Purple Reign

By Laura Medina

Cythnia Rowley's current Fall/Winter 2010 Line

From the New York runway to Los Angeles' garment district to MAC's limited edition Venomous Villain Line, it is raining purple.

The spectrum runs the gamut from the inkiest violet to the fragile lilac which helps stretch the purple reign from this current Fall through next year's Spring and Summer, perfect for Easter.

Why the current craze for the combination of blue and red?

According to MAC's Senior Artist, Jennifer Karsten, Fall is traditionally the start for something deeper and richer for colder seasons. As the season progresses into Winter, women desire tailoring, fabrications, and colors that are more serious and strong.

In other words, the darker and colder Fall and Winter are more mature while Spring and Summer is more girlish and light-hearted due to the sun and the heat.

Stash the baby pinks and the blushing princess look away in the back for next Summer, it is time to bring out the amber, burgundy, and the wine for a more fortified look, reflecting people's palette for richer, heavier cuisine.

Ms. Karsten says Fall is the time when women want to look like and feel like women, not girls.

Purple is traditionally a color reserved for royalty since getting it in nature is so difficult and rare. Since then, the royal hue signifies power, respect, and being regal which translates into elegance and refinement while being strong.

This is why MAC uses Disney's strong-willed and wise villains to represent royal purple, just in time for Halloween, the start of longer nights and shorter days and more reasons to dress up for cocktail parties and holiday galas.

Kristine Miller's Divine casual, contemporary wear for Fall 2010.

For today's divas on the go, Malibu Canyon-raised and Manhattan-fashion educated, Kristine Miller of Divine is here to provide comfortable yet stylish activewear for the sleeker and faster diva.

After cutting her teeth designing for the likes of Betsey Johnson then Henry Duarte, Ms. Miller returned to her laid-back Malibu roots then injected with fashion-forward draping and ruching into yoga-inspired contemporary line.

She is her customer and her customer is her.

In other words, Ms. Miller and her women want clothes that are comfortable enough to ease from yoga to the market to the boutique to lunch then dinner and cocktails without the hassle of driving and changing three times in one day.

However, she wants to prove being comfortable never means being sloppy.

Ms. Miller's purple Fall line showcases her trip to Paris in trapeze, striped tee-shirts, the wrap cardigan and the high-waisted jersey pants with ruching. Still yoga/activewear inspired but with an extra zap of style.

Divine is not just for the girl on the go but for women on the run.

If you prefer to be subtle and mysterious in the dosage of the royal shade, you might find smearing a shimmering spectrum of raisin, plum, and indigo on your eyelids easier to take.

MAC's hypnotic My Dark Magic Mineralize Eye Shadow in two glittering shades of purple, the redder purple and the darker plum, with a hint of black, can make any onlooker spellbound.

Due to the formula, use it dry for softer wash or wet it for a stronger, more diva look.

Now, you have choices in how to be fierce and fabulous in a regal color.