The Colour Palette of Fashion: Purple

In Ancient Rome, the colour purple was reserved exclusively for the Emperor himself - it has given rise to the name Imperial Purple which is still used today. The reason for this limitation was not just due to a concept of distinction but a financial one as well. The colour purple was achieved by crushing Murex shellfish - which first had to be removed manually from their shells - which was a very costly procedure.

The idea of purple being the colour of royalty had not abated by the 18th century. Even today, the phrase "born in the purple" refers to a person born into either a royal family or unusually privileged families. After the outbreak of the French Revolution, the colours green and royal purple became associated with the counterrevolution. Marie Antoinette, for one, arranged her fashion choices to illustrate this allegiance by  ordering both clothes in both "Artois green" and royal purple. Louis XVI, too, took up the age-old purple symbolism when he attended the opening of the Assembly of Notables in 1787 - dressed in a suit of purple velvet.

Robe à la Française 1765-70, suit 1780's, robe à
l'Anglaise 1780's and suit late 1780's

At Versailles, the king wore violet mourning clothing for other monarchs - but he was the only one to use this colour for mourning. Cardinals, in turn, wore a more distinct purple shade. Madame de Pompadour used the colour - with golden embroideries - for her livery when she was given the estate of Bellevue.

Robe (possibly for a young girl) 1780's, robe à la
Française 1780's, suit ca. 1789-90 and corset 1760

By the 18th century, purple was still an expensive colour to manufacture. It was not until the following century that chemical advances made it more available. Imported rochella (a type of lichen) found on the Canaries Islands also produced a purple colour but had to be imported. A similar source was cudbear which was - from a French point-of-view - unfortunately found primarily in England.

Due to the symbolic connection between purple and the monarchy, it is hardly surprising that it was a colour often used in official ceremonies. For instance, when Louis XV presided over a lit de justice in 1743, he did so from a throne of purple velvet. Likewise, a purple canopy with golden fleur-de-lys was used in a procession led by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.  

Princesse de Lamballe, Marie Antoinette, Madame
Victoire and the Princess of Liechtenstein 

The purple that was available became most popular in the 1770's and 1780's where popular shades were lilac, mauve and even the infamous puce. For those who could not afford the pure-purple dyes, a common trick was to dye something first red, then blue - the result was a mixture which resembled purple but could not rival the real deal.Marie Antoinette - and Rose Bertin - were both great fans of pastels. The colours of lavender and violet were great favourites with the queen. 

It appears to have been quite popular to use purple as a complimentary colour - possibly due to the cost of it. There are quite a few examples of clothing been adorned with embroidered, purple flowers. Madame du Barry gifted a suit of silver with lilac spangles to Louis XV, as an example.

Two portraits of Louis XVI, an unknown gentleman
and Prince Golitsyn