# Favorite color purple: sign of a disturbed mind? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 17, 2005, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405 "2005-08-17T08:07:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/21 "2005-08-17T17:07:12Z")
Nothing against purple, but I associate that color with pre-teen and early-teenage girls. In the interest of full disclosure, though, I am wearing a purple T-shirt and I have a pair of purple Teva sandals. My favorite color is green. I have more green T-shirts than purple ones. Robin ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/22 "2005-08-17T17:10:02Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > I have more green T-shirts than purple ones. You’re using the wrong laundry detergent. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/23 "2005-08-17T17:22:15Z")
This reminds me of many years ago, when the school teacher called my mother and expressed concerns that my brother was depressed or otherwise mentally impaired (this was in 1960 or so, so the terms were probably stronger than what they’d use now) They were worried about him because all of his drawings were in black crayon. When Mom asked him about his color choice, his response was “But that’s the only color left!” as they passed a communal bowl of crayons around the room, and he was at the end of the line. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/24 "2005-08-17T17:22:21Z")
I love purple. My bedroom is purple. Yes, I am weird. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/25 "2005-08-17T17:33:45Z")
I like purple. I don’t buy purple clothes. But I sometimes get them as gifts. Hm… And I look great in purple. I wear it in preference to other colors if it’s handy. And I’m not crazy. Well, ok. I am. ---
**Author:** ![Typically\_Sunday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Typically\_Sunday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typically_Sunday)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/26 "2005-08-17T17:41:28Z")
Well, there’s nothing wrong with liking purple, but it seems that there are a subset of purple lovers who are so obsessed with the color that every single thing they own has to be a shade of purple. I’ve never heard of anyone who has a similar obsession with any other color. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/27 "2005-08-17T17:46:48Z")
**Typically Sunday** - you’ve not met a friend of mine who is gaga for orange. Clothes, car, hair (his natural color is an orangeish-red), kitchen utensils, dishes, and on and on. I’m surprised he didn’t buy a tangerine iMac. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/28 "2005-08-17T17:55:09Z")
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that my bedroom is purple too. Two adjacent walls are a darkish medium purple and the other two walls are a pale lavender. The floor is plywood\* painted a reddish plum with a cool area rug over it (mostly dark and light tan with a leaf pattern, but the rainforesty leaves are in a thick border at the edge in teal, blue and purple that matches the walls). - we had to rip up the old carpet and couldn’t afford to do anything more than get a cheap area rug. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/29 "2005-08-17T18:18:57Z")
> [@Typically Sunday](#): > > Well, there’s nothing wrong with liking purple, but it seems that there are a subset of purple lovers who are so obsessed with the color that every single thing they own has to be a shade of purple. I’ve never heard of anyone who has a similar obsession with any other color. I’ve seen it with pink. It’s why I have to wear galsses to this day. ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/30 "2005-08-17T18:29:31Z")
On a related note, I have a friend who maintains that the more leopard print stuff a girl has, the more insane she is. For the most part I have to agree. ---
**Author:** ![SusanStoHelit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SusanStoHelit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanStoHelit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/31 "2005-08-17T18:59:35Z")
Hmm. My SO’s mother loves purple. She only ever wears deep purple and black. Together. It makes my eyes hurt. And “disturbed” may be too strong of a word… no wait, it isn’t. I wish I had a funny story to tell you all about her, but I don’t. Anything I could post here would just tell the tale of a cold, rigid woman who can’t escape her childhood and can’t understand why she is alone. A very, very small example: she won’t let anyone play music or the radio before noon, because her father used to wake her up with Souza marches. 40 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![dumka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dumka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dumka)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/32 "2005-08-17T19:37:35Z")
When I think of purple, I remember shopping at a department store with my mom when I was about 13. My mom was dressed all in purple (not necessarily a fashion statement I’d support, but whatever), and a haggard, not-quite-all-there woman came up to her, in a deranged voice said “_Nice_ purple suit!” and grabbed the edge of her jacket to feel it between her fingers, startling my mom, who didn’t say anything but just took a few steps back and pretended nothing had happened. Now I understand that could have all been avoided if she’d just worn blue. The outfit did make it out of her regular rotation soon after. > [@](#): > > Well, there’s nothing wrong with liking purple, but it seems that there are a subset of purple lovers who are so obsessed with the color that every single thing they own has to be a shade of purple. I’ve never heard of anyone who has a similar obsession with any other color. I have a friend who is like this with lime green. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/33 "2005-08-17T20:33:59Z")
So that’s what’s wrong with me. My favorite color is indicative of mental disturbance. I can’t say that I’m surprised. I don’t decorate with a lot of purple, though. Purple is a good clothing color for me, but I don’t wear it much, as I was traumatized by my mother repeatedly saying that “no one wants to see a big purple girl,” whatever that means. But I do have a few purple t-shirts and metallic purple nail polish, and my favorite gemstone is amethyst. I also have far too many pairs of lavender underpants. I also like animal prints very much, so I know I’m in trouble. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/34 "2005-08-17T21:04:39Z")
I like purple. And amethyst, heliotrope, lavender, lilac, magenta, mauve, mulberry, orchid, perse, plum, pomegranate, reddish blue, violaceous, violet and wine. It’s a pretty color not a mental illness. ---
**Author:** ![partlycloudy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/partlycloudy/32/3114_2.png) [@partlycloudy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/partlycloudy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/35 "2005-08-17T22:24:44Z")
From [a Dr. Phil show](http://drphil.com/shows/show/410/) (2nd segment down, then a couple pages through): > [@](#): > > “I am purple through and through, top to toe, inside outside. It’s a lifestyle. It’s the way I live. It’s the way I think. It’s the way I feel. It’s the way I see the world,” says Sonia, whose whole life revolves around the color purple. Her clothes are purple, her cars are purple, she eats purple food, and for 40 years she has been listed as the Purple Lady in the phone book. > “If money was purple, I would have a lot of it,” says Mel, Sonia’s husband of 47 years. “Unfortunately it’s green and went out for purple things.” > > Dr. Phil asks Sonia why she is here to see him. > > “I have this impulsive, compulsive behavior that tells me that when I see something purple, that it should be mine,” she says, explaining that she only buys purple gifts for people, and usually buys herself one at the same time. “I feel that [purple things] should come home and become part of my family. Purple makes me happy, so the more purple things I get, the happier I am.” She is now running out of money and space. Hmm… Mmm hmm… > [@Ghanima](#): > > On a related note, I have a friend who maintains that the more leopard print stuff a girl has, the more insane she is. For the most part I have to agree. Now that I _completely_ agree with! ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/36 "2005-08-17T22:40:38Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > I think that color test just works from the same principals as astrology, it just says vague things that most people reading will agree with. Or did you all see that and I was wooshed real good? I agree. At the end when I was asked to rate the test I could only say it was “a little” accurate, as any generalized test of this sort would be. I like purple and I can see the association with people who are a bit off center. The two statements are not mutually exclusive. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/37 "2005-08-17T22:56:44Z")
This thread has reminded me of Robert Altman’s film [3 Women,](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0001GH5TW/qid=1124319209/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-1125101-3864839?v=glance&s=dvd) in which Shelley Duvall’s character has an obsession with the colors purple and yellow. Every time I watch this movie (and it’s a favorite), I find another place where the colors show up. It’s very funny. And yes, poor Millie has a few problems. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/38 "2005-08-17T23:06:51Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’ve found the [Luscher Color Test](http://supervert.com/shockwave/colortest/view) to be pretty accurate- try it and see what a preference for purple means. The test wasn’t accurate for me, other than in a very general sense, like astrology/horoscopes, like **Revtim** said. I like purple a lot. It was my favorite color as a kid. But I don’t have but maybe on purple shirt, and I wouldn’t want a purple car. I don’t really have a favorite color so much. I think all colors look good as they occur in nature, like blue sky, green grass and yellow daffodils. I’m not weird, either, last time I checked. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/39 "2005-08-17T23:39:31Z")
Barney was purple, nuff said. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405/40 "2005-08-17T23:47:00Z")
My dughter has loved purple since she was a kid. I don’t think you could find anyone nicer, saner, and sweeter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-color-purple-sign-of-a-disturbed-mind/317405.md?page=3)