thedandiest - ORANGE - THE TABOO COLOUR?

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18 April 2008 @ 09:39 pm

ORANGE - THE TABOO COLOUR?

Above: Charles II in Coronation Robes, 1661
Below: The Earl of Rochester (inspiration for the movie "The Libertine")

Stereo Total - "Orange Mécanique"

These days, stylish people seem to be afraid of wearing orange. It seems to have a bad reputation. Maybe it is considered to be a tacky remnant from the 50s, 60s and 70s. (Frank Sinatra's fave colour was orange.) Maybe it's because prison jumpsuits are often orange. In ye olde England, 'orange girl' used to be slang for prostitute.

Orange IS a tricky colour to pull off. Orange and black look good together, but inevitably give one a Halloweenish feel, so I tend to avoid them.
Here's Tommy Hilfiger:

I do like that suit quite a bit, but we see here that orange and black are problematic. (Plus, Hilfiger is a massive douchebag.)

There are many shades of orange, and many complimentary colours. Orange looks good with olive green, powdery baby blue, ivory. Orange does look good with brown, but only experts should attempt this, as the results may look very 1970s high school science teacher.

Orange on the runway...

Perry Ellis, Fall 2005

Burberry, Spring 2006

Alexander McQueen, Fall 2007

Ralph Lauren, Fall 2008

Free-style orange goodness...

Andre 3000:

Anton LaVey:

bricology and his wife:

Old foto of me:

Foto of me taken today:

13 comments | Leave a comment

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jermynsavile on April 19th, 2008 06:52 am (UTC)

I've been racking my poor memory to try and remember whether I have ever worn anything orange and all I can come up with is a tie of almost flourescent vividness that I wore in the early '90s. I used to pair it with very subdued greys (much like you have). Romeo Gigli used to produce some rather smart three button jacket suits in the late eighties in a broad range of colours, orange was amongst them (though I imagine that it was described in the catalogue as rust, "rust" is what happens to "orange" when it becomes respectable).

Like your new shirt very much, there is something of the Prince Michael of Kent about it - though he wouldn't be able to carry off the colours.

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The great store Arnys in Paris has never been afraid of bold colours. This is from their current collection.

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thedandiest on April 19th, 2008 06:18 pm (UTC)

I love Prince Michael of Kent - he is one sharped-dressed bastard. I think that he and that other dandy who wears defiantly high collars - Karl Lagerfeld - both look better as older men with grey hair.

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jermynsavile on April 19th, 2008 07:54 pm (UTC)

Then there is hope for me yet. My barber said to me today "It's funny, your hair has gone grey, but the good thing is you haven't lost it." He isn't the most reassuring barber in the world, but I'm used to him.

I've posted all but one of these before elsewhere, but you might enjoy some extra pictures of the sharply-dressed bastard...

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His collars have gone higher as his hair has become greyer, and thinner. So far, just as you say, he looks better and better.

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horsdumonde on April 19th, 2008 08:12 pm (UTC)

Orange is a terrific colour; I wear it often as an accent. Your orange and grey combo is spot on. Too much orange and one does run the risk of being mistaken for a Caltrans employee. Andre 3000 above is taking it about as far as one can go; LaVey, I'm sorry to say, fails if he ever puts down that polka-dotted cup, which illustrates how crucial accessories are, or can be.

It's spring, and that's when I dust off my orange Charvet bow tie, which feels somehow springy to me.

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thedandiest on April 19th, 2008 09:34 pm (UTC)

Yes, accessories can be terribly important. Notice in this foto of me as a young boy, I have coordinated my orange skateboard with my sweater and the orange in my plaid pants. This foto also gives a clue as to why I am such a bitter hateful bastard - when I was young I was oppressed - we had no blogs and were forced to read newspapers.

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horsdumonde on April 20th, 2008 01:14 am (UTC)

Very cute...so the lens has always loved you!

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thedandiest on April 19th, 2008 10:34 pm (UTC)

Dita

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bibermx on April 20th, 2008 03:21 am (UTC)

What a magnificent attire!

O.

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flying_squid on May 3rd, 2008 07:33 am (UTC)

O, I am in awe!

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lord_whimsy on April 21st, 2008 07:05 am (UTC)

You know where we sit on the subject.

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thedandiest on April 23rd, 2008 04:52 am (UTC)

Lady Pinkwater's orange coat and gloves are fanfreakingtastic.

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flying_squid on May 3rd, 2008 07:32 am (UTC)

Hello! I used to read your old LJ... I am most surprised in the best way to find out you created a new one. I am also loving this post about how to incorporate orange into an outfit (alas, to my horror, I have no orange to experiment with).

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thedandiest on May 6th, 2008 04:40 am (UTC)

Thanks for the kind words.

A favourite punk rock joke:

Question: What's orange and red and looks good on a hippy?
Answer: Fire.

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