A Very Short History of Various Colours

Like the sun. In most cultures, Yellow unsurprisingly connotes warmth, joy & brightness, unimaginatively deriving from characteristics of the Sun and Sun Gods themselves; light, happy & life affirming - how lovely.

What to wear to an interview? Green, as you know, often represents growth and renewal. Moreover, a sense of hope and optimism born of new beginnings that ultimately offers the wearer a sweeping sense of calm - maximum zen.

A VERY British blue. Said to have been created in England between 1810-1820 in a competition to make a dress for Queen Charlotte, thus this particular hue acquired its ‘royal’ epithet. It then adapted naturally over time becoming a popular choice for formalwear and business logos (do with that what you will) but at its core maintains a sense of regality - like us.

Think Punk. Similarly to its ancestor Blue, Purple is often associated with royalty. However, its punk-ish positioning between Blue and Red give Purple an aura slightly less genteel. As Purple is rarely found in nature, it can be perceived as artificial and as a result, is often a polarising colour. However, the marriage between the calm of Blue and passion of Red make Purple less polarising, more spontaneous & impulsive - that’s hot.

True to its punk-like roots, the common impression that there’s no word in the English Language that rhymes with Purple can also be debunked. There exist two words that rhyme with Purple, 1: Hirple - to walk with a limp, 2: Curple - the hindquarters of a horse - take that to your next dinner party.

Boxers are more likely to win if dressed in Red. Red is provocative and iconic. We flush Red with both anger and embarrassment - the dance between dominance and desire - the colour of confidence and authority - if you want to disrupt, wear Red.

The most contentious on the list. Since the mid-19th century (in most Western Cultures), Pink has been inextricable from archaic notions of femininity. Catapulted into a blaze of super-cute & hyper-femininity by post-war American advertising, Pink for girls went into overdrive. As anything that seeks to be so vehemently defined, Pink has rebelled beyond its historic gender codes to become a symbol of protest - powerful eh.

Idyllic. No longer distant or compromising but considered and cool as ever, the PERFECT neutral - if you own nothing Grey, we think you probably should.

Black Friday, Black Cabs, Black Cats, Back to Black. Prehistoric artists used Black Charcoal and Iron Minerals to create the first pigment. Black is born from an absence of light, Vantablack (is the blackest black) because it traps and absorbs light before dissipating it as heat, truly dark, a classic

The Little Black Dress made a name for itself in the 1920s via Coco Chanel before being wildly popularised by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s before eventually cementing itself in our vernacular. The dense history of the colour Black, its constant presence in Fashion history and the ebbs and flows of its identity, make it THE informed and elegant choice - perhaps the most complex of all colours.