You’ve waited breathlessly for the announcement, and today it came. Pantone, the gold (no pun intended) standard for color in many industries, has announced its Color of the Year for 2014. Like it or not, Radiant Orchid probably will be seen a lot in fashion, beauty, home design and consumer products over the next twelve months.
Personally, although I’m fond of purples, I generally prefer the deep jewel and plum tones. This lighter shade works for me in certain places though. I don’t wear it much because I feel like it’s too stereotypically “grandmother,” but I decorate with it. Bath towels and rugs. Bedroom accents.
I’ve not been crazy about Pantone’s recent past choices, from 2013 to 2008 respectively:
Of these, Honeysuckle is probably my favorite. Normally I’d opt for any teal or turquoise, but I don’t care for this one. Not saturated enough. On something other than my computer screen, perhaps on a printed page or an article of clothing, these colors might look more appealing. (Can’t imagine ever liking Mimosa, however.) The medium can make all the difference.
For the lowdown on Pantone’s selection for 2014, see their website. The press release is interesting because of its length and painfully overwritten descriptions. The way they’re promoting it, you’d think Pantone was going to get a royalty every time someone used the color.
I wish they would choose a nice, deep, aubergine.
Almost any nice deep color would be nicer than these … um … midtones. Although in fairness, these might look great on certain surfaces — shiny metal or rich leather or a woman’s dress.
Great, now I’m hearing Ricardo Montalban’s voice talking about “Corinthian leather, now in luxurious Radiant Orchid…”
LOL
Reblogged this on idealisticrebel and commented:
If you love Orchids as I do, here is the new one for 2014
Ah, an orchid lover! You must be delighted with this selection.
I am. Thanks for coming by. I do have a blog in my archives of a local Orchid show. I did the photography. Peace, Barbara
gorgeous!!!
You know, now that I look at it again, I’ll have to say it’s my favorite of the last seven years.
Can’t help but notice, only one or possibly two of the “likes” on this post are from men. It just confirms it, your brains are different from ours. “Men are from Mars, women . . . ” 🙂
It doesn’t surprise me. My first thought when I saw the color was that it generally considered very feminine and therefore its popularity would be limited.
Not that Pantone cares, but I’m not impressed with this color at all. It goes with nothing that I own, so why would I want it around? I predict lots of clothes in Radiant Orchid will be 90% off by the end of the year. Who’s going to wear this shade?
I think they immediately eliminate the male half of the population with this color. And I don’t see it being adopted for appliances. I don’t buy a lot of clothes this color (one shirt). That leaves interior decorating, where, as I said, I do like it for bath towels and accents in the bedroom where I want cool, tranquil colors.