Each day the Internet brings us something new to surprise us or make us say, hell no! New trends are invented every second. Some of them are quite interesting and cool, others, not so much. Among these trends there’s a hue that was recently added to the Pantone: Millennial Pink. To be honest, at first I thought we’ve had enough, that we had to stop as a generation. However, after some research (and social media’s insistence) I found out that it’s actually meant to represent a whole generation that wants to stop being labeled by genders and stereotypes (although I’m not so sure we’re doing a great job with the last one).
Millennial Pink, Scandi, Rose Quartz, or Tumblr Pink, is a shade that distances itself from the classic “girly’” barbie pink. Men and women have been embracing this new shade that represents them. It’s a neutral shade for a gender-free society. So if you’re wondering why pink is coming back so strongly as a fashion statement, well, perhaps it’s because it’s no longer a color that represents the silly, childish side of femininity, but a color that speaks for everybody. More importantly, it’s a color that historically speaking was far from holding all the negative associations it has now. You want to go rogue and stop following social patterns? Check these outfit ideas, because the only way to defeat a color stereotype is by giving new meanings to it.
Now, why do we need to fight against a particular color? Well, the answer is kind of obvious. From the moment we’re in our mother’s belly, we’re assigned a gender label, and everybody goes mad looking for presents that represent our biological gender. So, since we’re born we are linked to that pink-blue duality. Some more audacious parents go for a “neutral” selection with pastel yellow and green but the distinction remains. Many have expanded on why we associate these colors with a particular gender now, when not that long ago, this wasn’t that popular. Actually, almost seventy years ago people couldn’t care less about making a gender distinction between babies. They were more concerned with their children surviving to adulthood (of course there were some gender patterns, but not precisely associated with colors or fashion as we know them).
Historically speaking, blue was actually the color that best represented femininity due to its delicate and soft hues. Women would more likely wear this shade in past eras. It was the color of the Virgin Mary, of purity and virtue. This color duality and distinction had a more logical explanation in the past. During the seventeenth and eighteenth century, men would wear pink hues because it was conceived as a derivative of red, which symbolized power and masculinity. According to Valerie Steele, director of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, pink “was thought to be a ‘warlike’ color”. This kind of makes sense, right? Naturally, there were women who wore these hues in accessories and sometimes in their dresses, but they were considered to be bold.
As it tends to happens with fashion, the concept began to evolve and pink became a neutral color associated with youth and health. It represented the vivacious passion of young men and women. Upper classes started to dress or accessories their babies and toddlers with this hue as well. As the nineteenth century came by, the color became the representation of extravagance and status. For instance, in many universities in England, male students would compete in sports to gain the honor of wearing pink.
During the Second World War, women started taking jobs to sustain their families and thinking about colors and fashion became the least of their concerns. That’s why we see many pictures of women wearing neutral colors. Rationing had also a lot to do with it, since there was no good reason to spend on nonessential goods. Of course, with the end of the war, things changed, people wanted to experiment what it was to have luxuries again.
If we were to blame someone for the ridiculous pink cliché that would be Mamie Eisenhower, President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s lovely wife. When he became president, in 1953, he made many reforms to modernize the US, which helped the middle and working classes have access to things that were considered luxurious in the past. Now, what does Mamie and have to do with all this? Well, pink happened to be her favorite color, so she would wear it in almost any official event. Her color statement became so famous that a hue was named after her. Women, with more purchase power than ever, started looking for things with these tones, and companies started creating gadgets and objects in this particular color. The pink craze began!
The fifties were the gender labeling paradise. Women started dressing their daughters with the same outfits as they had, while boys would wear matching suits like their fathers. Since pink became the flag of femininity, blue, of course, represented masculinity. Thus the color labels. Thankfully, during the sixties and seventies with the women’s rights movements, these practices came to an end. However, their children, troubled with their gender neutrality fashion, brought back the hideous distinctive trend. Then, we grew either loving or hating the color basically because we were taught that it was the color nice girls had to wear. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
This new millennial pink is the opportunity to bring back all pink hues and start using them for what they are: colors. So are you ready to go rogue?
Take inspiration from Tilda Swinton’s iconic style.
Ready to embrace your inner gothic novel leading lady?
***Sources:
The Guardian
The Atlantic
Domain
