Friends, I know you're eager to continue yesterday's discussion about Tangerine Tango, not to be confused with Clementine Clog Step, Satsuma Slide, or Kumquat Gavotte.
Amateur sleuth that I am, I decided to do some online research to see just how deeply Tangerine Tango has penetrated the American consumer market. Answer: not very. First, I made a beeline for the Lord & Taylor dress department, well, actually the LordandTaylor.com dress department, where I looked at tiny photos of hundreds of women's dresses. I found virtually nothing in anything even close to Tangerine Tango. In fact, judging by Lord & Taylor, the big colors are purple, emerald, and other jewel tones -- no citrus fruit at all.
Even when you search specifically under orange, the closest I found was a cute little one-shoulder polyester dress in Papaya.
Here's what I think: a Lord & Taylor buyer with a head on her shoulders realized that if she jumped on the Tangerine Tango bandwagon, there'd be a lot of rotting fruit on the racks come Spring. Surely store buyers must recognize that orange is a difficult color for most -- most -- people and much more suitable for the cheap accessory than the big purchase.
Other than Clio, who looks good in orange? I want names, people, names.
I also did a search under orange appliance in the Home & Kitchen section of Amazon. There wasn't much. You can get a tangerine (though not Tangerine Tango) classic Kitchenaid mixer for a few hundred dollars (see top pic), but they offer a wide array of colors, not just orange.
I looked over at the Bed, Bath & Beyond website and it's slim pickings in orange -- a plastic pitcher here, a Bodum coffee maker there. Usually the orange you do see is that late-Nineties iMac orange (remember those candy-colored computers of yore?). Most definitely not Tangerine Tango.
Moving right along, I realized that I actually do know someone in the field of fashion/color forecasting, a man I met a book launch event last fall who happens also to be a well-known paper doll enthusiast and illustrator. I am going to reach out to him and find out more about color forecasting. I may wait till the dust dies down on yesterday's post in which I basically trash the forecasting field, however.
In other news...
You may have noticed that a few things have changed in the Comments section of this blog in the last few days. You now have the option to respond directly to a specific comment. I invite you to use this feature, though please treat each other with kindness -- not all of us are writing in our native language. Avete capito?
I must return to sewing before I forget how. This Twenties dress, straight out of a Clara Bow movie, is high on my list.
Finally, now that we're into 2012, I have made my first sewing-related purchase!
It is the Couture Techniques Workshop Basics with Claire Shaeffer DVD. Are you familiar with it? As much as I like to read about sewing -- and I still intend to review the revised edition of Claire Shaeffer's book Couture Sewing Techniques -- I really love to have things shown to me. (It was the Margaret Islander Shirtmaking DVD, a bootleg copy of which I was given by someone whose anonymity I will respect as the original costs a fortune, that taught me how to sew my first successful men's shirt, and I've watched that DVD, easily, fifty times or more. I love her.)
Do you like sewing videos?
Friends, that's it. Those with time on your hands, where can we find Tangerine Tango today? Bloomingdales? Macy's? Kmart? Please do some research and report back.
Have a great day, everybody!
OK, so I've never actually commented here, but I wanted to throw out there that I actually look fantastic in orange, and am an owner of the aforementioned mixer. LOVE it! Can't say I've actually seen tangerine tango anywhere yet.
ReplyDeleteANYway, sewing videos. I want to learn to sew, but I will say that I'm somewhat intimidated. If my sewing experience is anything like my knitting experience, sewing videos would help! Visuals are so much easier.
I am a beginner sewer and most of what I learned is from other peoples' blogs and youtube. Youtube has been amazing. I tried to make t hings that were way out of my league at first, but realized I needed to learn the basics. If I can do it, I am so sure that you can.
ReplyDeleteI also love orange, and haven't seen anything in tangerine tango either.
I love your site! I'm actually seeing alot of orange and it might be that you're not looking in the right places. Lord and Taylor is a pretty conservative store from what I have seen. Check out net-a-porter.com like this link: http://www.net-a-porter.com/Shop/Clothing/Dresses?colourFilter=Orange
ReplyDeleteand shopbop.com. They are two different price points but show alot of orange stuff. In fact, I see that other colors in neon are big this year.
I think orange is great in moderation. Non?
Here's a name for ya, Regena. I shouldn't look good in orange, but by golly I do.
ReplyDeleteI just got the Claire Schaeffer dvd for christmas and I can't wait to set aside some time to watch it.I love the books, but it's so nice to see the actual techniques in action. We can compare notes on how we like it.
It's called forecasting for a reason. First they want to interest people in seeing the color, so they publish a forecast. Then folks who design things think up ways to use those colors,and marketing gets involved. So sometime in this summer or 2013 or so, you'll start seeing way too much orange. And the forecasters have an out. if no one bites on the orange, they can say that it is an inexact artform. Blyeah.
ReplyDeleteAww, flattery will get you everywhere with me. You are back on my Christmas Card list. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'd be happy if Tangerine Tango did NOT take off as a big trend. I'm having a bit of a meltdown about my entire wardrobe potentially look passe in six months. And you're right! No one but me looks good in this color so lets all just take a deep breath and go back to it being my exclusive property. Okay?
(Actually, Trena looks good in orange, too.)
I haven't used any sewing DVD's, but am eager to hear other people's thoughts.
Don't worry, it won't.
DeleteI love orange but I think it works best as an accent or in a print. Head to toe solid orange is a bit much. I like to use orange in my home decor sewing and quilting. I have seen a lot of orange items on Etsy. Shameless self promotion time: This pillow has been in a few treasury lists featuring the color orange: http://www.etsy.com/listing/88955334/pillow-cover-orange-aqua-ivory-and-taupe. I've sold 4 of those so people seem to like the color combo.
ReplyDeletelove the islander DVDs as well as the jackets for real people tailoring DVD. DPC's shirtmaking DVD is less fun but still useful, so i expect claire schaeffer's to be in that camp. looking forward to a review!
ReplyDeleteThat Kitchen Aid Mixer color has been around since (at least) 2003, I used to work in a Canadian version of Bed Bath and whatever, so that color mixer is by no means an indicator of the dreaded orange becoming trendy. Although I don`t mind orange, I am getting tired of the year of a specific color. It is tiresome and makes our wardrobes become dated more quickly. Which annoys me. Peach and emerald green anyone?
ReplyDeleteThe colors forecasted each year don't rally change very much, there are always pastels some years whitened and others where they are grayed. The same goes for brights and how saturated they are with color. What does change year to year is how the colors are grouped together. And then with in the groups how certain colors combine and work with each other each (as in a print or plaid fabric or even the various garments that combine to make up an outfit .
ReplyDeleteI've learned a bit from you tube, but I've never seen a sewing DVD. Might be useful! I reserve judgement on the whole color thing... especially since I'm currently wearing my favorite shirt and it's orange!
ReplyDeleteI have always hated orange. My mother loved it, so growing up in the 60s and 70s we had a lot of orange mixed in with the avacado green and harvest gold. I remember an especially orange polyester double knit pants suit she made. That will always be my image of orange and it is not a good one. I will not be adapting Tangerine Tango. The one good thing about color forcasting is that it does maybe open the mind to possible colors that one had not previously thought much about.
ReplyDeleteI would love to have a couple of sewing DVDs, but I have nothing and very few books. I learned to sew when it was a girl's job to learn from mom or grandma. Until I started reading sewing blogs I never realized there was a way to learn sewing other than in person!
I really do hope, that the Tangerine Tango will stay a forecast and NEVER actually become trendy! Let's have a bright red or a warm, sunny yellow instead. Anything but orange!! :-/
ReplyDeleteNo mandarin mazurka? I aim for colors and styles that flatter me, not what everyone else is wearing or Pantone tells me to wear. I'd rather not look like everyone else!
ReplyDeletePerhaps Tangerine Tango has not penetrated the American consciousness, but it has penetrated mine. I have spent the past several days, perhaps as long as a week, seeking orange eyeliner. When I read your post yesterday, I realized that this desire is not an expression of my individuality, but of my susceptibility to corporate manipulation. But I still want the orange eyeliner.
ReplyDeleteFunny you should say 'who'. Who indeed! No-one I know. But when I logged on this morning - this blog post was at the top of my reading list - and the lady could not possibly look better in that tangerine hue. Non?
ReplyDeletehttp://tessuti.blogspot.com/2012/01/amber-samba-viscose-dress.html
There are precious few who can rock that color. Alas, I'm not one, nor do I know any. The only orange in my life is a pair of leather flats (keepin' it as far away from my face as possible) and of course, the burnt orange tile in my '70's-era kitchen...
ReplyDeleteMy iMac is in Blueberry (maybe I'll start calling it Blueberry Bossa Nova).
Clio isn't the only one! I LOVE orange... love love love it. Remember that orange maternity dress I made? When I heard all this Tangerine Tango kerfluffle I was like "finally!"... I have a bright orange sweater, a bright orange trench coat, and was thinking of making bright orange pants and a bright orange dress... ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE. I just hope people don't think I'm doing it because someone TOLD me to...
ReplyDeleteI'm joining the ranks of folks that look good orange. All oranges from peach to rust.
ReplyDeleteMe too! I look good in Orange (or else I am delusional). I wear loads of orange, summer and winter! I just made a version of Vogue 1250 in orange - here it is: http://thornberry.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/vogue-1250-again/
ReplyDeleteSo I'm extremely happy with this year's forecast. Last year's pale pink was definitely a no-go for me.
Apparently my computer hates change and didn’t let me use the new comments format, so I wasn’t able to chime in on Tangerine Tango. Count me among those who cannot wear this color. Maybe it would be ok for something away from my face. Otherwise, bleh! That color will swallow me up.
ReplyDeleteIt’s all just a way to get us to spend money.
I’m 50+ and somehow I’ve managed to get through life without paying attention to the color of the year. If I didn’t like the colors I saw, I didn’t buy them. The only exception was when I was getting married and everything was in a very muted, muddy version of Dusty Rose. A springtime wedding is a happy occasion and muted, muddy was not what I was going for but the “Color Board” (as a friend in the Garment district called it at the time) dominated.
I definitely like sewing (knitting, crocheting, cooking) videos. I need to be shown how to do something.
I've shopped most of my clothing for the past year at thrifts and "tangerine tango" is every where!
ReplyDeleteOrange- I guess you either love it or hate it. But it is an optimistic color and some of the softer shades of orange are very appealing. Those were very popular for walls in the 1980's.
ReplyDeleteAlexander Theroux has written two very entertaining books on the uses of color though the ages. Naturally, they are called, "The Primary Colors & The Secondary Colors".
In China, orange stands for power and happiness, as well as, the auspicious hue of pride, hospitality, marriage, ambition and beneveolence. According too Mr. Theroux.
I think looking good in Tangerine or Orange generally is a skin tone issue it looks better on people with darker skin tones not my fair skin my black co worker looks absolutely smashing in orange and I look semi dead
ReplyDeleteBright orange - gag :( However, rust orange, burnt orange, yum! Yum yum!
ReplyDeleteBut enough about orange. I want to know how to program the "reply" feature into the comments! Can you direct me to the wheres & hows on this? Or do I need to find a 9 year-old who knows about these things?
Isn't there a lag between when they announce the colour forecast and we see it everywhere? I t hought it took a year or so before the manufacturers really got on trend ?I mean it took a couple of years before all of our neighbours had those horrible gold or green fridges. Oops, I mean harvest gold or avocado green!
ReplyDeleteYes. Forecasting companies and firms like Pantone release reports at least 18 months in advance, I think.
DeleteUnless it's colors I actually like, I ignore the dictate. I love red, black, white and navy.
The research is proprietary and I don't think the reports are cheap. Obviously, they are of value to someone.
DeleteOrange can vary I get many compliments if I am wearing burnt orange but the tangerine does nothing for me i think more people look good in blue
ReplyDeleteI don't wear orange, but - obviously - living in Florida, I "Do" citrus!
ReplyDeleteI look great in orange! It's one of my signature colors, but sadly, I usually can't find anything orange at all - mostly just variations on pinky-salmon colors. Great to hear that it's coming back this year, so I can stock up on orange t-shirts, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was barely 20, I had a flourescent orange gauze sundress that I wore constantly and got loads of compliments on. That bright orange sundress helped me meet my husband! I went into an internet cafe where my husband worked at the time, and he said the dress caught his eye, and then he saw me, and it was love at first sight. He came over, chatted me up, and we've been together almost 12 years now - all because that flourescent orange sundress caught his attention. He affectionately nicknamed it my traffic cone, and when it fell apart, he saved it in a memory box. :)
I looooovee Orange!!!!! It is my fav. color. If I had to put up with Honeysuckle Pink for a year, the world can handle the orange. I was shopping for winter coats and at all the sites, the orange ones were sold out. It was quite depressing, I ended up with burgundy (at least I can wear an orange scarf with it). I looked at Modcloth, Overstock, Piperlime, and a few other etailers. Also, a great color combo is orange and orchid-- it works. Luckily I live in CNY where the Syracuse Orange has a big fanbase and people look approvingly on lots of orange apparel. I also like corals, apricots, peaches, rusts; but mostly clear bright orange. There are different tones that can work with anyone who looks good with gold based colors. Maybe I am so attracted to it because of our long winters and it works as color therapy. I don't know, I have always loved it.
ReplyDeleteWell, I have to admit I like lighter shades of orange. Not bright colors though. Videos: Sewing with nancy, sandra betzina, peggy sagers, christine johnson?, palmer pletsch, david page coffin, threads mag has a few dvds, claire schaefer, islander videos
ReplyDeleteI have one, count 'em one, orange article of clothing. The orange top usually comes out for Halloween and Thanksgiving, then back to the drawer for the rest of the year.
ReplyDeleteI love orange - really love it - but I can't wear it! I realised this shortly after buying a shalvar from the local Mela - I got the lovely fabric home, held it up to my face and all the colour drained from me. However I am planning to combine it with some fushia pink - now that i can wear!
ReplyDeleteI bought the Claire Shaeffer DVD last year. It's well worth buying. I've taken a number of really excellent classes, but the DVD went into things (how to start and end a line of hand stitching, when to use a knot, how to wax thread) that teachers didn't always have time for, or they were teaching more production-oriented sewing. The use of couture techniques usually yields better results for me.
ReplyDeleteI hate orange, at least in clothes. Actually, for pretty much anything.
Hey,hey, hey, Peter!
ReplyDeleteWhy did you presume the buyer at Lord&Taylor.com to be female?
Toe tapping, and hand on hip,
Testosterone
I envisioned a sassy Eve Arden type...my bad.
DeleteTrying again with a better link--Peter, I couldn't help it, I had to respond!: "In Passionate Defense of Orange."
ReplyDeleteOrange you going a little too far with all this, Mikhaela?
ReplyDeletei'm about to embark on DVD's to expand my sewing skill-set...i'm always a little hesitant as you're buying something sigh unseen; unlike a book that you can flick through to determine its value in your library.
ReplyDeleteI've got to admit i take no notice of colour predictions/trends. I care nothing for being told either directly or indirectly that i should be wearing a particular colour.
I found a NYT article on Pantone's color of the year from 2007.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/fashion/20COLOR.html?pagewanted=all
There were muted colors, back in the beginning of the century.
Blue Iris (Miss Pantone 2008) is described as dependable and magical. I thing that covers most bases.
I have 2 friends who look good in orange, and both are blonde with blue eyes, and pale with a yellow-ish undertone. Think Dutch. The other 1,000 friends look awful in orange.
ReplyDeleteI love the Claire DVDs, I got them for christmas and have watched them a couple of times already!!!
have you seen THIS http://cache.jezebel.com/assets/images/39/2011/11/0de834409976785d1523d6244f58bcc1.jpg kitchenaid mixer? I think I NEED it! (and to hell with matching the colours in my kitchen)
ReplyDelete