English Version | Living in color

20 Jul 2022
By Pedro Vasconcelos

The colors we choose to wear can mean a whole lot, from our mood to our insecurities. But they also hold a mysterious power, that will certainly reframe the way we make decisions when it comes to the colors we wear: the way it can affect our wellbeing. After all, why ingest your vitamins when you can simply wear them.

The colors we choose to wear can mean a whole lot, from our mood to our insecurities. But they also hold a mysterious power, that will certainly reframe the way we make decisions when it comes to the colors we wear: the way it can affect our wellbeing. After all, why ingest your vitamins when you can simply wear them.

In Elizabethan England, an affinity for the color purple could be deadly. Associated exclusively with the royal family, if you were unlucky enough to be caught wearing a garment of this hue, the price was the death sentence. Fortunately, nowadays our attitude towards the color spectrum is significantly less lethal, usually considered a reflection of personal preference. But, as per usual, fashion’s potential is highly underestimated. The colors we wear are not merely a way of communicating our idiosyncratic tastes to the world, they can be a solution to numerous ailments. With a similar effect to vitaminic supplements, the colors of our clothing can contribute to our mood, energy levels, and even to the way we deal with daily stress. If in the distant past we looked at color as a possibility of death, it is not unreasonable, considering the progress of science, to view it as a way to achieve a better quality of life.

We are not referring to the pseudoscientific practice that finds ridiculously direct meanings for what each color can mean, how it relates to our past lives or even the future we want to manifest. These "explanations," which proliferate in the digital sphere, are nothing more than clichés like "red represents passion" and "green is synonymous with greed." Regardless of this knowledge (to name these theories as knowledge is already a stretch), there are scientific practices that provide plausible explanations of how each hue affects our mood, heart rate, and even blood pressure. These phenomena are the basis for several medical specialties, such as chromotherapy, a treatment that exposes us to certain hues to alleviate psychological disorders. Unfortunately, affected by the absurdity of the theories spreading across the Internet, the effect that color has on our psyche and body is considered irrational, despite the evidence that substantiates it. Leatrice Eiseman, color expert and executive director of the Pantone Color Institute, explains in an interview with Vogue Portugal that the hesitation to accept the potential of colors on our health is based on the complexity of their practical effects. "There are infinite shades and colors, each with enormous potential to regulate our psyche and body: to warm us, to cool us, even to stimulate our appetite," reports Eiseman. But how does one explain such mysterious authority? According to the expert, it's all based on the "irresistible influence color has on us, appealing deeply to our emotions."

The Executive Director, who is among the experts in charge of choosing Pantone's Color of the Year, confesses that the complexity of colors is still a mystery, even to experts: "there's a reason why I've written ten books on the subject, it's a giant task to delve deeper into each color and its connections to the human psyche." Rejecting the simplistic explanations found in the digital sphere, Eiseman goes back to the psychological effects that certain colors possess. Such is the case with the so-called "vitamin colors”, the name given to the saturated hues of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. As the expert reveals, "more garish colors are usually associated with our energy and childhood happiness, especially vibrant colors with a warmer temperature. Think of hues like red, yellow, orange, shocking pinks, yellowish greens, and purples." These colors coincide perfectly with the most colorful stratum of the food pyramid, a fact that is not accidental, but rather the result of the ongoing evolution of certain plants. For Leatrice Eiseman, the emotions aroused by vitamin colors are intentional: "Nature instrumentalizes these colors, it's no coincidence, they are designed to appeal to our appetite, to entice us to consume these foods." These subliminal meanings inform our bodies of what they can expect when ingesting these healthy delicacies. When we describe yellow as cheerful, green as vitalizing, or even orange as energizing, the choice of these adjectives is a reflection of evolutionary strategies honed over millions of years.

The effect these colors have on us goes far beyond mere appetite stimulation, a panoply of scientific studies prove how they affect us physiologically. In one of these studies, authored by Keith Jacobs and Frank Hustmyer, the American scientists prove that exposure to different colors profoundly affects our body. From blood pressure to heart rate and breathing patterns, the reaction to certain hues can be visceral. If our bodies are affected in this way, our psyche (exponentially more volatile) is, as Elton John sang, a "candle in the wind." Leatrice Eiseman elaborates, "It is, in fact, possible, to change our moods with the color we wear," and, as it should be apparent by now, "vitamin colors, more garish, are closely associated with a good mood." But it's not just a matter of mood, the expert stresses the importance of these colors on our energy levels, with an exceptional capacity to change Newton’s first law, effectively shaking off any remnants of inertia. Even though the objectivity with which Eiseman approaches the subject makes it seem linear, the expert warns, "There is no universal rule when it comes to colors." Like a Freudian curse, the effect of colors, like everything else in life, goes back to our experiences in childhood. The expert explains this complexity through a simple example: "If there is a toy, like an orange bicycle, that makes you remember enjoying the freedom of childhood, of being able to ride a bike with your friends, the color will reflect these positive feelings. However, if you have fallen off that bike and can't be with your friends for a long time, the color of the same bike will become associated with unhappiness." For this child, the color orange, usually associated with good humor and an energy boost, will be a reminder of undesirable feelings.

I fully understand the hypocritical irony of writing this article in my third monochromatic black outfit - particularly aggravating considering that it’s Wednesday ("On Wednesdays, we wear pink!", as Karen in Mean Girls established). But, in the face of the irrefutable evidence of the benefits of using vitamin colors, a change is imperative. Black, generally considered the uniform color of those working within the fashion industry, has long been dismissed. In fact, I would say that the final nail in its coffin was an interview with Anna Wintour, Global Editorial Director of Vogue, when asked what she would never consider wearing, reveals, in her iconic monotone: "Head to toe black.” Fashion has embraced bright colors with open arms, from the shocking pink of Schiaparelli to the Pink PP of Valentino by Pierpaolo Piccioli, it seems that with the rebirth of life after the last pandemic years, our clothes should represent the happiness we wish to see in the world. The fact that the popularity of the trends that these new vibrant collections have boosted coincides with Summer is no coincidence. The season is the perfect time to feel the beneficial effects of vitamin colors, as Leatrice Eiseman explains, "It is a physiological fact of nature that as there is more sunlight in the atmosphere, our eyes can 'handle' much more color." According to the expert, sunlight is responsible for decreasing the saturation of what is in the world around us, and because of this decompensation, "our minds unconsciously restore the more garish pigments." Aligning with the CEO's earlier testimony, much of how we feel about color is connected to our life experiences, and Summer, synonymous with free time and happiness, becomes inextricably linked to intense colors. There is no better time to incorporate vitamin colors into our closets, not only because of the season but for the validation that some of the biggest names in fashion have given us. So let's replace the supplements with "vitamin clothes" which, although certainly more expensive, are bound to be more fashionable.

Translated from the original on The Sunny Vibes Issue, from Vogue Portugal, published July 2022.Full stories and credits on the print issue.

Pedro Vasconcelos By Pedro Vasconcelos

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