HISTORY OF PINK

Pink has been one of the most consistent yet controversial colours throughout history. Worn and used by many famous names, we find out who and why.

The colour pink has been constant in clothing throughout history. It was even discovered by scientists that bright pink is one of the most ancient colours in the world!

During the years the opinion of the colour has been very divided, being one of the most attractive yet repulsive colours. Pink was popular in both men and women’s clothing, in fact, before the 1940s it was known to be a very masculine colour.

The start of pink being popular in modern day fashion was thanks to Madam de Pompadour, the infamous mistress of Louis the XV’s. During the 18th century a portrait was released of the mistress wearing a light blue and pink gown, the pink was then known as ‘Pompadour pink’, and was regarded as a sign of luxury and wealth. This continued up until the late 19th century.

In America during the 1940/50s it was decided that blue would be the colour for boys and pink the colour for girls. Since then pink was known to be a very feminine colour and although pink has always been a romantic colour, it would now also mostly be associated with sweetness and kindness. This is strange, considering it was once a very masculine colour as stated previously, a colour that is now associated with women from birth represents some of the most ‘desired’ traits of a wife for the 1940s and 50s.