Pick a peck of purple pieces

Yesterday evening, my GF Marla and I strolled the city's high-end shopping street after one of our seasonal catch-up dinners.

As we ambled past Coach, Chanel, Vuitton, Prada, Cole Haan and an independent luxury shoe shop, we looked at one another and said: purple.

Not royal, Prince-trademark bright purple, but a murkier, mulberryish shade, in every window from luxury to mid-market. Violet, amethyst, plum, grape, wine: purple hues, everywhere.

The only place purple did not reign was a "sensible shoe" shop called Feet First, with its staid and sad display of black, grey and a few red pairs.

Online too, a parade of purple, for example, from top: Stella McCartney dress, $795 (net-a-porter), Rock & Republic tie-front blouse, $198 (eLuxury); Dior bag with clutch, $2,550 (also from eLuxury), a Burberry packable raincoat, $725 (net-a-porter), a roomy Dior Shopper, $2,550 (eLuxury), and the pulse-raising Louboutin Altadama astrakhan platform, $995 (net-a-porter).

Not only the purview of the posh, purple parades at Nine West: the With a Twist Medium Shopper (in violet PVC) is $85.

Sexy, pleated LoveNYC stiletto booties provide a pearlized purple fix for a paltry $99.

Deep purple pairs with grey, navy and some greens, but it's neither a quiet neutral nor an amiable accent colour, the eccentric, arty aunt on the colour wheel.

I suspect, in a recession, retailers reached for something new to evoke the must-have mind set. Though I won't capitulate to purple, my strand of big, tumbled amethyst beads, blue-violet beret, and prune cashmere V-neck might get an extra spin or two.