How to Wear Purple - The Best Purple Colour Dresses UK

Jun 30, 2022Nicole Topping

How to Wear Purple

Purple can be a notoriously difficult colour to wear if not done correctly. Alas, the hues locked within purple can be seen as cheerful, whimsical and playful. Often associated with magical images, see Disney and their much-loved princesses, it is a colour often adored but not worn as much as others. Here we're going to go through our favourite purple dresses from Diva Catwalk and discuss what shades will suit you best, depending on your undertone (and how to find out what undertone you have!)

The meaning behind the colour purple

The colour purple is one of those colours that go perfectly through each day of the year, changing its shade as the seasons do. With the colour often associated with royalty, power and luxury, we thought it best to go through our favourite purple dresses you can get your hands on.

quoted text upon purple fabric reading "when in doubt, wear purple".

How to wear purple

The colour wheel is a visual representation of colours, with hues arranged according to wavelength. Colour wheels allow colour relationships to represent geometrically and show the relationship between primary colours, secondary colours and tertiary colours – Invision App

a detailed colour theory wheel

Using the colour wheel for the colour purple

Using the colour wheel, we can source the best colours to wear with purple and what suits it best overall. So, whether you’re looking for accessories to pair with your purple dress or deciding on what colour of shoes suits you best, we have you sorted!

To begin, we follow two of the colour schemes when pairing with clothing. First, we have the complementary colour scheme, which tends to be shades that are found opposite the chosen colour – in this case, purple. The colours opposite purple here are a combination of both yellow and greens.

Next, we have the analogous colour scheme. The Analogous colour scheme is one that takes the shades found beside the chosen colour. So, the analogous scheme for purple would be shades of blue and red.

Complementary Colour Looks for Purple

Analogous Colour Looks for Purple

What shades of purple suit my skin tone?

The great thing about the colour purple is that you can easily find the right shade for your own skin tone. To begin, we would suggest you identify your skin tone using one, or a mix, of the following methods:

Check your veins

Sourcing the veins under your skin will aid in helping you find out what your skin tone is. For example, if you find that your veins have a blue hue then it’s suggested you have a cool skin tone, whereas if you see shades of green then it's a warm skin tone. And, finally, if you can't tell what hues your veins have between either shade then you have a neutral skin tone.

The Silver/Gold Test

You may find that certain types of jewellery suit your skin better. If you find that gold suits you, then you’re likely to have cool undertones. However, if silver is more your bag then you’ll have warm undertones.

Review Your Skins Reaction to the Sun

If you find that your skin burns easily, then you're the proud owner of a cool undertone. Alternatively, if your skin tans easily, you'll find that you have a warm undertone. If, like many, you burn and then tan you could have a neutral undertone.

Purple Shades to go with Cool Undertones

It's been found that fair skin, with cool undertones, best suit lighter purple shades like lilac. The worry is that a darker purple could result in the skin looking washed out and/or tired. You also don't want to go to pale, like pastel purple, as this could have the same effect so try to incorporate different colours, such as white to help break it up.

Purples that suit Cool Undertones:

Purple Shades to go with Warm Undertones

Warm undertones are fortunate in that the majority of purple shades suit them. You can complement darker purples with lighter accessories, and lighter purples pair perfectly with the warm complexion.

Purples that suit Warm Undertones

Our Favourite Purple Dresses at Diva Catwalk

The Lydia

Our best-selling purple dress remains to be our Lydia ¾ Sleeved Plain dress. Available in 16 shades, including Violet Purple, Chalk Purple, Violet Tulip and Purple Heart, you're spoiled for choice. Each Lydia dress is made using our ribbed super stretch fabric and features both a round neckline with slit detail and pleating across the front for a flattering fit.

model pictures side by side showing the Lydia 3/4 Sleeved dresses in various colours with text beside them titling the dress.

Buy now: Lydia ¾ Sleeved Dress £125

The Banbury

Another firm favourite, and best-seller, is our sleeveless Banbury dress. Available in a vast amount of shades (23 to be exact!) including Violet Purple and Violet Tulip. The Banbury features a low overlaid V-Neckline, whilst offering a wide cinching waistband providing that hourglass figure silhouette. What's more, the cross-body pleating aids in the dress being tailored for a super flattering fit and chic finish.

model pictures side by side showing the Banbury Sleeveless dresses in various colours with text beside them titling the dress.

Buy now: Banbury Sleeveless Dress £95

The Bow Detail

One of our dresses that were featured in the latest new-in drop, is the Ester Cap Sleeve Bow Detail Pencil dress. Ester is available in 5 different shades, including Lavender Purple. Designed using our Venice Stretch fabric, this dress features a subtle V-Neck slit with a cap sleeve and bow detail featured on the waist.

model pictures side by side showing the Esther Cap Sleeved dresses in various colours with text beside them titling the dress.

Buy now: Ester Cap Sleeve Bow Detail Dress £159

The Batwing Sleeve

Another new drop is our latest batwing sleeved dress, Foxberry. At present, it is only available in one shade, purple. With its A-line shape, wide low V-Neck and black cinching band at the waist it is its own showstopper. Using our Luxury Ripple Crepe fabric we have been able to create a light-shaded dress, with a cute pattern and sophisticated design.

a woman model pictured wearing the Foxberry dress with text showing the dress title.

Buy now: Foxberry Batwing Sleeved £149

The Wrap Hem Pencil

Our penultimate dress is also featured in the new drop and it’s called the Ionian Sleeved dress. Available in two shades, yellow and pastel purple shown, the Ionian dress features a gathering detail on the front. With the fold in the dress giving off wrap-dress vibes, the 3/4 length sleeves and centre back vent provides endless comfort without compromising on style.

a woman model pictured wearing the Ionian Sleeved Pencil dress with text showing the dress title.

Buy now: Ionian Sleeved dress £129

The Off-Shoulder Head-Turner

And last, but by no means least, we have our Luma Pencil dress. Available in 7 shades, including two purples. First, the lilac wisteria and secondly, the violet bloom. Each dress is made using our much-loved bi-stretch fabric and features a cold shoulder style design with 3/4 length sleeves. Also, the design consists of a sweetheart neckline and offers a contrast bow that provides detailing at the waist and cinching to aid into an hourglass silhouette.

model pictures side by side showing the Luma Off-Shoulder dresses in two different shades of purple with text beside them titling the dress.