Invite indigo into your look for Purple Day

It's the day to be seen in the smouldering shade.

It’s regal, luxurious and rich – so why do we wear purple so little? Well, today’s the day to indulge some indigo, lap up lilac and maximise the mauve as it’s officially Purple Day. Yes, 26th March is your day to go potty for purple so even if you shun the shade the other 364 days a year, dig out something suitable and work the look!

Introduced last year, Purple Day is an international effort to raise awareness about epilepsy, a condition that affects over 50 million people worldwide. The event was first created in 2008 by nine-year-old Cassidy Megan of Nova Scotia who suffers from the disorder and wanted to set the record straight on epilepsy, dispelling myths and establishing the facts to better help those for which it’s a part of their lives.

With some support from The Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia the event really began to take off and has since earned the attention of everyone from TV stars to politicians, all keen to wear purple in support of the good cause. So why purple you ask. Because lavender is the international colour for epilepsy and as such it was just a natural fit.

And while it might better suit winter wear, we think purple makes a scorching shade for summer. If you have fair skin, keep it moody and dark, while if you have darker skin play up the colour and opt for something pinky and perky. There are plenty of stunning examples of perfect purples worn in the movies and to get you started we’ve picked five of our faves.

It was tough limiting it to just five, purple having been used extensively in cinema as a dramatic, show-stopping shade. Its opulent grandeur has been spot-on for period dramas like The Age of Innocence (Winona Ryder), Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst during the monarch’s mourning phase) and The Portrait of a Lady (Nicole Kidman), while its more wistful, playful tone has been brought out in fantasies – Eva Green as Serafina in The Golden Compass – and family favourites – Violet Beauregarde in the two spins on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

But we’re ramping up the girlie glamour with purple worked to the max in these delicious dresses. Saluting current Oscar queen, Sandra Bullock, we’ve gone for a figure-hugging lilac mini like the one she sizzles in as undercover FBI Agent, Gracie Hart in Miss Congeniality. Usually working a more scruffy schtick she earns endless admiring gazes when she slips into the daring dress in her bid to infiltrate a beauty pageant (“I am in a dress, I have gel in my hair, I haven’t slept all night, I’m starved and I’m armed! Don’t mess with me!” she warns) and even ten years on, this look is still scorching.

From mini to maxi, we’re emulating the cute charms of Enchanted’s heroine Gisele (Amy Adams) with a slightly darker shade of purple and maintain the length with a more sexy, sophisticated number like that worn by Vesper Lynd (Eva again – she sure loves purple) in Bond blockbuster, Casino Royale. The halterneck, beaded detailing and slinky shape add a real vamp quality just right for a Bond babe on the prowl (or for real vamp-based purple, check out the party dresses Alice and Esme wear in The Twilight Saga: New Moon here).

And rounding up the cool quintet are two dresses courtesy of screen stylist extraordinaire, Patricia Field. From last year’s Confessions of a Shopaholic we have a frilled frock that works this season’s hottest trend with ease. The Lanvin original seen on Isla Fisher’s Becky Bloomwood is pretty hard to come by, so instead we’ve got you fixed with a fashionable alternative. Or, if your summer is centred around Sex and the City 2, how’s about Carrie Bradshaw’s (Sarah Jessica Parker) super swanky Halston Heritage dress? It’s a bit pricey and so could upset the bank balance, but as long as you’re in the purple and not the red…