Flying colors

At a recent minor fashion show, with guests limited to less than a hundred, more than half were dressed in white. Not even shades of white, ranging from bone to cream to the dirty white that white gets after too many washings, were seen. It was more like a blindingly crisp white that my old high school principal adored. (She would snap at my cream-colored socks – a minor rebellion on my part against the school administration, which, I admit, was rather pathetic – saying they were against code.) "Was there a dress code?" I asked my friend, who accompanied me to the show last minute. "Was it on the invite?" After shuffling about and checking the invite it was apparent that no, there was no dress code. Except for the general "dress to impress" subliminal warnings that dot many a fashion show invite, nothing about white was mentioned.

"Um, we look totally out of place here," I said to my friend. I was dressed in a casual tan blouse and skirt. "What about me?" she said in a high-pitched voice. She was dressed in a yellow tank top and an obscenely short white mini skirt. I laughed. "Yes, you’re not exactly up to code either."

There was a dearth of color in the room. Except for one showbiz personality who showed up in a dazzlingly green tight ribbed dress with a short frilly hem, the rest were dressed in duller-than-blah black pants and nondescript blouses.

Color, which has made many appearances in trends over the years, more notably in shades of turquoise and green recently, seemed to be relatively absent from the room. Even schools, usually a haven for experimentation, were lacking in any adventurous souls willing to dabble in bright colors for their seasonal garments. "I guess if you wore bright green with another bright color, people would look at you funny," shared one student. "And, trust me, you don’t want people to look at you that way."

Funny looks aside, color shouldn’t be something to fear. Sure, no one can pile color on print on color like Anna Piagi, creative consultant to Italian Vogue and outrageous fashion iconoclast, but no one’s asking for a Technicolor riot of dazzling hues and shapes.

The funny thing is as soon as you hit 12, it’s no longer cool to paint your face purple and pink with mom’s makeup or wear underwear over your regular clothes. Or do anything crazy with your wardrobe.

Over dinner once with friends at an outside table in Greenbelt, a perfect spot for people-watching, we were busily commenting on anyone and everyone who went by. "Ugh, what crap shoes," a friend said cattily, while we all laughed, as a girl in fugly Moroccan shoes with all sorts of elf-like embellishments walked past. Later, a girl dressed in head to toe purple pranced by. "How very Gem and the holocaust," I said, probably loud enough for the girl to hear. Everyone else laughed, and, suddenly, I felt bad for my remark. The girl was wearing something different and I became, like every faux fashionista around, totally narrow-minded. She was wearing purple galoshes for crying out loud! That’s something to celebrate.

Today’s retailers are feeling more hopeful though as they slowly but surely pepper collections with items in fancy jewel tones and bright bold hues. "Fashion now offers a rainbow of colors and the market has welcomed all the different colors and hues retailers have to offer," said Ana Antonio, owner of Chocolate. "Everyone’s trying to find their individual colorful style now, as opposed to yesteryear’s uniform look of basic colors!"

Hopefully with enough help, everyone will be able to walk around in purple galoshes without being judged and found wanting.