In these lighter days of vacation I would like to talk about pink, a color that has combined many meanings in its history, even far away one from each other, becoming from time to time the symbol of femininity, rebellion, gender confrontation or of masculinity.
This year pink is a very contemporary color in fashion and makeup. In fact 2017 is the year of rose in all its nuances - they have been counted up to 226 - and this season we can surely indulge in finding the one that best suits to everyone, woman or man, because oppositely to what one might think, pink is the most unisex of all the colors.
But let's start from the beginning: pink has not always been a female color, indeed the mature female-pink has only appeared in recent times. Did you know, for example, that pink is born as a male color? In the nineteenth century, this color close to red, strong and virile color linked to heroes and battles was also commonly tied to men's apparel, while blue was associated with the color of the veil with which the Virgin Mary was represented, so used for women's clothing.
So, starting from being a male color like red, pink has become more feminine only in recent times.
The change took place in the 1950s: pink was attributed to women in clothing, consumer goods and was consecrated by the arrival of Barbie in 1959, the greatest icon of femininity and emancipation, always in step with the times, thanks to her ability to adapt her style and appearance to the various historical and cultural changes she has crossed.
Then came the Sixties with the controversy that also came to hit the pink because considered by feminists as a symbol of the tradition imposed on women. From that time on, women started dressing in a more neutral style. While in the Seventies during the period of protests, pink disappeared altogether, to be then rehabilitated in the 1980s, mainly through contamination from France, where male children were identified by a blue bow and the females from a pink one.
In a very famous Fitzgerald novel, when Jay Gatsby comes to a luncheon wearing a pink suit, in a red version more suited to social life, pink comes to acquire many significances: elegance, passion, masculinity. Well, during 2017 Summer, here we have all male fashion designers, just all, to include in their collections a generous amount of pink garments.
Like this Etro linen shirt that I find very refined.
But the beauty of pink lays in the richness of its meanings, ranging from being a somewhat dollish and cuddly color, to become the color of the protest. Just think about the pink hats worn in the demonstrations against Trump.
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I like pink in all its shades and tones and it's a color that I often wear, in every season. I agree with Valeria Parrella (author of the Encyclopedia of Women) who says: "The woman who dresses and makes up in pink is a person who feels free and follows her own taste regardless of what others think" .
And then when it comes to seeing life in pink...It means always finding positivity and optimism, which is not a superficial but a profound way of knowing the fullness of life in all those contents that, like this color, life can boast of.