About color names in fashion -- there are actually official arbiters
of color names. Many years ago I did an article on The Color
Association, which each season releases a forecast booklet with named
swatches of colors that will be used in fashion, home decoration,
etc. for the coming season. The names are what fashion will call
those colors in the appropriate season, and the forecasts exist so
you can buy a peach sweater in one store and a peach skirt in another
and have them match.
I just found this article, which talks about the Color Association
and bunch of other color forecasting organizations. http://
jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2006-05-02/willhite-colorforecast
I think when I did my article, Color Association was the only one, as
it is the oldest -- since 1915.
http://www.colorassociation.com/
According to the Web site, they have extensive archives and a color
library. They also offer a couple of books that I just put on my own
wish list:
The Color Compendium
by Augustine Hope and Margaret Walch
$40 hardcover
This is the first comprehensive, illustrated encyclopedia entirely
devoted to color. This extraordinary reference covers the full range
of color-related subjects, including their scientific, technical,
artistic, and historical aspects.
and
Living Colors : A Designer's Guide to 80 Essential Palettes from
Ancient to Modern Times
by Margaret Walch and Augustine Hope
$35 hardcover
A consummate guide to color, this indispensable, spiralbound volume
displays 80 color schemes--drawn from a variety of different mediums,
from architecture and apparel to paintings and pottery, across a
range of historical periods--each individually presented, described,
and illustrated in a handy, gatefold format, with representative four-
color images and actual printed chips for matching against the
project at hand. From the dominant reds of ancient Egyptian ochers to
the psychedelic palettes of the sixties, Living Colors will inspire
professionals and laypeople alike in choosing colors for a multitude
of uses.
Both are available by mail from the Color Association. More info:
http://www.colorassociation.com/site/books.html
Since they started in 1915, they probably do have resources back into
at least late Victorian.
Enjoy!
Lauren
Lauren M. Walker
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Jan 26, 2007, at 1:05 PM, Rickard, Patty wrote:
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of Ruth Anne Baumgartner
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 10:50 AM
To: Historical Costume
Subject: Re: [h-cost]Colour names, was Need Help
"Ultramarine," like many other colors (magenta, Prussian blue,
"midnight blue," apricot, burnt sienna, ocher, even lavender), was
described definitively and permanently for me in my youth by my big
set of Crayola crayons. And Patty's description definitely squares
with Crayola.
--Ruth Anne Baumgartner
scholar gypsy and amateur costumer
p.s. The Crayola color "flesh" has been long since re-named. Lucky,
that--I didn't know ANYBODY who was that color, but clearly it did
imply that dark-skinned people were an aberration as far as the color
of their "flesh" was concerned, and I'm glad that notion has been
obliterated! Significantly, though, I never can remember what the new
name is....
peach
Patty
On Jan 26, 2007, at 9:58 AM, Rickard, Patty wrote:
American here - ultramarine was strong darkish slightly greenish blue
for me -when I was a girl - maybe a generational, not national,
thing?
Patty
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:h-costume-
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
On Behalf Of Suzi Clarke
Sent: Friday, January 26, 2007 4:22 AM
To: Historical Costume
Subject: Re: [h-cost]Colour names, was Need Help
At 09:06 26/01/2007, you wrote:
Kate Bunting
Librarian and 17th century reenactor
Lavolta Press <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 26/01/2007 02:58 >>> wrote:
Bear in mind that the meanings of many Victorian color names
changed
from fashion season to fashion season; and also, different,
trendier
names were often applied to the same old colors.
I find this is still true. Here in the UK "aubergine" is usually a
dark
purple (the colour of what you Americans call eggplants), but in a
recent catalogue I've seen the name applied to a lighter
pinkish-purple.
I was buying cotton thread yesterday, and the "mauve/purple/paler
aubergine" thread was called "Ultramarine." Now when I was a girl, as
they say, ultramarine was a strong darkish bright blue. My American
companion said that the purple-ish colour was a colour/name
association she knew - I didn't!
Suzi
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