Color of the Year

With all trends there is a certain degree of arbitrariness involved in their inception.  This is especially true with colors that come into style.  

Pantone is a printing company, that produces ink, textiles, and just about anything else that has color. 

Radiant Orchid- the self proclaimed purple to end all
purples

One of Pantone’s most prominent activities is producing standardized color palettes and suggested color combinations.  The Pantone color system has become something of an international standard for denoting color.  Every year Pantone releases its “Color of the Year.”  Pantone has large secret meetings in Europe to determine what color most matches the international zeitgeist.  Yes they take themselves that seriously.  Whatever color Pantone chooses as the color of the year will influence interior design, fashion, makeup, and just about any industry that utilizes color as one of its central elements.  This year’s color of the year is Radiant Orchid.   Pantone describes radiant orchid as a color that “blooms with confidence and magical warmth that intrigues the eye and sparks the imagination. It is an expressive, creative and embracing purple—one that draws you in with its beguiling charm. A captivating harmony of fuchsia, purple and pink undertones, Radiant Orchid emanates great joy, love and health.”  Personally I think it looks like a greyish redish shade of purple, but that doesn’t sell nearly as well as the description provided by Pantone.  Whatever your thoughts on Radiant Orchid, or the arbitrary way it came into style, it will still appear in fashion often throughout the year.  You might as well learn how to incorporate it into your wardrobe, so you can wear it, if you find you like this color.

Radiant Orchid tie and grey
vest compensate for the fact that this
man is missing the top half of
his head

Another man who doesn't even need the
top half of his face to know how to
pair "radiant orchid" with navy jeans
and a grey shirt

Bear in mind, while Pantone decided that the exact shade of purple called Radiant Orchid is the color of the year, no one is going to chase you down with a paint chip to make sure you are wearing the correct shade of purple.  Basically if a color is somewhere in the range between bright purple and greyish lavender, it counts as Radiant Orchid.  Some colors that will pair well with ‘Radiant Orchid’ are black, white, sky blue, navy, leaf green, bright yellowy green, grey, and purpley red.  For those of you presenting as men, radiant orchid ties and pocket squares look good with a black, white, or navy suit.  You can also wear radiant orchid more overtly by wearing it as a shirt under a blazer.  As with the tie a radiant orchid shirt will pair well with navy, grey, black, or white blazers.  Wear a radiant orchid t-shirt with some slim cut grey or dark navy jeans for a very casual but fashionable look. Wear it as a sweater while its still cold outside.  If you are feeling particularly preppy, you can wear radiant orchid shorts or jeans with a shirt in one of the brighter colors I listed that pair well with radiant orchid.  You can put different shades of purple into the same outfit, such as with a tie and shirt, which as long as you do so in a thoughtful manner will look good without resembling Barney.  Do not shy away from radiant orchid because it is a soft and rather feminine color.   On a strong confident gentleman such as yourself, it will simply come off as classy.

These ladies almost forgot that the colors they
are wearing still count as radiant orchid

Radiant Orchid can make a lovely companion to any black, white, navy, or green ensemble.  An easy way to incorporate Radiant Orchid is to use it as a pop color in your shoes, your handbag, a scarf a belt or some jewelry.  If you presenting as lady types wish to give radiant orchid a more central role in your ensembles consider wearing it as a blouse, dress, shirt, skirt, or any article of clothing you can conceive of really.  If it is a major element in your outfit you will want to wear a brighter relative of radiant orchid or add a bright color such as pink or red into the outfit to balance the lightness of Radiant Orchid.  Radiant Orchid will also creep its way into the makeup industry.  Purple eyeliner has long been a standard make up option, thus Radiant Orchid eye shadow with black or navy eyeliner is a mindlessly easy way to incorporate Radiant Orchid into your make up.  The other option for incorporating Radiant Orchid into your makeup is by wearing Radiant Orchid lipstick.  This can go terribly wrong and make you look like a cartoon character with hypothermia so wear it with caution.  You will want to keep the rest of your make up low key with pinkish tones.  You can look like a design student if you wear a few blocked colors with the Radiant Orchid lipstick. 

No wearing radiant orchid lipstick won't make you
look like this woman, nor will your face get stuck in
the expresson she has.  But she provides a fine example of
how to dress when wearing radiant orchid lipstick

This is what you will look like
if you wear rasiant orchid lipstick
badly

You can also get a very fun look by pairing the Radiant Orchid lipstick with other purple elements in an outfit.  Make sure radiant orchid looks good against your skin tone before incorporating it into your wardrobe.  More importantly make sure you actually like Radiant Orchid before incorporating it into your wardrobe.

Give Radiant Orchid a try let me know if any of my advice worked for you, or any ideas you might have about how to make this year’s color of the year your own.