Marsala: 2015 Color of the Year

I know I'm late to the party but I'm finally embracing Pantone's 2015 Color of the Year: Marsala -- and I'm obsessed with it!

Maybe because it's officially fall and this warm, rich, sexy color is everywhere!

My color guru Leatrice Eiseman who leads the team that chooses the Color of the Year for Pantone says:

"Marsala enriches our mind, body and soul, exuding confidence and stability. Marsala is a subtly seductive shade, one that draws us in to its embracing warmth."

Ooh, now I see why I've fallen so hard for it!

Whether you wear it out on the town,

  

 

 

 Or running around town,

 

 

 

 

 

Or splashing in the rain,

 

 

 

Or over your shoulder,

 

 

 

it is the IT color of the season!

 

I treated myself to these "back to school/work" shoes and I love them!

 

 

 

I'm also thinking of adding a Marsala mug to my collection,

 

 

And trying Sephora's Marsala lipstick for a pop of color!

 

HOW TO WEAR MARSALA

 

My friend and stylist, Megan Kophs of StyleRemix, says "Marsala pretty much looks great with all neutrals, and I love, love, love it with navy and grey." In her blog post she shares some ways to wear it. 

She says "If you are ready to fully embrace the Color of the Year, a colored denim pant, a sweater, or a wool coat will be a great addition to your upcoming fall wardrobe. Pair it with opposite colors such as teal, navy, green, and blue as well as neutral colors like ivory, blush, copper, and grey."
 
Another amazingly talented friend, Glacier Kingsford-Smith, owner of Plenty and one of the my fashion-forward people I know, says one of the favorite things about Marsala is "it's a really universal color that almost any skin shade can wear, yet it's still bold."

Glacier suggests mixing it up with mustard or a blush, coraly pink or even mint or light blue for something that's unexpected and fun. 

She says it's a "killer color for accessories, shoes and bags, kind a neutral bold so it's a great investment color."

Check out my Pinterest board for more Marsala inspiration!

In my next post I'll be sharing Marsala inspiration for interiors from one of my favorite interior designers!

So, what do you think of Marsala? Have you fallen for it or are you still warming up to it?

 

 

Crushing on Dazzling Blue

 

Happy first day of spring friends! It's my favorite season. I love the flowers, sweet scents and colors of course!

I'm really excited about Pantone's number 1 pick for Spring 2014: Dazzling Blue. Move over Radiant Orchid, I have a new favorite! (Actually I think Dazzling Blue and Radiant Orchid look fab together.) I'm totally crushing on this vibrant blue hue right now. I've never been a "blue girl" but this gorgeous color has totally captured my attention for Spring 2014.

I was so surprised by my infatuation with this color that I asked my color guru and Pantone color expert, Leatrice Eisemen, about it. Here's what she said:

"Dazzling Blue does not fit the usual 'conventional wisdom" of blue as calming and serene. Quite the contrary, it is in the family of 'electric' blues, carrying much the same energy of a vibrant red. Blue stars burn the brightest, a gas flame is blue (as opposed to red and oranges) and even Mars Candy got the message that a blue M&M is not only energizing, but attention-getting."

 

Aah, now I get it!

 

 

 

How will you add this dazzling color to your life this spring?

 

Here's how I'm wearing it for a meeting with a favorite client today. I'll throw on a Radiant Orchid scarf to complete the outfit and ward off the chill in the air today.

 

 

 

Finally, I just had to share this beautiful song that I heard while I was writing this post. I've never heard it before. Coincidentally, or not, it's about the color blue. "Blue - the most human color" is the line that really caught my attention. It's a lovely song. Enjoy! And enjoy this official first day of spring.

 
There's more beautiful Dazzling Blue inspiration on my Pinterest board.



Breaking News: 2014 Color of the Year

Drumroll please!! Unless you are a color geek like me you may have missed the big news from Pantone today that Radiant Orchid is the Color of the Year (COY) for 2014. I love purple and I love orchids so I'm pretty excited about this choice!

Radiant Orchid symbolizes renewal and is a creative color, according to Pantone, the global authority on color. It blooms with confidence and magical warmth that intrigues the eye and sparks the imagination. Radiant Orchid emanates great joy, love and health. I can see why I fell for it right away when I saw the news this morning.

Each December a team at Pantone designates a COY for the following year. My friend and color guru Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, helps determine the color every year. She's featured in this segment on Bloomberg News this morning announcing the color.

You can see some fabulous images of this brilliant hue on Pantone's Color of the Year Pinterest board. Here are a few of my favorites, but be sure to check it out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What do you think? Are you are fan or will it take you a while to warm up to it like it to me with Emerald this year? Either way, the COY is meant to inspire choices in home, fashion and design, and to get people talking about color. It sure inspires me!

50 Shades of Orange

Oh yes, I did! I went as 50 Shades of Orange for Halloween. I completely hated the book, well at least the 75 pages I read. But I was inspired by the 50 Shades of Gray costumes that were making their way around the Internet. I thought it would be fun, and completely appropriate, to do an orange version. Perfectly fitting as the color of Halloween and also my favorite color. 

The best part was going to the paint stores and collecting all of the orange paint chips. Yes, indeed, I wore 50 shades. The names are so fun and clever and yet, descriptive. On the brighter side, there is startling orange, carrot stick, tangelo, calypso orange and orange burst. On the duller side there is fall harvest, pumpkin cream, orange blossom, orange parrot, oriole and racing orange. The hot oranges are my favorites with names like outrageous orange, orange nectar, blazing orange, hot spice and tangerine dream. (These are all Benjamin Moore colors.)

I anchored my costume, down the middle, with Pantone's Tangerine Tango (2012 Color of the Year), Nectarine and Zinnia. And I even wore Sephora's Pantone Tangerine Tango lip gloss!

Orange is an energizing color. I feel more energy just from reading those names, not to mention having all of these hot color samples at my fingertips. Now, I need to figure out a fun, creative way to re-use all of these fabulous color swatches. I'm thinking of some kind of "installation" in my office... stay tuned.

2013 Color of the Year - Emerald!

Photo: Elli.com

Ok, confession time: I started this post back in March just shortly after Pantone announced Emerald as the 2013 Color of the Year. 

Lots of people were writing about Emerald, but I couldn't get my head around my own post. Maybe I felt like I was jumping on the bandwagon or I didn't have anything unique to add to the conversation. 

Well that all changed last night! I was invited by my "color guru" Leatrice Eiseman (who I have studied color under) to the Fashion Group International's event in Seattle where she was speaking. I thought it would only be appropriate to wear Emerald to show everyone what a color junkie I really am! 

But the truth is, I don't feel great in Emerald. I bought a pair of very cute Emerald flats several months ago - I figured the further the color is from my face the better. But I still couldn't do it. The interesting thing is green is one of my favorite colors; but Emerald is a bit too blue for me even though it's a balanced green. I prefer the yellow greens.

This is what fascinates me so much about color. It's SO personal. It produces a visceral reaction. I know when I feel great in a color; it speaks to me. It sparks an emotion. And conversely, maybe even more so, I have a negative emotional response when I don't feel/look good in a color. Even if it is the Color of the Year and I really want to wear it!

This is actually one of the reasons I decided to take Leatrice's color design workshop a couple of years ago. I am fascinated by the psychology of color - what emotional responses colors elicit. 

 

Leatrice leads the Color of the Year selection process for Pantone. What a cool job, huh?! Last night, Leatrice (donning Emerald tights and accessories, above left) explained to a room packed with fashionistas that Pantone's Color of the Year is not for everyone but rather it's symbolic.

"Emerald speaks of balance and well-being," she said. "We are all craving more balance in our lives. It's meant to inspire, but we don't hoist it on people and expect everyone to love it." This really resonated with me and helped me open up about my feelings about Emerald. 

Take a look at the words in the below image to better understand what Emerald communicates.

 Photo: Pantone

 
My stand-in for Emerald is my Green Onyx Jaime Joseph ring. I think it qualifies as a "commercial match" which Leatrice talks about all the time. It's not an exact much but it's very close and it elicits the same emotional response as "real" Emerald, at least for me... and that's what really matters since color is so personal.

Photo: Polyvore

Leatrice also emphasized that "Color is all about context, context, context. How and where you use it is very important." I'm thinking of painting our powder room Emerald. Although I don't feel good wearing the color, I do like having it around me. 

Photo: Design Milk

 

I also recently bought a Pantone Emerald mug which I really like, especially with my Tangerine Tango fingernails! (Tangerine Tango was Pantone's 2012 Color of the Year.) I also had my toenails painted Emerald recently, which I like. Again, it's all about context.

 

 

 

After all that, I'm really liking Emerald.

How about you? How do you FEEL about Emerald?

Pantone should be announcing the 2014 Color of the Year very soon. Any guesses what it will be?