Patterns -v- Plains

A friend and long term client of House of Colour sent me through this link earlier in the summer with the comment ‘I’m speechless!’   

From the raft of comments that bounced around social media it clearly hasn’t rendered everyone speechless!  The majority of comments, humorous though many were, merely shared the opinion that they didn’t like the outfits.  However, opinions abound in the 21^st Century, it doesn’t take much of an invitation for them to fly generously and freely in the absence of action.  And with the Games now behind us (didn’t they do well!) the reality of the action, predictably far outweighed any commentary on the outfits.

So, with the caveat that the quality of the photograph may well be distorting the colour I’m going to lend my opinion. This is unusual for me because I generally prefer to ‘live and let live’.  If someone makes a different choice to one I might make, or selects something I actively dislike, I question them to understand what is driving their choice - criticising it says more about me than them.

Opinion 1: Select colours for a garment or outfit from ONE colour season to get the best benefit.



When it comes to choosing clothing with patterned fabrics I frequently despair.  I somehow missed learning about the colour wheel in school and so, it appears, have many fabric/pattern/designers.  Many beautifully styled garments appear ruined by the uneasy combination of colours the designers have selected.

  

These examples reinforce my belief that any discipline requiring participants to combine colours needs first to understand the colour wheel.  Further, when these colour combinations are to be worn by people, an understanding of how these colour families (we call them seasons) relate to the myriad of skin tones so that a range can be designed as close to the mid-point to suit as many as possible or, as Kettlewell intend, to cover all seasonal options so there is something for everyone.

‘Designed by textile artist Jilli Blackwood, the uniform includes turquoise, fuchsia and navy tartan’

This all sounds fine, until you discover the background is caramel (see below).  Navy and turquoise can bridge the gap between cool and warm tones but fuchsia is firmly rooted in the cool spectrum as much as caramel is in the warm.  To all you foodies out there, that’s like putting ketchup on your apple crumble or sugar on your bacon!

Opinion 2: Don’t mix patterns

At the age of 5, my friend’s daughter showed up wearing all her favourite clothes!  On a 5 year old it was cute and funny to be so ‘busy’, not classy, sophisticated or elegant though.  Patterns are fabulous but please show them in their best light by complementing them with a supporting plain and probably in a neutral colour.  If you MUST mix patterns, then learn how to recognise those that match in scale or at least genealogy. I believe we respond positively to balance and harmony and this is a wonderful example of inharmonious scale, colour and style all pulling in different directions – a tug of war with more than 2 ends!

The dresses are a nice touch, but at what point did Jilli think a ripple pattern would support and complement a tartan?  Looking at her appearance the answer is clearer, but therein lies the difference between creating an outfit which makes a statement reflecting your unique personality and designing uniforms and dressing for the masses.

One response tweeted ‘It’s refreshing and a definite surprise’ !

My fervent prayer is that fabric and pattern designers learn how to harmonise and complement – leaving competition to the athletes!