Wearing colour

Colour Distinctions

'In the biological records of animal life it is apparent that the female responds to vivid colours.'

'Babies still being dressed in pink for a girl and blue for a boy. This tradition may have originated in ancient Egypt, where boys were seen as a gift from the heavens, and so became associated with blue, while girls were seen as being of the flesh and were, therefore, were invested with a more mortal skin colour. Also the Victorian class division of 'blue collar worker and white collar worker' is still common currency.'

Colour Psychology

'The colour eye' - Robert Cumming and Tom Porter

Red - Most common preference, a dislike for red - a characteristic of someone who has been frustrated or defeated. Pink, preference of someone who lacks the colour to favour red, seeks tenderness, affection and gentility.

Exposure to red - blood pressure goes up, breathing and pulse rates quicken, brain waves are stimulated.

In dark conditions, the eye is sharpest under red light.

Purple - indicates knowledge, sanctity, humility, sorrow nostalgia and old age. Rich colour, wealth and extravagance. Those who prefer violet are said to be tasteful and sensitive, liking for the arts , philosophy, music and ballet.

Colour and human responce

'Colour and Human Response'- Faber birren


E. R. JAENSCH (THEORY)

Blond complexion types for the most part have different attitude toward color than do brunets.'

'the difference between a predominance of sunlight in the more tropical regions of the world and skylight in the more polar regions.'

'red-sightedness' - intense light (brunets, dark eyes, hair and complexion) - natural preference is for red and warm hues.

Blonds - 'green-sighted' (blue eyes, light hair and light complexion) Prefernce is for blu and greens.

Where sunlight is abundant, people are likely to show a preference for warm, vivid hues.

Study Task 3 - Images and Theory

Key terms and concepts:

Signification and Representation:

Elsa from Frozen 2016

Baby blue dress - reversing colour-gender appropriation

Reverting back to the nineteenth century (blue for girls and pink for boys)

Aimed at younger children which indicates that the colour-gender appropriation is slowly disintegrating - the representation of blue and pink is changing.

 Nazi concentration camp badge - ID emblems

Were used to identify people who were placed there.

Pink signified homosexuality, Yellow signified Jew

Representation of colour 

Order and identification

Pink and blue

'Pink and Blue - telling the boys from girls in America'

'The Fauntleroy suit'

Before 1900, toddler and preschooler clothing (up to age of 6) hues were assigned according to complexion, season or fashion, not sex.

Blue has never been as powerful symbolically as pink.

From the 1960s, pastel clothing and pink in general were disfavoured - 'babies found strong contrasts more interesting' / 'women's liberation movement.'

History of pink

'Pinking shears to trim cloth - gave rise to the popular name Dianthus'

For most of the 19th Century, the dominant colour for baby clothing was white (due to the introduction of bleaching and inexpensive cotton)

'Pure and innocent', 'withstand frequent laundering with boiling water.'

A July 1856 news item in Godey's Magazine and Lady's book about the preparations for the first child of Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie of France noted that the layette featured lots of white dresses with blue trim. This was because their firstborn baby "voue au blanc" (dedicated to the Virgin) and would wear white and blue for its first seven years. This, the author explained "symbolizes special protection."

'Pure white is used for all babies' Blue is for girls and pink is for boys, when a colour is wished.' (Ladies' Home Journal 1890)

Study task 2 - Reading and understanding texts

Part 1

I have decided to narrow down my theme slightly and look into colour trends - not only in the illustration world but also in fashion.

'Pink and blue: the colour of gender'

Paolo Frassanito, Benedetta Pettrorini

The author is trying to investigate the meaning of colour and how it has changed over the years. She is trying to establish whether or not there was a pivotal turning point when colour coded gender differences (pink for girls, blue for boys) drastically changed - and the factors of why/how it changed.

Key quotes/points:

'Amy ties a pink bow and a blue bow on Meg's twins Daisy and Demi, so people will know the difference between the girl and boy.' - Novel Little Women - Said to be done in the "French style" (1868) suggests that in France pink and blue were already gender-specific.

'If you like the color note on the little one's garments, pink for the boy and blue for the girl, if you are a follower of convention' The Sunday Sentinal (advised mothers)

'the accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. the reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl' - Ladies Home Journal

'It was not until WWII that the colours were reversed and pink was used for girls and blue for boys...' - The Dress Maker Magazine

Darker blue was associated with Virgin Mary

Painters often mixed 'Lapis lazuli' in paints to depict the most sacred female icon.

Nazi Germany had something to do with pink being associated with femininity - catholic traditions in Germany reverse the current colour coding because of the association of blue with Virgin Mary.

The Nazi's in their concentration camps use a pink triangle to identify homosexuals.


Part 2