If Fashion is a Language, then Colours are surely the alphabets from which great pieces of Literature or Trends we can say have been developed since time memorial. Colours have the power and ability to awoke emotions and a sense of belonging for the outfit. The person wearing a certain colour need not speak about his or her wants, interests and most of all personality, because the colours do a pretty good job for them without uttering a single word. Many top fashion designing colleges in Nashik offer undergraduate and postgraduate programs in this field to help students understand the impact of colour theory in fashion. Let us further explore the beauty and impact of colours on fashion:
Colour Recollection
If one says ‘red’ and 50 people listen to that, it can be expected that there will be 50 different shades of red projecting in their minds and actually this is a fact. Even when a certain colour is specified which has been seen a number of times by listeners ~ For example as the Red of Coca Cola signs which is visually identical all over the world, they will still think of many different reds. So, the question is what does this show?
Firstly, its hard, if not impossible to remember distinct colours. This highlights the crucial fact that the visual memory is very poor in comparison with our auditory memory. Often the latter is able to repeat a song or melody heard only once or twice.
Secondly, the nomenclature of colour is mostly inadequate. Though there are innumerable colours, shades and tones in daily vocabulary, we commonly use roughly 30 names.
Colour Intensity- Brightness
After the study of ‘Lighter or Darker’ and with some training in graduation studies, one can expect to come to an agreement on different Light intensities. However, when it comes to colour intensity (brightness), occasionally one may find agreement among a few people but hardly within a large group such as a class.
As ‘gentlemen prefer blondes’, so everyone has preference for certain colours and prejudices against others. This applies to colour combinations as well. It seems good that we are of different tastes. As it is with people in our daily life, so it is with colour. We change, correct, or reverse our opinions about colours, and this change of opinion may shift forth and back.
Therefore, we try to recognise our preferences and our aversions- what colours dominate in our work; what colours on the other hand, are rejected, disliked or of no appeal. Usually, a special effort in using disliked colours ends with our falling in love with them.
Theory of Colour Impression
The study of colour impression properly begins with colour effects in nature. That is, we investigate the impressions made by coloured objects on our sense of vision.
It is symptomatic of a lack of orientation in art schools today that the necessity of nature study can be debated. Nature study in art should not be an imitative reproduction of fortuitous impressions of nature, but rather an analytical, exploratory development and production of the forms and colours needed for true characterisation. Such studies do not imitate, but interpret.
In order for this interpretation to be pertinent, close observation and clear thinking must precede it. The senses are sharpened, and the artistic intellect is trained in rational analysis of the observed subject matter. The student must take the field against nature, for her powers of presentation are different from and superior to the artist’s means of representation.
When shadows of trees are observed on a summer evening in the orange light of sunset, while the eastern sky is clear, the blue colour may be seen very plainly. Coloured shadows can be observed still more easily in winter, when snow lies in the streets. Under a dark-blue night sky, in the orange light of street lamps, deep blue, luminous shadows are seen on the snow. Passing along a busy shopping street with many-coloured displays after a snow, one may see red, green, blue and yellow shadows on the ground.
Science behind Colour expression
The optical, electromagnetic and chemical processes initiated in the eye and brain are frequently paralleled by processes in the psychological realm. Such reverberations of the experience of colour may be propagated to the inmost centres, thereby affecting principal areas of mental and emotional experience. Goethe spoke of the ethno-aesthetic activity of colours.
The deep blue of the sea and distant mountains enchants us; the same blue as an interior seems uncanny, lifeless, and terrifying. Blue reflections on the skin render it pale, as if moribund. In the dark of night, a blue neon light is attractive, like blue on black, and in conjunction with red and yellow lights it lends a cheerful and lively tone. A blue sunny sky has an active and enlivening effect, whereas the mood of the blue moonlit sky is passive and evokes subtle nostalgias.
Redness in the face denotes wrath or fever; a blue, green or yellow complexion, sickness, though there is nothing sickly about the pure colours. A red sky threatens bad weather; a blue, green or yellow sky promises fair weather. 130 On the basis of these experiences of nature, it would seem all but impossible to formulate simple and true propositions about the expressive content of colours.
Yellow shadows, violet light, blue-green fire, red-orange ice, are effects in apparent contradiction with experience, and give an other-worldly expression. Only those deeply responsive can experience the tonal values of single or simultaneous colours without reference to objects. Musical experience is denied to those with no ear for music
Conclusion
In the world of fashion, colours are far more than decorative elements — they are storytellers, mood creators, and identity shapers. From the bold reds that symbolise passion to the calming blues that radiate serenity, every shade carries a meaning and a purpose. Fashion designers holding a B.Des. in Fashion and Lifestyle Design are able to create magic with colours in fashion.
The beauty of colours lies in their power to transform not just garments but also emotions, experiences, and perceptions. As fashion continues to evolve, it is colour that gives it vibrancy, depth, and individuality. Embracing this spectrum allows us to celebrate diversity, creativity, and self-expression. Ultimately, fashion without colour is unimaginable — it is the soul that turns fabric into art, and style into a statement.