Meanings
- Sherlock fandom slangA tailored royal-purple dress shirt worn by Sherlock Holmes (portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch) on the television series Sherlock.
She stays with the brown and white color scheme, but adds a purple stripe and fringe to the ends to represent Sherlock's “purple shirt of sex.”
2016, Brigid Cherry, Cult Media, Fandom, and Textiles: Handicrafting as Fan Art, page 1092 more examples
The play's promotional art features Cumberbatch-as-Sherlock (wearing the character's purple shirt of sex, as fans have called it) in front of a red-and-white heart-shaped bull's eye-style target.
2014, Lynnette Porter, Benedict Cumberbatch, Transition Completed: Films, Fame, Fans, unnumbered pageLittle did they know, there would soon be legions of fans armed with evidence to the contrary like the button-down that was labeled the “Purple Shirt of Sex,” because, well, it was both fairly low cut and stirred all kinds of feelings.
2020, Esther Zuckerman, A Field Guide to Internet Boyfriends: Meme-Worthy Celebrity Crushes from A to Z, unnumbered page
Cite this entry
purple shirt of sex. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purple%20shirt%20of%20sex
“purple shirt of sex.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purple%20shirt%20of%20sex. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “purple shirt of sex,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/purple%20shirt%20of%20sex.
Source: purple shirt of sex on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.