Wednesday, 07 December 2011 01:06
A dictionary defines purple as “any of a group of colors with a hue between that of violet and red” and as a “symbol of royalty or high office.” Historically, the color purple has been associated with royalty and power, but the secret of its power lies in the glands of tiny shellfish creatures.
“Tyrian Purple,” the purple dye of the ancients mentioned in texts dating back to about 1600 B.C., was produced from the mucus of the hypobranchial gland of various species of marine mollusks, notably Murex. It took some 12,000 shellfish to extract 1.5 grams of the pure dye.
Rome, Egypt, and Persia all used purple as the imperial standard. Purple dyes were rare and expensive; only the rich had access to them. Emperor Aurelian refused to let his wife buy a purpura-dyed silk garment, as it cost its weight in gold!
We can only wonder at the social power of gender color stereotyping that effectively transformed this rich, luscious color into the “girls’ color”, banishing it from the boys’ clothes and shoes. We, at Boys Be Cool defy gender based stereotypes and aggressively push these color outcasts back into the boys’ wardrobe. Well, we might be slightly partial in this case because we are obsessed with everything purpleJ.
Shades of purple from lavender and lilac to rich plums pair beautifully with gray, yellow, gold, emerald green, white, black and electric blue. Fearless fashionistas can try wild card combination, pairing purple with red or orange.
We have whipped a few outfits for our Tribe using different shades of this amazing color and the results are the royalty worthy! *Click on image to view details of items used in styling.
Introduce some purple into your little dandy’s life with these easy to love and style items.
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Polarn O Pyret Slim Fit Corduroy Pants $50 |
Zara Striped Cardigan USD 25.90 |
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Should you ever fail to be inspired with the color purple just immerse yourself in the soulful vibe of Prince's "Purple Rain".
