I was never a "pink" girl, which sounds stupid, because obviously someone decided pink was for girls a while back, which I think lead to me sort of rebelling against pink as a concept for a long time. This is pretty deep, but in western culture often feminine things are made fun of or put down, including the color pink, which is real stupid, but is also something I internalized. It's similar to the "I'm not like other girls", as if being less feminine is somehow superior, yikes! What an awful thing to be internalizing right? Which is one of many reasons why girls should be allowed to play with toy tools and boys need to be allowed to have dolls and pink, but I digress...
Which is all to say, I like pink now. Have you all heard about millennial pink? The color (well, small range of colors) has been very popular for a few years now, and you may have noticed rose gold, pink hair, and pink everything is having a sort of renaissance. And you know what, I'm a millennial and I like this stupid color, so I guess the marketing kool-aid is working on me. I do sort of wonder if it is related to my first point though, if perhaps we have reached a point in the current feminist cultural dialogue where women are taking back pink and daring the world to say they are less than because they are outwardly feminine. I dunno, am I being to meta today? I made a huge pink skirt and I wore it with a fluffy petticoat, I am not ashamed.
The color of this fabric did look a bit more subdued online (it's from Mood) and I was surprised at just how vibrant it was when it arrived. They called the color "shell pink" but to me it is more of a bright salmon. I still want to find a more muted grey/pink color fabric to make the skirt I had in my mind originally, but this one will be a bright addition to my closet in the meantime. For it's first outing I paired it with the classic black and white striped top, this is perhaps the most typical fashion blogger outfit I have ever worn here on the blog! But when something works, it works right? Luckily this shade of pink does match this great vintage brooch and earrings set that I have had for a few years now and I was happy to wear it again. I sort of want a pink petticoat now too...but I can't go down the rabbit hole of buying colorful petticoats just jet, I can neither afford to or have space for them all!
I hope you all had a magnificent weekend, I got some sewing done so I'm pleased about that! In fact I have to go hem the dress I made now so that I can call it truly finished. I hope you have a survivable Monday and a nice week ahead.
PS: Nazis are fucking stupid, and the US is crazy right now (and also always?). I wear a lot of WWII fashions, and I hold a lot of "modern ideas". They had a lot of stuff wrong in the 1940s, but they knew nazis were full of shit, and so do we. Stand up to this evil, help where you can.
 |
| Top: Vivien of Holloway Skirt: Made by me Shoes: Bait Footwear (Modcloth) Handbag, Hat, Belt, Brooch & Earrings: Vintage Petticoat: Malco Modes |
Let me start by saying that your hair is looking great! Really nice colour and cut. I do like the shade of pink in your skirt. You might be right about the current mood in terms of claiming the colour back somewhat.
ReplyDeleteSo shocked about the recent events. What is wrong with people?! X
Thank you Porcelina! It's funny because I dyed my hair this very night! Ah well, it was fun being a lighter red-ish brown for a while, now its very dark pink!
DeleteIf you'd described this pink skirt without photos, I couldn't possibly have imagined it working for you, but, oh, how wrong I'd be. It looks fabulous - and what a match with the rose. I love the first photo. And your PS - how powerfully you make a point that should be so obvious. With the one obvious exception, though, from this side of the Atlantic it seems that the tragedy of the weekend has galvanised opinion in an important way.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I never would have thought I would feel a burning desire to have a big pink skirt, but it happened! I'm glad to hear the rest of the world sees the craziness in the US for what it is, both stupid and wrong. Though I was of course devastated to hear the news out of Barcelona today, so I guess both sides of the Atlantic are struggling with a lot of different issues right now sadly.
DeleteDid you know that in the 1920s pink was seen as a boys colour and blue as a girls one. It was thought that because pink was a variant of red then it was a strong colour, so should be associated with males. Blue was seen as a weak colour so associated with girls.
ReplyDeleteChildren's clothing manufacturers thought this was a great idea as it meant that a whole new wardrobe needed to be purchased if the parents had had only boys before and then had a girl (and vice versa). In the 1940s, for a reason that is totally unknown, manufacturers switched to pink for girls and blue for boys. This was probably a marketing ploy to make more money but for some reason it stuck.
I've had an off and on love affair with pink but I know it suits me, especially strong pinks. When I was a baby my mum dressed me in navy blue because she realised it suited me the best. It's still one of my most favourite colours now, despite it being my school uniform colour during high school!
I had heard that it was once switched from today as you say, so interesting how "feminine" pink has been coded these days! Of course young boys used to be dressed in dresses for years as infants/children too, and now that would be considered oddly scandalous! Oh gender politics, why must they be so often irritating?
DeleteThat is a lovely colour. It reminds me of some coral stones. And pink is, as Diana Vreeland said, 'the navy blue of India'. A whole continent can't be wrong... I don't wear pink because of my bright orangey-red hair, though I've been thinking of going back to brown hair to widen my wardrobe options.
ReplyDeleteYup, Nazis are full of crud. I grew up with my grandfather's stories of Belsen - he was Army Medical Corps, and helped with the closure/cleanup when the British liberated the concentration camp. The west cannot repeat that part of its history...
That earring and brooch set are magnificent. I am not a fan of gender stereotyping and always buy gender neutral birth cards (not always easy) and never knit for babies in pink or blue. Like you I often feel I need to steer clear of pink because of all its connotations. However, it is just a colour and should be able to be worn just because you fancy it. So hooray for this big, pink skirt!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kate-Em! <3
Delete