Orange you fond of tangerine?

Who knew? There’s a Colour of the Year and this year it’s orange. To be more precise it’s Tangerine Tango – so says Pantone, who chose the colour as part of their fashion forecasting.

Paint colour trends for 2012 from Resene

Some like it hot – feature colours from Resene’s 2012 fashion fandeck, including Whizz Bang (walls), Outrageous (floor) and April Sun (table).

Orange is an unapologetically strong colour and many people either love it or hate it. It’s also a warm colour (you really can’t get much more orange than glowing coals) and it has many positive associations. In China and Japan orange means love and happiness. To the American Indians it denotes kinship. Orange is also a royal colour – if you happen to come from the Netherlands. Indeed, the now ubiquitous orange carrot was once a novelty bred to celebrate their royal house – most older carrot varieties being white or purple. In modern times orange often means safety; think road cones, high-viz clothing and warning signs. (I suppose that puts those of us in Christchurch right on trend!)

Perhaps because of the colour’s warm and happy associations, I find I’m drawn to orange accessories in winter. To be honest I’m a little scared of large amounts of bright colour (I’m still in recovery from my goth years) but I love colourful highlights. Likewise, orange is a wonderful colour for home accessories: try an orange rug or throw to brighten up a cold flat, or orange pillows and blankets to create a snuggly winter bed.

Kids seem drawn to it too. I think my most successful gift ever was a psychedelic orange dinosaur for a young friend – if chewing is a measure of love then it remains one very well-loved companion!

More than anything, however, when I think of orange I think of the ’70s. (Yes, I guess that dates me.) I remember the morning sun coming through the kitchen blind in my childhood home. The blind was a glorious tumble of purple, magenta and orange flowers and the light coming though that exuberant pattern is a warm-toned snapshot in my memory.

What springs to mind when you think of the colour orange? Do you have a favourite orange accessory, piece of clothing or other crafty thing? Tell us your thoughts below and tune in on Thursday for some tasty tangerine treats from Felt!

Jo Drysdall has a variety of alter-egos, running the gamut from librarian to corsetierre, archivist to horticulturalist. When not facing identity crises she enjoys ogling books on textile art and vegetables.

4 thoughts on “Orange you fond of tangerine?

  1. I love the colour orange for anything and everything! I wear it a LOT and even got married in it. I love it when orange is ‘in fashion’ as that means there is even more to chose from than normal. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s coming up…

  2. I’ve always had a love affair with orange, being an earthy person. So much so that my bridesmaids had to wear it, much to their distaste! I put them in some lovely 1950’s swing dresses and they look gorgeous, especially in the green garden backdrop.
    This winter I have been busy making merino tunics and fingerless mits in burnt orange….yummy and warm. Check them out on my felt site if you want to warm up your wardrobe.
    I can’t wait to see your tangerine selection!

  3. Leading up to this Winter I suddenly had, what I can think of to describe as some sort of an epiphany wherein I came to realise that there was a serious lack of both Orange and Yellow in my fashions. Consequently I went about searching for shades of Orange and Yellow which I found agreeable.
    Much to my delight I found an agreeable shade of Orange Wool – this became Honeycomb Cable Knit Fingerless Mitts for my Mum, a pair of Crochet Latticed Fingerless Mitts for the Ami Ana shop AND I still have a bit to spare that wasn’t quite enough “Mini” Latticed Mitts – perhaps it’ll end up a scarf or neckwarmer or baby mittens…
    Also in a fantastic stroke of luck recently a local Knit Shop had a sale where amongst other specials they had 50gm balls of Mohair for $2 – one shade only. Guess what? Yellow. YUSSSS!!!

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