Beige, putty, blush, nude, foam, champagne, parsnip, flesh, milky English tea, parchment, sludge . . . this season’s most ubiquitous shades — perhaps inspired by Tilda Swinton’s icy allure in Narnia — are pale. Prada dubbed its version “talco”, conjuring up images of old-fashioned powder compacts, writing paper so stiff you could unpick locks with it and the soft, clotted creamy-coloured suede linings of bespoke luggage designed for languid transatlantic passages on the Queen Mary.
Of all the designers drawn towards the apparently gentle end of the spectrum this season (and they include Alberta Ferretti, Chloé, Anna Sui, Roksanda Ilincic, Chanel, Preen, Alexander McQueen, Proenza Schouler and a lot of the high street), Prada bet most heavily on pale being interesting, with a catwalk show dedicated almost entirely to its subtle charms. :image:
Are Paris and Britney ready for pale? Well, white is already set to be huge this summer, but while it is the professional lower-half uniform of the Barbados Sandy Lane set, those talco shades are more cutting-edge, a celebration of the post-bling culture, conceived and worn not for showing off a tan or one’s svelte post-GI thighs, but for drifting through a misty English meadow.
Where white is blinding and life-affirming, talco shades are subtle and introspective. One can imagine Virginia Woolf wearing them in her more contemplative moments, or Jane Austen, or Lydia in H. E. Bates’s Love for Lydia — when she was in the convalescent home. One can picture Lady Diana Cooper reclining against her bedroom pillows in foam-coloured satin pyjamas — and one can guarantee that those enthusiastic embracers of esoteric fashion trends, Gwyneth and Madonna, will be slipping into a little champagne this summer. :image:
What one cannot envisage quite yet is that they’ll be easy to wear. Even the models clearly found them hard work, which is fine for those who like fashion challenging but not so good for those of us who require more give than take from our clothes.
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Where white merely requires a bronzer to work, talco shades demand an entire gene pool: olive and black skins fine, red heads striking, but anyone with even a drop of yellow or Anglo-Saxon ruddiness in their DNA need not apply, which is ironic because they feel such British (non) colours. Perhaps that’s why Anna Garner, head of fashion at Selfridges, is confining them mainly to window dressing. “Pale was a huge trend on the catwalk but in reality it’s hard for a lot of British women. We’ll be focusing on it mainly as an accessory or a neutral.”
Aha, accessories. Perhaps we’re getting somewhere. A flesh-coloured satin shoe or leather sandal has to be the ultimate in summer versatility (and less flashy than white). If that seems tame, there are always Prada’s talco bags and shoes with their fluorescent piping. Or what about Rupert Sanderson’s bespoke calico-coloured leather bags with 33 trims (£890-£2,200)?
As for the idea of pale as a neutral, now you’re talking. Mixed with black, brown, navy, raspberry, teal and all deeper shades of blush pink, it has the potential to be much more chic than white — a summery version of camel.
Pale with silver beading has a lovely retro quality (see Prada), as it does with grey, or teamed with pearls and/or a wide patent or velvet belt. It can also be used to tone down white and red or sharpen up green. If you are worried about wearing it too close to your face, look for a skirt — or simply find a shade of cream or off-white that suits.
The undeniably stylish Wallis Simpson was so convinced of talco’s delicate, light-diffusing abilities that she dabbed her face powder on the walls of the house that she and the Duke of Windsor shared in the Bois de Boulogne, and commanded the interior decorators to match the colour. Maybe walls are where it works best.
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