AW12 Fashion Trends: Berry Good

For autumn 2012 the designers were driven to drink when searching for inspiration as the heady colour palette of a vintage wine cellar emerges for the season ahead. From claret, grape, burgundy, raspberry, blueberry, violet  and deep plum, designers like Christopher Kane, Carven Lanvin, Erdem and Kenzo took our love for wine to a whole new level.

Image from Asos.com

If you struggle to know what colours suit you, here’s My Style Companion’s guide to updating your wardrobe with this season’s must-have palette – berry and wine colours. 

Although My Style Companion don’t do colour consultations for our clients because we believe that colour consultations pigeon-hole clients too much, we do recognise that some colours look better than others depending on your complexion. So here’s our guide to wearing purple this season….

Cool Complexions

Cool complexions usually have an ash tone to their hair, whether they have blonde, brunette, grey or white hair. They also have a cooler skin-tone that can have a blue-ish tone and their veins tend to be more blue than green.

It’s simple really – cool complexions suit cooler tones when it comes to clothing. When talking about this season’s purple palette, think more royal purple, amethyst, violet, thistle, indigo, lilac, lavender Any purple shade with a blue undertone in it.

If you have ashy tones to your hair and love a bit of leopard, this Planet Border Print Tunic, John Lewis, £59 is the perfect AW12 update when worn with leggings and flat boots and a little leather jacket, or with wedge boots and opaque tights for drinks with the girls.

Warm Complexions

Warm complexions tend to have a reddish tone to their hair, making it more auburn or strawberry red, and skin tends to look richer. You may have some freckles and your skin can look golden.

In terms of this season’s palette think damson, mulled wine, rust, mahogany, burgundy, maroon, aubergine, cranberry, raspberry, cherry and plum. Basically any purple shade with more of a red undertone.

This Phase Eight Flock of Birds Dress, £89 is perfect for aw12 if you prefer a print with your dose of purple, as opposed to a block colour.

 Dark Hair and Eyes

CELEBS: Cheryl Cole, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Alesha Dixon, Naomi Campbell, Kimora Lee-Simmons, Sex and the City’s Charlotte

Women with dark hair and eyes tend to suit warmer, darker wine colours – think spiced mulled wine at Christmas time! Opt for plums, cranberry, damson and dark raspberry for a rich and sumptuous style.

This River Island Fit and Flare, £120 is a great AW12 wardrobe update as it ticks both the colour palette for this season as well as paying homage to this seasons hottest trend – leather.

If you’re looking for something more demure, this Coast Parisienne Dress, from John Lewis, £150 is a feminine, flirty take on plum.

Fair Hair and Fair Skin

CELEBS: Gwyneth Paltrow, Claudier Schiffer, Emma Bunton

Lighter shades of purple tend to not overwhelm you as much as dark colours, so softer, lighter colours would be my first port of call if I was shopping for you for aw12 and you wanted to try purples.

Colours such as mauve, violet, lavender, bluebell, thistle and soft fuchsia can work well for you if you’re trying to build confidence with colour. Basically more feminine pastelly shades of purple work best if you’re struggling to see where to start. If these feel too ‘girly’ for your style, try the lighter shades but choose less feminine styles and fabrics.

This Lipsy Embellished Shoulder Dress in Hushed Violet, £95 is perfect if you have a fun and flirty personality and like to dress feminine. Can be edged out by adding a leather jacket and platform ankle boots.

This Arabella Maxi Dress, £120 from Phase Eight is one of most flattering jersey fabrics I’ve found on the highstreet so if you want to go maxi and hide a multitude of sins in a goddess-like way – try this on for size (available in more colours).

Sun-kissed Blondes

Sun-kissed blondes can get away with a wide variety of purples but keep them quite bright and bold. Usually more autumn tones such as browns, maroons, mustards don’t look great on you and you probably tend to usually opt for black or grey, but this seasons purple palette will work great for you if you choose a bright, bold shade such as plum, violet or indigo.

CELEBS: Elle McPhereson, Blake Lively, Nicole Richie, Jennifer Aniston, Sex and the City’s Samantha

If you’re looking for a little purple dress to replace your LBD try this Celebrity Boutique, £109.99

If you fancy experimenting with AW12′s winter floral trend you can opt for Damsel in a Dress, Winter Capri Dress, £109

Red Heads

CELEBS: Nicola Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Christina Hendricks, Lily Cole, Geri Halliwell, Sex and the City’s Miranda

Warm red heads often have brown or hazel eyes, such as Julia Roberts and Grace (off Will and Grace) tend to suit the softer shades of this season’s colour palette such cranberry, raspberry, mauve and mahogany as well as a true medium purple.

Cooler red heads such as Nicola Roberts and Christina Hendricks with blue and green eyes, tend to suit the cooler, lighter colours as well.

This Mesh Dress from Dorothy Perkins, £36  is a great all round shade for lots of complexions but looks very sophisticated and sexy on red-heads in particular.

For cooler red heads, like Nicola Roberts from Girl’s Aloud, this Reiss Tatiana Dress, £159 looks terrific. This colour also looks great on ash blondes, grey and white haired women too!

Dark Hair and Blue / Green Eyes

CELEBS: Courtney Cox, Noemi Lenoir, Demi Moore, Kate Middleton, Tulisa

Women who have naturally dark hair but bright clear blue or green eyes that really contrast with their dark locks (you lucky things) tend to suit true, clear and bright colours as opposed to muted, murkier tones. If you were to pick an era of colour for this group of women it would be 80s and 90s pop, and avoiding a 70s palette.

This bright dress from Coast, Emmy Dress, £125 is super flattering on most figures, hugging and skimming in all the right places.

If you want to go for goddess glamour without the price tag, add some glamorous gold accessories to this dress from Dorothy Perkins, £39 for the perfect purple update.

Naturally Mid Brown Hair and Mid-Coloured Eyes

CELEBS: Sex and the City’s SJP, Kylie Minogue, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Jessica Alba, Mel C

This person tends to be able to suit both darker and lighter coloured hair if they choose to, and their hair very often lightens and darkens itself quite naturally depending on the time of year.

The overall look and complexion of this person is quite blended and soft (although they may choose to make this more striking by changing their hair colour), therefore if you’re unsure about which colours to choose opt for medium hues – nothing to dark or light, nothing too bright and bold or too pale. Definitely a safe way to proceed for you.

However if you have changed your hair colour, you may find that you suit other colours more!

This dress from River Island, £25 can be dressed down with a marl grey cardi, tights and boots; made smarter with a leather jacket and biker boots, or dressed up with heels and a clutch.

We love a peplum! This Miss Selfridge Peplum Dress, £42 ticks trend boxed all over the place for Aw12 and we just think it’s super cute and flirty.