Think pink!

1600s

Pink has swung in and out of fashion favour for both men and women over time. The word itself was first introduced into the English language in the 17th-century, after flowers of the same colour and name. Tricky to produce in fine fabric, the colour has long been used for adornment by those lucky enough to afford it.

1700s

During this decadent era in Europe, pink was worn by aristocrats and incorporated as a decor feature as a marker of class. The French porcelain maker Sèvres named an exquisite shade of blush-tone pink ‘Rose Pompadour’ as it was the favourite colour of the chief mistress of Louis XV of France. 

1800s

During the mid-19th century, blush became seens as a feminine colour when woman began to wear more pastels, and men gravitated towards darker colours. However, pink was predominantly for dressing boys – a paler version of masculine red, which symbolised health and youth.

Early 1900s, 

Since pink was for boys, blue was for girls – believed to be the daintier colour of the two. For grown women, however, French couturier Paul Poiret, a pink connoisseur, and Elsa Schiaparelli, who favoured fuchsia, ensured the colour come back in vogue – and it was used to striking effect in fashion magazines of the time. 

1940s

Several fashion historians believe pink came into prominence after the Second World War when women whipped off their blue factory suits to become homemakers again. In an ironic twist of events, author and historian Jo B. Paoletti has suggested mothers growing up in an age of ‘pink is for boys’ wanted their daughters to have the option of wearing it too. 

1950s

Picking up on this sudden popularity, marketers were quick to promote pink as a woman’s colour. The wife of US President Dwight Eisenhower, Mamie, is also credited with all-pervasive pink in this decade – her renovation of the White House inspired the press to rename it the ‘Pink Palace’, with the soft shade still called ‘Mamie pink’. As in Audrey Hepburn film Funny Face, women were told – “everything that you can think— and that includes the kitchen sink, think pink!” 

1960s

While pink was still seen as a symbol of ladylike luxury, seen most strikingly in Jacqueline Kennedy’s skirt suits and Marilyn Monroe’s satin gown in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the tone was picked up by men in the latter half of the decade in retaliation to the clearly defined gender norms of their recent history. For women who still wore it, pink needed to be as playful as Pop Art or as exotic as faraway prints.

1970s

While pink is seen as the colour of love, it was surprisingly underrated during the hippie movement of the ‘70s. Instead, it was worn by those in the preppy and punk fringes of fashion. The bass guitarist for the Clash, Paul Simonon, declared: “Pink is the only true rock-and-roll colour!” 

1980s

Fashion trends sped-up in the more-is-more ‘80s and pink became part of fashion’s ever-spinning colour wheel. At the time, the world couldn’t take their eyes off the new Princess Diana, the picture of innocence, who often wore matchy-matchy pink outfits. Pink became pervasive in popular culture with movies such as Pretty in Pink making its cultural mark. 

1900s-2000s

In this over-saturated period, pink swayed from hyper-feminine blush to neon-soaked magenta. It didn’t lose its power to send a message, from the Jean-Paul Gaultier corsetry worn by Madonna on her 1990 Blond Ambition tour to Reese Witherspoon’s character Elle Woods’ penchant for the colour in Legally Blonde.

Today 

Pastel yet punchy millennial pink has had a major moment, but now it’s time for hot pink to shine bright as one of the biggest colour trends of 2019. Not for the faint-hearted, it’s a bold colour made for powerful sartorial statements. ■

For more fashion histories on FQ.co.nz:

Hey, good looking! - A short history of sunglasses

A complete history of the cape

Gone to the beach - A short histroy of swimswear