Thursday, June 19, 2014

Color Fashion: Pink & Charcoal Gray

Pink and Charcoal pre-cut bias stripes. I'd guess around
1955.

The year Elvis had a cadillac painted pink for his mother.


1957 film Funny Face about the fashion industry, 
Kay Thompson in charcoal suit

wallpaper



Fashion fabric and feedsacks





Where did the fad come from?
One important consideration is that dyes giving cotton a range of gray shades
were fairly new---you could call it a post-War technological advance.

And Elsa Schiaparelli was the ultimate in French fashion, which was working
on a post-War revival.

Schiaparelli's Shocking pink perfume had a label in the color that
had been her signature for decades


Schiaparelli wallpaper?



Charcoal and gray defined the fifties from high fashion to low.



Too many "Before" pictures...

have inspired grassroots action:
Save The Pink Bathrooms.

It's probably cheaper to save pink dishes.




8 comments:

  1. Thank you, I have a whole new appreciation for pink now.

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  2. Fun! 1955 is my birth year. Now I know why my room had wallpaper with pink and gray ballerinas. And I have a pink bathroom today. I'll have to look up the t-shirt.

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  3. I am a plate turner and would love to see the backs of the plates!!! Have always like pink and gray, I just may be ahead of the curve on this trend.

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  4. this post just made me smile I had an aunt whose whole house was done in grey / pink / red
    she had pink and grey dishes. wow haven't thought about this in years, thanks for the memory flash back
    Kathie
    http://inspiredbyantiquequilts.blogspot.com

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  5. In the early 1950s I had wall paper in my bedroom that was gray with black and white kittens playing with pink balls of yarn. The white part of the black kittens eyes glowed in the dark. I worried they were watching me at night! Thanks for the trip down memory lane!

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  6. This is my favorite post! I love pink and gray. If money were no object, I'd have a second kitchen done all in pink, gray, black, and white, 50's style. What a fun trend that must have been. My mom went for aqua and gray - not a bad combo either, but for some reason, the pink speaks to me more. Thanks for the post!

    Carole S.

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  7. Pink Melmac plates...a memory of mine from the 50's...and they were indestructible, too! Shoulda kept them.

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  8. What is the brand of the pink and black dishes with the bird like graphic? I love those!

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