Each spring, as I pass the windows of my local Gap and view the muted shades that they invariably assume consumers will want to buy after a long, dark winter, I ponder the question of how many people really want to dress themselves in the insipid pastels generally associated with the Easter bunny and the Jordan almonds which are unavoidably foisted on one at weddings. And each spring, I assume that anyone buying the clothes on offer is either a child or a theme dresser (i.e. someone who wears Christmas sweaters in December, gingham dresses on a summer picnic, and has a drawer full or brooches featuring leprechauns, pumpkins, and holly) and I return to my comforting cocoon of darks and primary colors.
However next spring pale blues, pinks, yellows, and lavenders seem unavoidable as almost every collection…from Calvin Klein to Missoni, via Matthew Williamson, Pringle, and Burberry Prorsum…featured a variation on this chalky hued theme.
The only saving grace, at least from the perspective of those of us more accustomed to the darker side of life, is that when paired with the uncompromising austerity of black, these colors lose some of their saccharine sweetness and become a welcome portent of our passage into spring.
