Colour me tartan - Purple passion for February

Emily designs all the Colour me tartan boards here in the office and she was delighted when her favourite colour was chosen for February. Purple is the colour of luxury and passion. It is also the core colour for the ScotlandShop brand, chosen to reflect the traditional heather hues Scotland is so famous for, along with our passion for quality and the very finest fabrics and tailoring.

And purple is not just for the ladies. Menswear has embraced pattern and colour over the past few seasons and we have seen much more adventurous styling and clothing choices. The Grey Fox recently styled our tartan trousers with his favourite purple sweater and the subtle colours of the Austin Modern tartan are lifted beautifully. The right shade of purple gives all skin tones a healthy glow and complements the majority of hair and eye colours.

Most people have a bit of a love hate relationship with the colour purple. Originally only affordable by the elite purple is traditionally a royal colour. Based on where it sits within the colour wheel complimenting colours are yellows and dark blues, whereas good contrasting colours are green or orange, but these combinations will only work well in small doses. No purple trousers and yellow shirts please!

To use purple in a significant way, keep the rest of your outfit in shades of black, grey and navy to help anchor the colour. If you are feeling less brave and just want to experiment, try an accessory, some purple socks, a pocket square, tie or scarf.

Once you feel comfortable with subtle touches of your new colour, try some bigger pieces, knitwear or a tartan shirt or jacket paired with green, navy, grey and black. Darker skin tones will suit softer shades such as lilac, and lighter skin tones suit darker, richer purple.