What to Wear With Black, Gray and Camel: Purple Rain
Black, gray and camel are a strong neutral base. Purple Rain brings deep color to it. A good scarf complements your clothes instead of matching them, and the rich purples in this design give each of these colors something to play against.
What Purple Rain looks like
Purple Rain is a tribute in deep violet. It started as an original artwork I made with tea on paper, with rich purple tones layered over each other. It's abstract, with no florals and no repeating print. If you look closely, you can see the tea bag prints in the design.
Purple Rain comes in two sizes, 52 x 52 inches and 24 x 24 inches, and two fabrics, silk chiffon and silk-wool.
With black
Purple on black is the most dramatic of the three. It's right for evenings and holiday parties, and the deep violet stands out without looking like a costume.
With gray
Purple and gray are both cool, so they sit together naturally. Light gray makes the purple look brighter. Charcoal makes it look richer.
With camel
Camel is warm and purple is cool. That contrast keeps a camel coat from looking plain and gives the purple more energy.
Wearing all three together
- Black turtleneck and gray trousers, Purple Rain draped open over the shoulders.
- Camel coat over black, Purple Rain wrapped once at the neck.
- Gray sweater dress with black tights and boots, Purple Rain tucked into the collar.
If you wear jewelry, silver keeps the look cool and gold warms it up. Both work. Keep it small so the scarf stays the main piece.
One caution: the herringbone weave on the silk-wool is loose and delicate. Rings, bracelets, and earrings with prongs or sharp edges can catch it and pull a thread. Put the scarf on after your jewelry, and choose smooth pieces when you wear the silk-wool.
Silk chiffon or silk-wool
Match the scarf's weight to what you're wearing over it.
Silk chiffon is light and sheer. Light passes through it, which makes the purples glow. It suits lighter jackets, evenings and indoors.
Silk-wool is 70% wool and 30% silk. It's soft, opaque, and warm without being heavy, so it holds its own with a wool coat in fall and winter. The herringbone weave also adds texture to plain outfits.
Both are dry clean only. If you prefer the way they look after a hand wash, you can carefully hand wash either one in cold water and dry it flat.
Which size
The oversized scarf is 52 x 52 inches, big enough to drape over your shoulders like a wrap or fold down into a regular scarf. The small scarf is 24 x 24 inches, for tying at the neck.
Every order over $50 includes an original 4 x 6 signed tea print, and shipping is free in the US.
The series
This post is part of a series on what to wear with each design: Blue Dream, Rare Earth, Clear Blue, Calm Camomile, Purple Rain and Peacock Green.