of the jewel colours of autumn 2006. You will find many
shades available especially in this tone shown directly below. Purple colour can be rich
and regal, dark, deep and dazzling. These designer coats in rich
purple make a statement that says opulence.
These outfits below are the pastel version of purple. They are sugar
almond softer tones, serene yet flirtatious.
Purple looks good with most hair colourings including redheads. Softer
pastel tones look especially good on blondes and those with silver hair.
Images left to right courtesy of
NEXT, Debenhams and
Matalan, also just below.
Purple
in the deep shades is an excellent choice for garments because it suits
most colourings. It also has a similar effect on slimming down the body as black, navy, brown and dark green
all can.
Legs feature strongly in these images. Notice the similarity in style between the first two garments. Observe how sheer
tights, dark tights, leggings and boots - are all used to good effect.
This dress on the right, image courtesy of Wallis, would be as slimming as black might be.
Purple is a good colour for winter evenings. At £75 it is extremely
reasonable for a full evening gown.
Notice
how brocade, satin, lustre, shine, fur, frills and feathers are all part
of the look. These materials are used extensively to make purple accessories.
This lovely Sinha-Stanic shoulder baring silk wool halter neck dress
shown left from Harvey Nichols is show-stopping and sophisticated.
You might opt for this or a similar shoulder revealing dress, but you may well find yourself chilly in cooler surroundings. A small sequin cape or shrug may be the answer to keeping glam, yet
staying warm.
The high street shops are gearing up for the party season.
Shops will have
purple accessories such as this NEXT feather purple cape. 100% feather with
100% polyester lining. 129-154-X38 at £22.99
These purple Diamanté Wedding Sandals also from NEXT are ideal for dancing the night away and for partying.
They have a heel height of approximately 8cm. 104-941-X38 at £24.99.
Skins such as suede, fur and reptilian style leathers are all part of the
look for autumn 2006.
On the right is a purple crocodile jacket with fox
collar from Gucci.
Other
accessories that would be very useful this fall are the purple boots from
NEXT left. They are piped Microsuede Long Boots with a heel height of approximately 9cm.
This lovely purple handbag called Lulu is from the Emma Gordon Collection at
The Bag Boutique.
The Lulu handbag is handmade by the designer in aubergine wool and trimmed
with lime green satin.
The detail on the handbag collar is made from
purple and red floral cotton, which is also used for the lining. The bag
fastens with a magnetic clasp and is priced at £42 with measurements of 34cm
x 20cm and a strap drop of 20cm.
Or
if you can afford it some Gucci patent leather shoes like these might
cheer you up just as much.
These Gucci shoes are such a fabulous shade
of purple.
But
this Gucci purple lace up heeled shoe is a different, yet just as interesting tone of
purple. (See right.) In fact this is the colour that purple looked much more like thousands of years ago, before the synthetic production of
purple dye.
This Loden shoe at £65 from Faith
is also more representative of Tyrian Purple. The colour of both these latter shoes is
much closer to the warmer tone of true Tyrian purple than the
colours above which is the purple of today.
Tyrian purple of thousands of years ago was once a much warmer puce colour
with hints of crimson. Tyrian purple gets its name from the place of
origin. The purple dye was made in Tyre in
Phoenicia using marine secretions from the snails found in Murex shells. However the Minoans are also
thought to have made a similar royal purple dye using Murex shells found on
Crete, but centuries before the Phoenicians made their discovery. The
dye was always a luxury product and it was as expensive as silver weight for
weight then, just as saffron is more costly than gold gram for gram today.
Each snail yielded a drop of liquid which took time to develop into the dye
making the dye costly to procure and produce. Tyrian purple had a crimson
tinge to it.
In Roman times only the upper echelons were allowed to wear purple togas and
so a regal connection was born. From this early beginning it became known as
the imperial dye. Tyrian purple was very rare and costly to procure from the
sea. It needed specialists trained to get the
snail bearing the dye. Tyrian purple was more the puce tone you might
see on a Bishop's robes which today we think of as crimson like.
Purple is a mixture of red and blue. Don't confuse it with violet which is
on the end of the indigo blue spectrum, making it a spectral colour.
Variation in purple colour is due solely to the combination mix of red to
blue rather than to wavelength as in spectral violet. In good light or
as a sheer fabric violet appear more blue toned than purple. Purple may seem
warmer and redder.
Purple
is prized as the amethyst gemstone and has been used to make gorgeous
jewellery as cut stones or simple tumbled stones for centuries. Purple
is a colour associated with the
calendar month of
February and the star sign of Pisces.
Bring out the purple colours in your outfits with purple toned jewellery.
If you cannot afford real amethyst jewellery then opt for some
pretty costume jewellery such as this lovely chunky amethyst and pink
crystal necklace from
bohofashionjewellery/co.uk.
Purple is a main colour for this winter's fashions and you cannot go wrong
with any garment or accessory in such a hot colour as purple. And of course,
if you want to get ahead then get a hat like this one from
John Lewis!
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