Eggplant: A Colored Neutral
Colored Neutrals: Installment Four
Happy day, reader dear!
Eggplant is the bomb. Really. The color AND the food. I love both!
Digression Alert:
Thirty years ago (or so), I was grocery shopping with our oldest son. (At the time our only.) He sat in the cart with his long legs dangling down the way only little people legs can as I pushed the cart slowly past our options in the produce section. Suddenly, E starts kicking and bouncing in his seat, straining against the seatbelt. Eggyplant! Eggyplant! Mommy! They have eggyplant! Can we have some? Pleeeeeese? Eggyplant! I look at the price. (We were in the beans and rice days.) It was on sale. Yes, pumpkin, we can. We spent the next minute or so looking at various eggplants and selecting a lovely, heavy, richly colored fruit. (Yes, botanically, eggplant is a fruit.) As we put it in the cart… YAY! Thank you, Mommy! Thank you for eggyplant!
As we push away, I almost run into an older woman standing in front of us, mouth agape. Caught staring, she tilts her head sideways and snaps closed her mouth. Then opens it again, How did you do that? What child likes eggplant? I answered, Oh! Breaded, fried, and covered in cheese. Who doesn’t like anything that way?
To this day, a tasty eggplant parm is one of life’s great joys…
Thank you for your patience with that trip down memory lane. Now, back to our month of Colored Neutral adventures. Today I’d like to introduce you to Eggplant. Reader, meet Eggplant. Eggplant, meet my dearest reader. Eggplant shares many traits with our last Colored Neutral, Burgundy. You can find out more about Colored Neutrals, here.
Eggplant
Sigh. I’m sure many will disagree, but eggplant might just be the best color for formalwear. It’s more forgiving than black and less dense and heavy. Eggplant flatters many a skin tone. It has formality without being stuffy and enough life to feel like a party. I bought a deep-purple-bordering-on-eggplant gown (at my favorite local consignment shop) on a lark for a gala last spring. Afterwards, I thought, When am I going to need a long dress? I’ll have it shortened to cocktail length! Two months later we receive a Save the Date card for an evening wedding in February. It would have been perfect…
It’s time to scour Ebay for the same dress and give it another whirl! Speaking of Ebay, writing these Colored Neutrals posts have been pushing my want-to-shop buttoms. This post in particular has me lusting for an eggplant blazer! I have to tell myself, I don’t really NEED one. But… Oh, Ebay…
Leather goods in eggplant are stunning, too! I WANT the boots below. Who am I kidding? I’d take any of these pieces!
Fabulous Pairings
You’ll find Eggplant in undertones from warm to cool. Beware: Some warm eggplants can look dirty or faded. Which might be perfect for you look you want. Or not.
Eggplant + Pink
Eggplant + Gold
Eggplant + Green (Avoid gold with these two unless you’re going for the Mardi Gras look! Try pewter instead.)
Eggplant + Acid Green
Eggplant + Jade
Eggplant + Teal
Eggplant + Wedgewood Blue
Eggplant + Light Blue
Eggplant + Rust
An Eggplant by Any Other Name…
Might sound like: Aubergine, Raisin, Plum, Black Plum, or Prune, I never heard Poison as a name for eggplant before, but there you have it. Maybe because an eggplant is a nightshade? And people thought nightshades poisonous?
If you are looking for other fun and interesting names and shades of dark purple, check this out!
How About YOU?
Are you an eggplant lover or loather? Maybe we should separate the color and the food! I’d love to know your thoughts on both or either! Do you have any eggplant wardrobe items? Does eggplant feel like purple to you? Or like a different color completely? Do tell! There’s plenty of room on the interwebs for you… XO
Stylishly and colorfully yours,
14 Comments
NATALIE K
Liz, My favorite eggplant dish is breaded but baked thein with parmesean cheese!! My husband is Italian so he must have a sauce with his!! But, eggplant lasagna is my second favorite!!
Liz K
Your comment is making me hungry, Natalie! Love it with sauce…
Kathleen McDermott
Eggplant is a divine neutral. Rich and regal. I have a small wallet card I got from a 2005 issue of Real Simple, titled “all the bright moves”. It shows 4 universally flattering colors with their Pantone name and numbers. EGGPLANT (19-2311 TC); TRUE RED (19-1664 TC); INDIAN TEAL (19-4227 TC); MELLOW ROSE (15-1515 TC). Been in my wallet for 16 years! Very useful, as is my color analysis (Summer) done years ago. Color is so joyful and has such an impact on how we look and feel. Great series. P.S. Love eggplant parm or any eggplant that is thin, breaded and fried.
Liz K
You can’t lose with breaded, fried and topped with cheese, can you, Kathleen? Cam you take a picture of your card and text it to me? What fun!
Kathleen McDermott
Happy to send it to you – I just knew you would find it interesting. I have a clamshell phone that takes pictures and an iPad. Would it be better if I photographed it with my iPad and emailed it to you? Would that provide a better or bigger picture? Let me know!
Liz K
That would be lovely, Kathleen! Probably better with the iPad and email. Thank you!
Sally in St Paul
I love colors in this plum-eggplant-wine territory, though I don’t own very many of them. It happens that today I’m wearing a somewhat desaturated wine blouse and cardigan, and I noticed that it really makes the yellow of my hair shine (complementary colors, I guess?). I think the idea of eggplant formalwear is brilliant! I think a rich eggplant suit would also be really nice.
As for the plant, I’ve never been a big fan of eggplant. Not sure why.
Liz K
Thank you for stopping by and weighing in, Sally! An eggplant suit WOULD be gorgeous. One of my business associates wears one and it is fabulous on her! Yes, it is the complementary colors thing that makes your yellow-blonde hair shine. (Not that your hair is yellow, but some blondes are warm and others cool.) I’ll have to keep my eyes open for your eggplant outfit. Hope it shows up on the blog!
NATALIE K
Liz, I don’t think about it much but my glasses are eggplant!!
Liz K
There you go!
NATALIE K
Liz, Eggplant I LOVE as a food and a color for the day or evening!! I used to have several pieces of clothing in eggplant but outgrew them long ago!! Would love to find clothing in the colored neutral eggplant!! Sometimes it’s a bit to the purple but other times it’s a bit burgandier!!
Liz K
What’s your favorite eggplant dish, Natalie? Yes, you’ll find the color eggplant in more purple and more brown versions!
Jules
I am so drawn to all these dark neutrals. I am a blue eyed redhead. These shades are vivid without being clownish. Love your content. Because my life is changing (just retired, relocating in a year or two) I am sticking to a French 5 for seasonal updates. Thanks for the ideas.
Liz K
I LOVE your description, vivid without being clownish! And with your 2N coloring, it can be hard to get enough color without the clown vibe. Glad to be of help, Jules! It’s lovely to have you here.