Colorful

This summer I had an interesting conversation with a children’s librarian. After I complimented her on the extremely colorful outfit she was wearing, she replied, “Have you noticed that color is being taken out of our lives?”

Being an art teacher, a lover of color, I immediately started thinking about her question. On my drive home, many instances where her words were correct started popping into my head. Blandness and uniformity are on the upswing.

My first thought was of my husband’s summer shirts. Men’s clothes are downright boring compared to women’s, but their summer shirts used to offer some relief. Every time I shopped at thrift stores this summer, I looked for one of those retro, patterned shirts. I found none.

Fortunately, my husband has a few summer shirts left over from the 70s. Here’s his favorite. If you watch reruns of the hit show of the 70s, Hawaii Five-O, you will be shocked at the wild colors and patterns of both the men’s and women’s clothes. Our wardrobes have definitely all faded.

The color drain reaches into other areas of our lives as well. I recently visited a large Chicago furniture store. I was not there to buy their furniture but rather wanted to see the historic building which had been rehabbed as their showroom. However, I was stunned by the furniture, many floors of it, all upholstered in shades of black, white, tan or gray. I felt like I had walked into a movie before colored films were invented.

Cars must also be mentioned here. The era of the colorful car was the 1950s. And the most colorful of them all was this gem, the Ford Fairlane, in the American Beauty Rose color. The most popular car colors in 2022 are silver-gray, white and black which account for 75% of all cars sold.

I have not a doubt in my mind that color makes people happy. Think of how joyful we become when seeing a garden of wildly colorful flowers or a spectacular sunset. Mother nature is not afraid of color. We shouldn’t be either.

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