Color Of The Year: Mellow Yellow

The designers don't call the color "mellow yellow," of course. Rather, it is termed "mimosa." From this January 22, 2009 article in the Washington Post:

In Times So Mellow, A Burst Of Yellow: Institute Serves Up 'Mimosa' as Its Color of the Year

The people vote for change, and color company Pantone delivers.

By choosing Mimosa, a champagne-and-orange-juice shade of yellow as the 2009 color of the year, Pantone promises hope, joy, optimism -- sentiments to match the new U.S. president's oft-spoken words.

"Yellow is the color of change, of hopefulness, of warmth and of good cheer," says Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. Pantone provides color standards widely used in most design industries, and the Color Institute is its research group.

Each year the institute selects a color based on a general sense of the world's mood....

Of course, the following is the real reason for the recent enchantment with yellow or any shade thereof:


The above-cited article in the Washington Post offers several photos of items decked out in the color of the year. I find the following the most hideous of the lot:



I might put those tables in a child's playroom or playhouse. Might.

And consider the cost of those yellow tables: $229 for a set of two, available at West Elm.

Or how about one of the following for your sofa?


Each pillow costs $24.95, available at CB2.

The Washington Post does mention that that yellow doesn't convey only sunshine and flowers:

Yellow can also represent cowardliness, sickness, jaundice and the death of leaves in the fall. "No color has a neat, unambiguous symbolism, but yellow gives some of the most mixed messages of all," writes Victoria Finlay in "Color: The Natural History of the Palette" (Random House/Ballantine Books, 2003)....

Of course, the article concludes on a positive note as no other tone is allowed these days when it comes to anything even tangentially related to the Obamas:

Besides its message of hope, Eiseman says, Mimosa in the home will provide a sense of reassurance that in the end, everything will be sunny side up. "It gives the suggestion of sunshine even when there isn't sunshine," she says.

I admit to not particularly liking the color. I look terrible in and next to yellow — even if called "mimosa." As you can see from these photos, I try to stay away from yellow shades. Besides, mimosa signifies pink to me, that is, unless the blossoms are dying:



Additional reading and photos from The Evil Style Queen

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Conflict Over The Burkini & Muslima Fashions Take To The Runways

Note that the Al Arabiya news article cited below is dated February 28, 2008. Fitna: The Movie (a working link at the time of this posting) cannot be blamed for the outburst of "Islamophobia."

Via this posting at Sons of Apes and Pigs:

DUBAI (AlArabiya.net)

A Dutch Muslim woman was thrown out of a public swimming pool for wearing an Islamic-style swimsuit, sparking a row between pool and municipality officials, German news agency DPA reported on Wednesday.

The woman, a convert to Islam, was wearing a "burkini" -- a combination of burqa (the garment Muslim women wear to cover the whole body) and bikini.

She was asked to leave Hanzebad swimming pool in the eastern Netherlands city of Zwolle, some 120 kilometers from the capital Amsterdam.

The municipality says the pool should allow women to wear the burkini, but pool officials said it does not meet regulations and might "scare off" other visitors, DPA reported.

The pool manager said there are special hours set aside for conservative Muslim women and added that the Dutch lady chose to swim outside ladies hours to make a statement.

Discussions are still underway between pool and municipality officials to resolve the matter, the German news agency said.

What is there to discuss? Special hours have been set aside for Muslim women, and they're still not satisfied? Oh, my mistake. She wanted "to make a statement." And just what might that statement be?

But Muslimah "fashions" are not only for the swimming pool and for making statements. Indeed, according to this story at ABC News, burqa makeovers are for both Muslims and non-Muslims:

The burqa is the wardrobe of choice for many Muslim women. It is worn over a woman's daily clothing, usually covering her from head to toe. Today, the burqa has gone designer, popping up on fashion runways in the West, like at this show by Norwegian designers Marked Moskva in Norway earlier this month....The designers reportedly say they are aiming their collection at Muslims and non-Muslims.

Have a look.

Garbed from head to toe, complete with combat boots:
A camouflage-patterned burqa by Marked Moskva.
(Mattis Sandblad, Scanpix/Reuters)

Something more colorful and sporting some arm:
A model wears Marked Moskva's ballooned burqa.
(Mattis Sandblad, Scanpix/Reuters)

Show a little leg:
A crossover designer burqa inspired by Burberry 's signature plaid by Marked Moskva.
(Mattis Sanblad, Scanpix/AP Photo)

Show more leg but likely not Islamic, at least for streetwear:
A model wears this short and sheer creation.
(Mattis Sanblad, Scanpix/AP Photo)

Additional photos HERE.

So, Ladies, are you going to rush out and buy some of the latest fashions? Gentlemen, don't you just love those new fashions?

I know that, for my part, I can't wait to don the garments of submission. Yeah, right.

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