Purple is the next colour after burgundy. Where burgundy is a red pulled toward the neutrals, purple is a step further along the same line: warmer than blue, cooler than red, and just as easy to wear once it is in the rotation. The mistake men make is reaching for a bright violet. The colour that works is deep, closer to aubergine, where the richness reads as depth rather than display.
Purple, Kept Dark
A dark purple behaves. It sits against a suit the way a good burgundy does, carrying a point of colour without taking the outfit over, and the brighter the purple the harder it works against you, until it tips into costume. The Aklasu purple grenadine tie is a deep aubergine, woven in Como from Italian silk on the grenadine loom, wool-interlined and tipped so the knot holds its shape through the day. The texture of the weave mutes the colour further, which is exactly what a purple meant to be worn often should do.
Which Suits to Wear It With
The purple tie suit combination that does the most work is the simplest: a purple tie with a navy suit. The two are close enough on the wheel to agree and far enough apart to register, and a white shirt between them keeps the pairing clean. A purple tie and a navy suit reads as considered rather than accidental, which is why it is the combination to learn first. Grey is the next step, where the purple becomes the warm element against cool flannel or worsted. Charcoal does the same, a touch more formal. For shoes, follow the suit: black with navy and charcoal, brown with grey. Aubergine sits well against black leather in particular.
Which Shirt to Pair
What colour shirt to wear with a purple tie comes down to keeping the contrast low. White is the safest ground and never wrong. Light blue works because cool against cool reads correct, and it softens the outfit. Pink is the one to handle with care: warm against warm can muddy, so keep the shade pale and the tie dark if you reach for it.
Occasions
Purple carries across the week without fuss. It is correct in a boardroom, considered in the evening, and distinctive at a wedding, where it marks a guest as having thought about it rather than dressed in a costume. It looks deliberate in any of those rooms, which is the whole point of choosing it over another navy.
The Square
A purple tie takes a pocket square best when the square relates to it rather than matching it. White linen or white silk is the steady answer, framing the colour without repeating it. We make the full case in The Pocket Square, Paired.
Purple is the colour a man reaches for once the neutrals and the burgundy are accounted for, the next deliberate step in a wardrobe built on restraint. It rewards the same discipline burgundy does, which we cover in How to Wear a Burgundy Tie. The rest of the weave sits in the grenadine ties collection. Worn dark and worn simply, it never once looks like a risk.
