COLOUR PURPLE

Just in case you missed it, which would be almost impossible, Pantone announced that Ultra Violet is their Colour of the Year 2018. According to Pantone, Ultra Violet “communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us toward the future.”

This surprises me, because when I think of wearing purple, what immediately springs to my mind is purple Bishops’ cassocks, cartoon wizard hats and blue rinses (being a mauve rinse on grey hair, traditionally popular with senior citizens in the UK).

Leaving aside the blue rinse brigade, I may not be far off here, as colour experts say purple has a sense of mystique and royal qualities. Purple is said to represent meanings of devotion, dignity, magic, mystery, nobility, peace, power, pride, spirituality, wealth and wisdom. I understand purple was traditionally the colour of royalty, because historically, in order to dye garments that colour, it required the use of the small gland in a sea snail that lived in the waters off Phoenicia, making purple an expensive colour to make. Purple to me, however, does not scream high-end fashion and luxury furnishings.

I am no shrinking violet, but this regal shade of purple seems a difficult colour to pull off well. You could nail this hue in a very sharp tailored dress or suit with little embellishments and minimalistic accessories, along the lines of recent runway looks from Gucci or Rochas. However, it you wear high street clothes using cheap violet, lavender or lilac dyes, then you are more likely to end up looking like a teenage girl or a Disney princess. I certainly don’t think I can pull off Ultra Violet lips or hair colour and I don’t think I can even get away with wearing it as a nail colour. I think I’ll leave purple hues to the likes of Selena Gomez and Rapunzel. It’s also not a colour that I want to see in my home fabrics and furnishings. Perhaps it might work in a velvet, statement chair in a boutique hotel setting, but who wants the first thing they see when they come down in the morning to be a purple espresso maker? From a colour psychology perspective, apparently purple contributes to mental balance, stability and peace of mind, but I personally can’t think of anything more stressful than having a purple kitchen. #firstworldproblems

It is said that having either purple or violet as your favourite colour means that you are sensitive and compassionate and put others before yourself... that is obviously why purple isn’t my favourite colour. I think purple should be retained for chocolate box packaging and my personal favourite chocolates, Rococo’s violet creams. Luckily for me, as I cannot bring myself to share these chocolates with anyone, most people think violet creams are revolting.

The immortal words of Jenny Joseph’s poem “Warning” sums up how I feel about purple: “When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple”. In the meantime, let’s leave purple to legends such as Prince:

“I never meant to cause you any sorrow / I never meant to cause you any pain / I only wanted to one time to see you laughing / I only wanted to see you / Laughing in the purple rain.”