The featured image shows actress Vanessa Williams in character as Wilhelmina Slater, wearing a dress in a light shade of purple with red lips.
Our first thought upon contemplating the question “Can you wear red lipstick with a purple dress” was yikes…
What we were envisioning just wasn’t looking too attractive to us. Purple and red by themselves are both such attention commanding colors that it just didn’t seem to us like red lipstick would be a good choice of lip color for a purple dress. We saw the colors clashing and battling to take each other down.
But sometimes you think something is going to look a certain way, and when you actually see it, the reality isn’t as you imagined.
So we decided to take a trip over to Google images to search for pictures of women wearing red lipstick with a purple dress. And based on our review of the images we would have to say…
Can you wear red lipstick with a purple dress? Yes, but…
Go up to multiple style experts and ask “Can you wear red listick with a purple dress?” and you’ll likely get a few who will react with horror at the thought. But if you ask us, based on the pictures we reviewed, we think you can wear red lipstick with a purple dress. We saw pictures of famous and non-famous ladies alike wearing a purple dress with red lip paint, and the look wasn’t terribly horrible. But if we were dressing ourselves, we probably wouldn’t go for a red lip when wearing a purple dress.
Why we wouldn’t wear red lipstick with a purple dress…
Red lipstick is usually considered a pretty brazen color by itself. So when you wear it with a purple dress the effect will be quite glaring. It’s an in your face look. You’ll not only be insisting on being noticed, you will also be shouting your opinion of how fabulous you think you look.
We’re all for women being confident. We want all women to know they are in fact fabulous. But no one else really has to think you’re fabulous. Only you. So you shouldn’t go overboard trying too hard to draw everybody’s attention to yourself.
That’s our view of things. But ultimately we do believe at the end of the day, that you really should do what feels right for you.
If you love the look of your red lips with your purple dress then go out and rock it.
Purple dress lipstick color street style inspiration
We came across a number of examples of ladies in purple dresses wearing a bright pink color on their lips. Interestingly enough they all looked pretty good. The key (this is based on our study of the photos only) is to select a pink that that falls inside the purple family tree. We saw some ladies with neon pink. That will probably be too loud a shade of pink. You want something that you’ll see on the color wheel for purple shades.
Purple dress with a nude lip
This look from Indonesia based blogger Anastasia Sinatar is a good example of attracting attention without demanding it.
When you’re wearing a purple dress, it might be better if you wear a lip color that’s closer to the natural color of your lips…
We believe in color. Color is good. Color invigorates. But you don’t need to wear more than one bold color at a time. You can; but it isn’t necessary to do that to benefit from the therapeutic effect of bright bold colors. Just one bright bold color is usually enough to pep you up.
The verdict: Can you wear red lipstick with a purple dress?
Sure you can wear red lipstick with a purple dress; but there are probably other lipstick colors that will work much better for you than red. Try a few options before settling on red. You might like something else more than you like the red.
Shopping for Purple dresses?
Here are some purple dresses you might like
Purple Drop Waist Embossed Satin Dress from Lela Rose. This dress is for those ladies who have a little more than just a little something in the bank. It comes with a $1,695.00 price tag. Features a sweetheard bodice and flounced skirt. Lined with silk.
Armani Collezioni Front Zip Quilted Jacquard Sheath Dress
Another purple dress that might be a little expensive if you don’t earn a six figure monthly income. It’s more a lavender shade of purple. From Armani Collezioni – a front zip quilted jacquard sheath dress. Comes with a $1,225.00 price tag.
Lela Rose Bridesmaid Draped Chiffon Dress
You probably shouldn’t wear this dress to attend a wedding as you might look like you’re one of the bridesmaids. But this is a cute dress to have accessible in case you get invited to an event that calls for dressing up in a strapless, flowy, crinkly chiffon dress. Comes with a $330 price tag.
FELICITY & COCO Purple Crepe Shift Dress
Cute little shift dress By FELICITY & COCO. Comes with an affordable $88 price tag.
Like these dresses? Want to buy one? Or want to shop for other purple dresses?