The hottest hue for this season, hands down, is purple. No color is simultaneously decadent yet rebellious. In ancient Egypt, the dyes to make purple were so expensive that only the ruling class could afford purple garments. In Elizabethan England, sumptuary laws excluded all but close royal family members from donning the color. Fashion-centric laws were in place to discourage frivolous spending on moral grounds and to make it easy to distinguish the elite from everyone else. For non-royals daring to wear purple, it was an act of resistance.

The deepest shades of purple were all over the Fall 2024 runways. Designer collections also showcased my favorite embellishment trends, velvet and ribbons. Prada’s ready-to-wear collection featured big ribbon bows on royal purple dresses. Naeem Khan presented dark jewel-toned gowns with regal velvet appliqués in his collection. The Elie Saab Fall/Winter 2024 runway showed velvet gowns with floral and leaf embellishments. Other looks in this collection featured delicate, vine-like motifs in their embroideries accented with crystals.

You may want to try a look similar to those of the high-end designers for the upcoming holiday season. Do you have a dress, sweater, coat, or blouse that could use a luxury upgrade? You could start there. The yarn-and-ribbon design demonstrated on the following pages adds beautiful texture to most fabrics.

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Mariana Leung is a fashion industry pro who loves finding and creating embellishments. MarianaLeung.com