its

Orange Is the ‘It’ Color for Spring 2011

Buyers share the thrills Milan Fashion Week inspired in critics this season. The clothes were fashionable but also wearable, Christina Binkley notes in The Wall Street Journal. But most of all, they were BRIGHT, thanks to lots of very loud orange.

“I am actually very excited,” said Ken Downing, Neiman Marcus fashion director, who proclaimed “orange coral” as the color of the season. “American women want color,” he said.


New Yorkers may prefer to dress every day, season in, season out, in head-to-toe black, like we’re going to funerals, but let’s accept for a moment that other parts of the country want to wear happy clothes. They probably have red, blue — maybe green and purple — in their closets already, but who buys orange? Not that there’s anything wrong with orange, but it’s not a color most women would gravitate toward without a fashion authority telling them that looking like the inside of an acorn squash is what’s happening now. But this is great for retailers, because everyone wanting to be orange next spring will have to go out and buy all the orange things they don’t have. And if it’s not clothes it will be lipstick, nail polish, sandals, what have you.

If you decide to just say no to orange next spring, you have other options, such as outfits made entirely of lace. Also:

Mr. Downing summed up the prevailing style as a “Boho rich … luxe-peasant” look that was a hallmark of YSL in its heyday. This time around, though, the vibe lacked the restless counterculture feel it once had. It’s a safe bet that women from many walks of life will be wearing caftans for spring barbecues.


Oh. Caftans. Well, instead of celebrating fat-girl Sunday with your friends every week, every day can be rich in food and caloric drink! But the most wonderful things about the spring season so far may be what’s not in: looking slutty and trying to be so edgy that you can only end up poking your own eyes out.

Technicolor Chic in Milan [WSJ]

Orange Is the ‘It’ Color for Spring 2011