What colors go with purple?

Light grey and black for every day, lavender for a one-color look, emerald and mustard when you want purple to stand out.

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What to wear with purple

purple #6C3A92
light grey #CBCBCB

Purple and light grey

Neutral base High contrast

Light grey is cool and quiet, so it lets purple be the only color while lightening the whole outfit. The big gap in depth makes the purple look clearer and richer.

When to wear it: Work and weekends: a purple sweater with light grey pants, a light grey suit with a purple tie or pocket square, or a grey marl tee under a purple cardigan in spring or autumn.

What to avoid: A beige-tinged or greenish grey makes purple look a little sour. Keep the grey neutral or slightly blue, and pick charcoal or black shoes, since brown pulls the outfit warm.

Suits: Deep Winter Bright Spring Bright Winter

purple #6C3A92
black #111111

Purple and black

Neutral base Medium contrast

Black gives purple a dark, dramatic frame and leaves it the only color in the outfit. Both are deep, so the pairing looks moody and formal, made for low light.

When to wear it: Evenings and winter: a purple velvet dress with black tights and boots, a black suit with a purple shirt, or a purple coat over an all-black outfit for a concert or a dinner out.

What to avoid: In dim light, a very dark purple and black can merge. A mid purple holds its own; with an aubergine, add a silver necklace, a white collar or bare skin to separate the two.

Suits: Deep Winter Bright Winter Cool Winter

purple #6C3A92
lavender #BFA9DC

Purple and lavender

Tonal: one color, light and dark Medium contrast

Lavender is purple with white mixed in, so the two form a tonal pair: one hue at two depths. The lighter shade softens the stronger one, and the outfit looks considered without a third color.

When to wear it: Spring and summer evenings: a lavender shirt with a purple suit, a purple skirt with a lavender knit, or a lavender blouse under a purple blazer for a party or a wedding.

What to avoid: If the purple is reddish and the lavender bluish, the pair looks accidental. Match their lean, and skip a third, mid-purple layer that fills in the gap between them.

Suits: Cool Winter

purple #6C3A92
emerald green #00936B

Purple and emerald green

Contrasting hues Low contrast

Emerald and purple sit about a third of the wheel apart, so the green brings a clear change of hue. Both are deep, saturated jewel tones with a cool lean, and that shared richness makes the pair look festive and planned.

When to wear it: Holiday parties and winter weddings: an emerald dress with a purple wrap, a purple shirt with an emerald tie, or velvet and silk in both colors for a formal evening.

What to avoid: Two equally dark jewel tones can sink into one heavy mass. Wear the lighter of the two on top, or break them up with gold or silver jewelry.

Suits: Deep Winter Bright Spring Bright Winter

purple #6C3A92
mustard yellow #D1A11C

Purple and mustard yellow

Opposites on the color wheel Medium contrast

Yellow sits opposite purple on the color wheel, so a muted mustard makes purple look deeper and the purple makes the mustard glow. Mustard's softness keeps the contrast from turning garish.

When to wear it: Autumn: a mustard sweater with purple pants, a purple dress with a mustard cardigan or bag, or a mustard scarf looped over a purple coat.

What to avoid: Bright lemon in mustard's place makes the pairing shout. Use mustard as the accent, one sweater, scarf or bag, against an outfit that is mostly purple.

Suits: Bright Spring

Which of these flatter you depends on your color season. Find my season →

Colors to keep away from purple

- navy blue #1F2A4D
Navy and purple sit close in depth and both lean blue, so together they look like two attempts at one dark color. If you wear a purple top with navy pants, add a light layer between them, such as a white shirt or a light grey jacket.
- olive green #708238
Olive is a warm, muted yellow-green and purple a cool, clear blue-red, so they fight on temperature and on clarity. The olive looks drab and the purple slightly artificial. A deep emerald gives you purple and green without that friction.

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Take a selfie in daylight

Face a window, without makeup if you can, hair as it naturally falls. Daylight and no filter keep your real skin tone — colored lamps and beauty filters change the result.

🙂

Your selfie is used for your reading and saved in your private Color Suite only if you go on to a try-on. Never shared, never used for training.

Pick up three purple sweaters in a shop and you may be holding three different colors: a bluish violet that looks crisp, a reddish grape that looks softer and warmer, and a mid purple between them. That mid purple is the one most purple clothes come in, saturated, fairly dark and clearly cool, and it is the shade these pairings are built around. As a top it tends to suit coloring with depth or clarity. On soft, muted coloring it can look heavy, and a purple skirt or pair of pants is often the better way in.

Being dark and vivid at once, purple wants either a calm neutral or one confident partner. Light grey and black are the everyday answers. Lavender makes a tonal outfit, emerald a jewel-toned one, and mustard yellow the boldest, since it sits opposite purple on the wheel. Shoes and bags in grey, black or silver keep any of these looks tidy.

FAQ

Is violet the same as purple?

Nearly. Violet is the bluer end of the purple range, closer to blue on the wheel, while many purples lean toward red. Both pair with light grey, black and lavender. A violet looks especially good with silver and cool pinks; a red-leaning purple is easier with burgundy and deep plum.

What color pants go with a purple shirt?

Charcoal, light grey and black are the safest, from the office to dinner, and dark-wash jeans make the shirt casual. Beige and khaki chinos can work with a mid purple in summer, though they give a warmer, more relaxed look. Skip navy unless something lighter sits between the two, since navy and purple blur together.

Does purple go with brown?

Sometimes. A dark chocolate brown works with deep purple as an earthy evening pairing, because both are dark and the brown stays in the background. Mid and orange-leaning browns tend to clash with purple's coolness. For shoes and belts, black, grey and burgundy are usually safer than tan.

Should you wear gold or silver with purple?

Silver is the easier match: its coolness agrees with purple's blue side, and pewter and white gold behave the same way. Yellow gold works too, especially with a reddish purple or beside the mustard pairing, where it repeats the warm accent. Rose gold sits in between and suits plum-leaning shades. With a bluish violet, keep to silver.

Is purple a warm or a cool color?

Purple is usually counted as cool, since most purples carry more blue than red; reddish purples, closer to magenta or plum, run warmer. Among the color seasons, a clear mid purple sits closest to Deep Winter; Bright Spring wears it as one of its few cool colors, and Bright Winter and Cool Winter wear it too.