Colours through fashion eras

Have you ever come across the sayings “Red with rage”, “Green with envy”, “Tickled pink” or “Got the blues”? Have you ever wondered how colours came to be associated with emotions? We’ll soon be celebrating Valentine’s Day and marketing professionals will be promoting their products by associating them with the colour red which is associated with love.

The colours we wear can convey a strong message about who we are, how we feel, where we live or what we believe in. Throughout fashion history colour tells a rich story of class, politics, consumerism and self-expression. Colour in clothing, especially bright, saturated and vibrant colours were often highly symbolical and reflected the status of those wearing the clothes.

In fashion, colours are directed by the seasons. Dark colours that absorb heat are applied in the winter season where as pastels and light colours are used in the warmer months. Warm and bright colours have the ability to lift one’s mood and are used in the monsoons and festive seasons. Editors of contemporary fashion often cite a colour for a season as a means of marketing clothing. Forecasters take advantage of the importance attached to colour by advancing a colour palette for a given season.

White: One of the oldest colours in fashion, white has been considered a symbol of goodness, spirituality, purity, virtue, godliness and sacredness. Due to its moral connotations, white is the colour expected of most brides. However, it was not always the colour for brides as it is not an easy colour to maintain. It was once reserved for the refined upper and middle classes, because it wasn’t suitable attire for those working in laborious, and thus dirty, industries.

Black: Throughout much of history, black has been a symbol of evil, mourning, sadness, repentance and darkness. But since the 14^th century it became one of the aristocracy’s favourite colours. Black went through many shifts in meaning, application and perception from era to era and culture to culture. Eventually the colour was revolutionized and given a prominent standing in the world of fashion, quickly becoming a symbol of elegance and simplicity. Black is seen as a sharp colour that can promote many ideas ranging from sophistication, mystery, sensuality, confidence, through to grief and misery, depending on the application.

Red: Considered both a colour of vitality and celebration, as well as evil and destruction, red was a staple hue throughout history. Given that it stood for fire, and thus power, victory and shelter from illnesses and evil spirits, it was often worn by kings. Red is considered to be a colour of intense emotions, ranging from anger, sacrifice, danger, and heat, through to love, passion and sexuality. In India, it is regarded as the colour of happiness, wellbeing and good fortune and is often worn by brides.

Yellow: Heralded as the colour of sunshine and gold, and is considered eternal and indestructible. It embodies many ideas depending on the shade and application. It can symbolize happiness, sunshine, good energy and joy. However, due to the fact that yellow pigments are often found in toxic minerals, it can also represent cowardice, betrayal, terror and illness.

Blue: A colour that has long been associated with royalty, art, military and nature, blue has a lot of applications. It is thought to promote trustworthiness, serenity and productivity amongst other positive traits. An icon of faithfulness and spirituality, it was employed in the images of the Virgin Mary.

Purple: Due to the fact that producing purple pigments was expensive and difficult, the colour was often worn by those of high status and royal descent. Purple symbolizes royalty and nobility throughout history until 1856 when the colour became more accessible to everyone and simply became a colour of fashion and style instead. It is, however, still the colour used by the British royal family. It is a colour that interestingly sits right in between warm red and cool blue on the colour spectrum, thus making it both cool and warm depending on the specific shade. Different shades of purple can have significantly different effects. Lavender, which is on the lighter end of the spectrum, communicates femininity, nostalgia, romance and tenderness. More vibrant purples promote royalty, nobility, extravagance, and luxury. While deeper, darker shades of purple such as mauve can promote ideas of seriousness, professionalism as well as gloom and sadness in certain applications.

Green: Obviously the colour of nature and health, green is associated with emotions of empathy, kindness and compassion. Paler, softer mint greens often promote ideas of youth, inexperience, and innocence, while deeper, darker greens draw out notions of success, wealth, and money. Vibrant lime green shades promote energy and playfulness, and deeper olive greens are seen as representing strength and endurance. Green was popular in women’s clothing thought the 19^th century, but many of the ‘modern’ green dyes were arsenic based and numerous cases were reported of women dying of the poison being released once they started sweating in their clothes.

Brown: Brown has long been a symbol of the lower-class, an association stemming from Ancient Rome when the colour was donned only by barbarians and people of low social and economic rankings. A colour that was once associated with poverty and humility, has had quite a revival in modern culture and is now a symbol of all things organic, natural, healthy and good quality.

Pink: Widely regarded as a feminine colour; cute and delicate, pink can be fierce and feminist, punk and powerful. It was an extremely fashionable colour among both men and women of the aristocracy in 18^th century France. It was associated with elegance, novelty and aristocratic splendour until the late 19^th century Industrial Era, when men shifted to primarily donning black and other dark colours. After the Second World War, pink was aggressively marketed as female by advocates of returning women to the domestic spheres. Since then, many shades of pink dominated women’s fashion, appearing each time with an intention to define or redefine womanhood. Millennial pink is a colour that is no longer meant for women only, but can be worn by men too.

Until next time, stay stylish!

(Ninoshka Alvares-Delaney is a Fashion Designer. You can follow her on Instagram @ninoshkaindia or Facebook /ninoshkaindia)