How to wear purple?

To know how to associate a color, you must first understand it.

Personally, I think I avoided purple for a long time because I didn't know which box to put it in. Is it a variation of brown, to wear in monochrome with my beige chinos? Is it a blue that has spent too much time in the sun, to wear with my sky shirts?

Answer: a bit of both. Because purple is the combination of a warm color, red, and a cold color, blue. So you can go both directions. All you have to do is see its position on the color wheel.

On the left you have cool colors, from blue to green. On the right, warm colors, shades of red and yellow. Purple is right halfway between the two. Your purple clothes will therefore go just as well with a set of blues as with beiges and browns for example. And to put all the chances on your side, you can start slowly.

As with any color, soft, natural shades of purple pair more harmoniously with other colors. If you are a beginner, you can start with pastels such as parma, plum, lilac, lavender etc. They will coexist as beautifully as they do in nature with the green of the leaves and the brown of the earth. If that's not sartorial poetry, that is.

When designing our first purple shirt, our product team chose its lavender shade for just that. Not being too pronounced, it does not conflict with other colors and thus lets them express themselves. It goes just as well with brown clothes as an ecru shirt for example.

And it will work the same with your other lavender or light lilac colored clothes.

Same principle for this outfit by Joe Warrior-Walker, an Indo-British artist who makes superb abstract works (I heartily recommend it by the way). I think it perfectly illustrates the idea.

The light, faded shade of the lilac t-shirt fades naturally in favor of the deeper brown of the jacket. Under this same jacket, purple also takes on its role as a warm color and coexists as in a monochrome. Like an ecru or beige t-shirt would have done.

Interesting point: the reminder socks show us how purple can bridge the gap between a cold color and a warm color. Besides, if you do the exercise of hiding the shoes with your hands on your screen, you will look like someone strange in the subway but you will also have the impression of seeing a cold color.

We call it the chameleon effect of purple. Well, I'm the one who just called it that.

You can provide the same type of transition between the top and bottom of your outfit with your pastel purples. Illustration with our lavender Auteuil polo shirt, our gray-blue Alserio jacket and our beige Stintino pants.

Imagine the same outfit with a darker, more vibrant purple: it would have worked less well, because we would have lost the balance of colors between the jacket and the polo shirt.

Same notion of balance of colors on this masterful outfit by Kevis Manzi, where the faded purple of the sweater gives pride of place to the red of the tie. We would have noticed the latter less alongside a bright purple.

To ensure smoother transitions between your clothes, beyond pastel purples, you also have patterns. I'm thinking in particular of stripes. Example from the Officine Générale SS24 fashion show:

On the left, we see very distinct blocks of color. On the right, we see a more uniform whole. The purple of the shirt blends in more because it is diluted by the white stripes, and thus closer to the beige overcoat.

Accessories are useful for learning to master any color and gradually bringing it into your wardrobe. A great technique to move on to more intense purples if you are the chilly type.

For example, you can consider the purple of your scarf or hat as a variation of navy blue. And show a photo of the color wheel to anyone who contradicts you.

Reminders, monochromes, all you have to do is have fun.

You can also echo the beige of your chinos, so as not to forget the other side of the color wheel.

Before moving on to the next gimmick, I want to warn you: once you fall in, you never get out. This is serious. I've seen people sink with my own eyes (and I understand them): the purple socks/moccasins combo, following on from a brown pair or blue jeans for example.

And then one day, we realize that purple socks no longer stimulate us enough. So we're going even further (hats off to Stetson @kevismanzi 👏).

To continue taking it step by step. Besides, it works with most bright colors.

The principle is simple: you lay a base of whites, ecrus and/or beiges. Like a blank canvas. Then you splatter it on me with a bucket of purple paint.

This does not exempt us from creating a minimum of continuity in the outfit, to limit the “color bloc” effect. By small reminders or monochromes for example: the Wallabees and the ecru t-shirt which sticks out above. The brown beret, beige chinos and brown soles below.

For a more uniform appearance, you can also favor relatively close shade levels. Below, the jacket is not too bright and the chinos are not too light either, which reduces the contrast:

We also notice the collar of the shirt which sticks out well to echo the beige at the bottom. Black shoes also contribute to this balance by punctuating the alternation of light and dark. From top to bottom, it goes: light shirt collar, darker jacket, lighter chinos, darker shoes.

Once you've practiced all these concepts, consider adding other colors. A green parka for example.

Or yellow, which will appear as a variation of your ecru chinos.

And once we start embellishing colors with purple, there's no stopping us.

Now that you know you can wear your purple clothes:

• in monochrome with blues or browns,
• in transition between cold and warm colors,
• by balancing color intensity levels to preserve harmony,
• by letting bright colors express themselves alongside faded hues,
• and ensuring the continuity of the whole through reminders.

Well it's high time to let loose and have fun. A little anthology of inspiration to get you started.

Above, @maninwave's jumpsuit is beautiful because:

1. The gray pants (cold color) tend very very slightly towards blue (the sister color of purple).
2. The white t-shirt sticking out softens the transition like a thinner.

Of course, few of you will go as far as these latest ideas for a Monday morning at the office and probably me neither (which is a shame). But these outfits are probably the most informative. They illustrate the principles of this article from every angle and allow us to understand them even better.

Now it's up to you to play, make mistakes and start again until someone tells you “I don't really like purple but you wear it really well there”. Before letting himself be convinced in turn by a color that is far too shunned by men (first of all me).

Let's make purple great again 🤘