Velvet never shows one colour. Brushed one way it is lighter and brighter, the other way deeper, and in the folds it can look almost black. Low, warm evening light deepens it further, which is why jewel colours look their best after dark.
Start from what you will wear underneath. Over black, choose the poncho for its colour and let it be the only one: the lemon and pink of the Limoncello, the purple and champagne of the Gatsby. Over a print, choose one that repeats a colour from it. Over a coloured dress, match it or go to black with a coloured fringe: the Golden Age, the Gypset or the Black Rose.
Look at the fringe too. Gold, as on the Golden Age, warms the face; the silver of the Glory of the Snow is cooler. If gold jewellery flatters you more than silver, start with the gold.
For a wedding, leave white, ivory and cream to the bride. At an Indian wedding, avoid white and head-to-toe red; at a Chinese wedding, white and all-black; at a wedding in the Gulf, the palest creams. Jewel colours are welcome almost everywhere: emerald, magenta, sapphire, plum.
In autumn and winter the deep colours come into their own. In summer, the pale blue of the Summer Cloud and the Limoncello. See the ponchos