It's never too early to think about summer and I believe that Jacques Prevert's word choice of the fruit and colour was most likely not a random one. Orange is one of my favourite colours for the sunny season and is the colour of intellectual ambition and stubbornness, situating itself chromatically exactly halfway between red and yellow. Funnily the word orange was not introduced to the English speaking world until the 1500 and is one of the few words of the English language that does not have a rhyming counterpart.
Orange is a very versatile colour and much to the chagrin of many men, if worn in a nuance other than Safety Orange ( See Coach Bruce Pearl) and properly matched, orange can turn a look from good to great. Some orange nuances that are not very much present in mainstream fashion and I find specifically appealing are the earthier tones (Persian Orange, Fulvous, Tenné, Mahogany, Rust, and Flame) on one side and the fiery tones (Amber, Champagne, Pumpkin, Coquelicot, Gamboge, Persimmon, Tangerine and Vermilion ) on the other side. Now Orange is in itself a very powerful and overpowering colour and unless you wear a very light nuance of it, I would advise against matching it with another powerful colour such as bright green or yellow for fear of resembling a traffic light more than a human.
Orange goes best with itself, black and white of course and with its complementary colour, a light blue such as azure or with colours from the same chromatic family(Triads) such as light yellow, some pinks, beige, some light green nuances (i.e. khaki green) and brown.
I've put together a collage of my favourite orange pieces in hope that it will inspire you to wear more orange this spring and summer(Observe Paco Rabanne's 1 Million perfume which has become my all time favourite fragrance).. Enjoy and click the picture for a higher resolution version !
