I think I first understood how powerful the name of a color could be in clothing about 10 years ago. I don't think I was "shopping" for a cashmere sweater, but I came across a Brunello Cucinello with a very unique collar style. I was looking for a reason to buy it, but I was hesitating because it seemed to be this weird purplish-navy color. The buyer was near, and upon seeing me oogling it, said, "I love that eggplant sweater." SOLD! After all, I didn't have anything eggplant, and I didn't have to agonize over a bastardized color name like "Purplish-Navy".

This shouldn't be news to anyone in the business. Of course Chocolate sounds more appealing than Dark Brown, or Charcoal sounds more rich than Dark Grey. But put me in the category of consumers that can resist the light green corduroy pants until I'm told it's actually Asparagus.

If you're like me, and you're looking for a reason to buy a new piece of clothing, some of the colors below may help you out: 

• Bills Khakis Sporting Plaid in Blood Orange -- sweet shirt, sweeter name
• Peter Millar Melbourne Stripe shirt in Amaretto (add a little Scotch and you have a Godfather).
  
• Mulholland Alligator products in Tangerine
• Michael Toschi SL800 in Cinnamon Suede
  
• Agave's Supima L/S Jersey in Nine Iron Navy (the color pictured)
• Derek Rose "Naturally" Basel T-Shirt in Ice