Orange you glad we can treat you with expert advice on this tricky color?
Maybe it’s the miles of aisles of Halloween decorations in stores everywhere. Or those bountiful bins of pumpkins at grocery stores, farm stands and green markets.
Whatever the reason, around this time of year, a lot of us are seized with a powerful urge to wear something orange.
This is to be encouraged. As a color, orange rocks. It’s vibrant, eye-catching and spirit-lifting.
But as a fashion statement, a little caution is essential _ to make sure you don’t look like you just popped out of the pumpkin patch.
“I wouldn’t wear orange head to toe,” advises David Zyla, author of “The Color of Style.” To do so invites a comparison to a big, fat, old pumpkin, and who wants that?
An all-roly-poly-pumpkin look is adorable on toddlers. But for us grown women it’s an un-gourdly fashion disaster.
Instead of large swaths of orange, Zyla recommends a small dose of the color to add “a nice punctuation” to your fall wardrobe.
He’s the designer for the venerable “All My Children” soap opera, and he revealed that one of the characters, Annie Novak McDermott Lavery Chandler, will be wearing orange in an upcoming episode.
That’s because the color has a “hospitable feel to it. It has warmth. It reminds one of home and hearth.” And surely, if it does all that for Annie, we can hope for the same good vibes from a spritz of orange in our own outfit _ even if we haven’t had as many husbands as she has.
There are huge variations in oranges, from a muted peach to full-blown jack-o’-lantern. Zyla suggests a reddish-orange if you’re someone who looks great in red. Head toward the peach or coral shades “if you’re a very pastel-y, watery tone individual.”
If you’re not sure what shade looks best, pick a small orange accessory. Or, if you have great legs, shout it out loud with bright orange tights that will bring traffic screeching to a halt.
Can’t find an item on the Web site? Call the store listed to see if it’s in stock. Or ask a local shop for something similar.
