Orange Is In

Of all the trends to turn modest, colors are the easiest. Today, Polyvore sent me an email (you know, those junk ones that I don't ever actually look at) and the title of this email was "Orange Is the New Black." Although it's pretty likely to have been intended as a play on words due to some TV Show out there that I don't watch, my reaction was still something along the lines of "Ha! Yeah right! Black is always going to be the most popular clothing color." However, when used to apply to the change in winter to summer clothing colors, I allowed it a second thought. Although no color will ever replace black, orange is a color that is everywhere this spring/summer season. It does seem that everywhere I turn, there is some fashion article with the colors peach-orange and mint. However, that's not the only way orange is worn. Orange and white is always a nice combo and if you call pull off the bold splashes of color, (which is not what I can usually do), then orange and turquoise is another fun style.

  Now, here's a little fun fact!

 In the theory of color, cool colors (green, blue, and purple) make the warm colors (red, orange, and yellow) pop. However, each one color has another one color that makes it pop the most because it is on the exact opposite side of the color wheel. These are called complimentary colors. If you notice, the orange shades are opposite the bluish ones. In fashion you'll tend to see orange shades paired up with blue shades quite often. Now, even though peach-orange and mint aren't exact complimentary colors, they are really close to being complimentary.

PLEASE NOTE: This is only part of color theory and only applies to what colors make other colors pop. It does not actually mean that you should always pair up your clothing in this way. As I mentioned before, orange and turquoise is a really fun combination, but all that brightness on me washes me out. For me personally, more subtle shades or the combination of bright and neutral (instead of bright and bright) are often more flattering. Depending on your coloring, certain shades of certain colors will look better on you. The color theory behind the colors that look best on you is called Season Color Analysis, which I don't have time to get into in this post.

Back to our original topic: orange is in. Orange is a fun, warm spring and summer color and I can guarantee you'll start seeing it more and more. However, you can't just look at dresses, tops, and shorts; I find that it's just as commonly found as the color of bags, sunglasses, and especially jewelry. My cousin works for Premier Designs and while I was looking through one of the catalogs, what color did I see a lot? ... I don't think this needs answering. The amount of orange was not overwhelming, but it was very, very common.


So yeah. Orange is in... so what? That is usually a pretty important question to ask when looking at trends. I'd say to look in your closet and find everything (if anything) orange, just for the fun of it. How often do you wear these articles of clothing/accessories? If you find that they aren't pieces you wear much, then see if you can match some of them up with something and experiment by wearing them places. Try adding some cute jewelry with it too! Just have fun with the little challenge! If you're already into wearing orange, then awesome for you!

~Mariana