BY MARCI LAEHR TENUTA
Journal Times | Posted: Sunday, April 27, 2008 12:00 am
It's the color of daffodils and marigolds, sunshine and lemonade. Yellow IS spring and summer, and the fashions for the season reflect it.
"It's the hottest color of the season," said Sonya Cosentini, fashion spokeswoman for TJ Maxx. "We are seeing it everywhere from fashion to accessories to shoes to handbags."
The bold color is already out in local retail stores. Yellow cropped jackets, oversized bags, peep-toe shoes and beaded jewelry fill racks and shelves.
"It has such a nice springy, summery feel," said Heidi Frank, a spokeswoman for Boston Store. "It's absolutely a wear now color. I would start wearing it as soon as possible."
A fresh new hue
Spring's return to bright, clear color may be a response to more sober, ladylike fall fashions, said Sandra Keiser, the chair of the fashion department at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee and an expert in trend analysis. "Designers hope to infuse some energy into fashion with beautiful clothes in fresh colors."
Designers attribute their color inspiration to a variety of sources, Keiser said. "Some have chosen yellow from the floral palette that permeates spring fashion trends, such as the yellow of zinnias, marigolds, snapdragons, and fox gloves that attract brightly colored birds and butterflies," she said. "Others have focused on the trend for painterly prints - yellow is a primary color in painting circles. Still others have used acid yellow as an ode to the neon age giving it a high tech shiny finish - glazed fabrics or colored patent leather."
Wear a punch or a pop
This season's fashions show a wide variety of ultra bright hues, including fuchsia, electric blue, bright green, bold orange and sunshine yellow. Even if you're not a bold person, you can make the trend work for you, Frank said.
"(Yellow) is not for everyone," she said. "But if you use it in accessories, shoes and handbags, it can be for everyone."
Keiser said consumers may be hesitant to dress in head to toe color. "The compromise is to invest in brightly colored accessories - a top under a jacket, a purse, or shoes - to show off one's fashion savvy while not investing in basics that might have only a short fashion life," she said. "Contemporary designers have embraced the color more enthusiastically than designers for other markets, perhaps because yellow isn't the easiest color to wear. The young fashion forward contemporary customer will be less self conscious about standing out in a crowd and less concerned as to whether yellow will continue to be in style next year. For the rest of us, yellow in small doses will energize our neutral-colored staples."
Yellow looks particularly good on women with dark complexions and darker hair, Cosentini said. But she thinks anyone can pull it off.
"It's just in the way you're putting your outfit together," she said.
For someone who is darker, a full yellow dress with more neutral shoes and maybe a fun head scarf shows off the trendy color with punch, Cosentini said.
Someone with paler skin and blonde hair might choose to wear yellow shoes or bangles with a more neutral outfit. That makes the bright color pop.
Mix it up
Playing yellow off other colors and neutrals not only tones down the bright hue, but also makes it the focus.
A yellow top paired with denim or another more neutral bottom makes the top stand out, but not in a way that's overpowering, Cosentini said.
A yellow top with khaki or white on the bottom also looks really fresh for the season, Frank said.
"If you don't feel strongly enough about the color, a great way to incorporate it into an outfit is a shoe," she said. "I've seen tons of yellow in patent pumps, strappy sandals, peep-toes."
You can also have fun with yellow jewelry, she said. "There's tons of jewelry with yellow stones. Stack up some bracelets. It's a way to add a little bit of color."
Just a touch of bright yellow can look trendy.
"The yellow really makes an impact," Frank said. "If you're wearing yellow sandals, you don't need a yellow earring."
There are also lots of shades of yellow in spring coats and jackets, from a pale yellow trench to a bright, cropped jacket. Wear them over a black and white outfit or a more neutral base, Cosentini said.
For a more subtle pop of the color, mix it in sparingly with neutrals, she said. "If you have a really bold colored shoe, you can tone down the rest of the outfit. It's fun to have a splash of a pink and a yellow. A green and a yellow."
Yellow can also be found in prints this season. "Floral or printed dresses with bright yellow look really, really cute," Frank said.
Even shoes with a print, like a wedge with stripes and plaids that incorporate yellow, are a great way to wear the color, Cosentini said.
Yellow prints can also be found in the season's swimwear and cover-ups. "That looks great, especially when you have a tan," Frank said.