"Some colors work for all skin tones and hair colors, because they fall into the middle of the color spectrum, meaning they're not too warm or too cool," says Leatrice Eiseman, author of The Color Answer Book (Capital Books, $21, www.amazon.com ) and director of the Pantone Color Institute (www.pantone.com), the international authority on color.

Here are those universally flattering colors, along with their official Pantone names and numbers.

Eggplant

Eiseman calls eggplant (Pantone 19-2311 TC) "the perfect purple" because it is extremely versatile, almost like a black, a dark brown, or a navy.

From left: Lucy Barnes silk-jersey top, $250, 212-255-9148. Express silk-angora-and-Lycra double V-neck sweater, $39.50, www.expressfashion.com for store locations. Ann Taylor cotton tie-neck sweater, $44, 800-342-5266 for store locations. A. Cheng merino wool sweater, $159, Dema, 415-206-0500.