The Most Wanted · Colour
The Jewel Tone
One stone, not a colour wardrobe. Emerald, amethyst, citrine and ruby — deep enough to make everything else look ordinary.
One stone, not a colour wardrobe. Emerald, amethyst, citrine and ruby — deep enough to make everything else look ordinary.
Jewel tone is not a mood board of every gem at once. It is one depth of colour, worn as if it were navy — which is to say, without apology and without a second jewel fighting it.
Emerald works because it is close to black in a room. Amethyst works because it is close to shadow. Citrine and ruby only work when the cloth is matte or silk, never both loud and shiny.
The mistake is collecting them. A ruby lip, an emerald bag and a citrine dress is a window at Cartier, not an outfit.
Pick the stone. Build the week around it. Everything else goes quieter than it was last year.
Mine is the Alaïa Draped Halterneck Jersey Maxi Dress. At night it reads as black until the light hits it. That is the version I want.— K.W., Editor-in-Chief
The DÔEN or FFORME midi, cream or black beside it. The jewel is the only temperature in the outfit.
Galvan emerald or Tom Ford amethyst, a naked shoe, gold you already own. Don't add a second stone.
The Khaite mini with the same trouser you'd wear with ivory. Saturation against entirely ordinary clothes.
Every piece in the edit — tap to shop.
Floor length, and occasion only. This is where a jewel tone stops being a colour and becomes the whole evening. Galvan, Tom Ford, The Attico, Tove, Solace London and Norma Kamali.
Emerald satin, floor length. The one that makes everything around it look cheaper.
Embellished amethyst, and the runway argument for the whole edit.
Feathers on satin, which is two kinds of theatre at once. Only if you want both.
Silk satin, fluid, liquid. The quietest gown here.
One shoulder, and the least expensive way into a floor-length jewel.
Jersey rather than satin, so it travels and it forgives.
The jewel tone at its most wearable — long, fluid, and it doesn't need embellishment to make the point. Taller Marmo, FFORME, TOVE twice, DEME and Alaïa.
One shoulder in satin crepe. Warm evening, and the colour does the talking.
Satin, unfussy. The one you'd wear to something that isn't a gala.
Open back in silk cloqué. The colour without a single crystal.
Draped silk satin, and the drape is what makes the colour move.
Jersey, halterneck, no embroidery anywhere. The house doing the cut and nothing else. Mine.
Gathered rather than draped, which reads softer.
Tap any piece below to shop the whole edit.
The most versatile length, and the one that carries saturated colour through daylight. DÔEN, SIMKHAI, Oscar de la Renta and Roksanda.
Lace-trimmed silk satin. Daylight that still looks considered.
Taffeta with organza at the edge. The most structured midi here.
Off-shoulder silk. Citrine gold rather than mustard — warm, clear, and still a stone.
Colour-blocked, so it carries two shades instead of one. The exception to the one-stone rule.
Colour at its most confident. One saturated mini is a decision — two is a habit. Valentino, Khaite twice, Isabel Marant twice, STAUD, Norma Kamali and Saint Laurent.
Crystals, polka dots and a jewel tone. Three ideas at once — buy it if you mean all three.
Coral, which sits on the warm side of ruby. Buy it for the shade rather than the category.
Mustard rather than citrine — warmer, softer, and closer to autumn than to a gemstone.
Satin, saturated, and the cleanest mini in the group.
Brick, which reads autumn before it reads ruby. The second Marant — pick one.
Draped silk blend. Saturation without a gown, and the easiest entry point here.
The short version of the gown above. Same jersey, entirely different night.
Embroidered satin in green. The house and the stone in one short dress.
Crinkled and balloon-shaped, so the volume does what the colour doesn't.
The way into a jewel tone without committing to a fifth dress. Under black, with a white shirt, or as a layer. DÔEN, Valentino, FFORME twice and Khaite.
Lace-trimmed silk satin. Under black, and nothing else asking.
Polka dots on a jewel tone. The boldest separate here by some distance.
Crepe satin. With a white shirt, and the outfit is finished.
Silk organza, sheer. The colour as a layer rather than a costume.
Sleeveless and plain. The separate that behaves like a dress.
Every piece in this edit, by the houses behind it. Explore them all.
Let the pastels rest for a season and dress instead in the colours once reserved for queens. Head to toe only if you mean it — otherwise one stone, and let everything else look ordinary.— ESVRA