In the poem Warning by Jenny Joseph, the first two lines are –
“When I am an old woman I shall wear purple, With a red hat which doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me.”
I love the rebellious theme of the poem and since it was written, Red Hat, Purple Dress clubs have sprung up everywhere. At the meetings, the women attending dress in purple and red and just have lots of fun together.
I disagree that purple and red “don’t go”, in fact I love these two strong colours in combination. This Spring/Summer is showing a trend for bright colours together and what a good combination red and purple make. Perhaps some women in the “Red Hat, Purple Dress” society deliberately choose to wear colours that don’t suit them, but many women actually want to look their best most of the time, even if they are trying to make a statement or not conform to fashion. The key to wearing these two colour together is getting the right hues & tones that suit your natural colour.
There may be or have been an assumption that women over 50 are mostly grey haired. This may have been true a generation ago but now that hair dye is so available and effective, many women are choosing not to go grey…..just yet! But those that decide to go grey when nature decides are best suited in “cool” purple and red. This means the purple and red needs to have a “blue” undertone, so imagine taking purple or red and adding a splash of blue.
Red or auburn hair is often keeps its colour long after any other hair colour. Women with this colouring should choose purple and red with “warm” or “golden” undertones. The red will be more “orange” in hue and flatter the auburn tones of the hair.
Women with dark hair should choose dark red and deep purple, where as women with fair or blond hair will be better suited in pale purple and light red.
In essence there is a red and a purple for every woman, what ever her age so if you have a desire to join the Red Hat, Purple Dress Society, you can join in the fun but know that you are wearing the shades of red and purple that really suit you.