Frock Talk

Color of the Season - Periwinkle

Hello my darlings. This past weekend at the Black and White the Order of the Peacock made some announcements. Most important of course was about me taking over as the Head Hen, which will be my official title by the way. But almost as important was the declaration of the new color of the season: Periwinkle.

Now, besides just being fun to say, there are many interesting things about periwinkle that I wish to share with you. It’s a color in the blue and violet family and is sometimes called ‘lavender blue’, which coincidentally is the name of one of my girls. In some religions, the Periwinkle flower represents chastity and purity, so yeah… the irony is not lost on me. Speaking of the flower, its name is derived from the Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca minor), commonly called Creeping Myrtle, whose flowers are the same color. Its first use as a color name was in 922.

Periwinkle represents serenity, calmness, winter and ice, blossoming friendships, sentimental memories, and everlasting love. Some also see it as a symbol of new beginnings or friendships. After the last few years, I think we could all use some calming energy and we are definitely embarking on a new beginning. Between the influx of new faces and a lot of changes in the old ones an evolution is certainly in progress.

Pretty periwinkle is often referred to as lavender-blue which can be a bit confusing. Lavender is essentially a pale purple, with a balance of blue-red and white. Periwinkle however, has more blue shining through even while staying in the purple family. The complex relationship between blue and red gives the color a lot of depth, and the even balance between cool and warm tones makes it incredibly versatile, so let’s talk about how to wear it!

Since periwinkle is part of the purple and blue family, as discussed above, it goes well with all the different shades of these colors. Just be careful not to be too matchy matchy. Monochromatic looks are difficult to pull off, and since most of you could manage to bungle wearing all black at a funeral, you should probably shy away from them. Go with a dark blue or purple as a complimenting color and you should manage a passably good composition.

Periwinkle’s complementary color is yellow. Complementary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel and they have high contrast.

Split complementary colors are the two colors on the opposite side of the complementary color. The split complementary colors for periwinkle are pale peach and mint green.

Triadic palettes are three colors evenly spaced out on the color spectrum. In the case of periwinkle, a triadic palette is created with a pale red and a mint green.

It also goes well with neutral colors like beige and is an anchoring hue when paired with vibrant colors like orange. Of course anything goes with black or white, just remember which season it is and pair accordingly. You wouldn’t want to create a summer look in the winter, think of the children!

Now, I don’t have an unrealistic idea of your abilities to decipher all of this, so I’ll break it down a bit more. The easiest colors to pair with Periwinkle are darker shades of blue and purple, which work best to balance the lightness of the periwinkle. Forest green is also an easy choice as it’s what you would find naturally paired with the flower of the same name. Slightly more difficult are pastels like pink, lavender, and mint which can make a very romantic, light and airy combination. Most difficult would be yellows and oranges, which have the most potential, but unfortunately that potential is for both amazing and hideous combinations. If I’ve learned anything from my time here in the Realms it’s that when faced with a right and wrong decision, you’re drawn to the wrong one like a moth to Orion’s face. At least, as far as fashion is concerned anyways.

You could keep it simple, but like... why?

It’s late fall, coming up on winter. The days are getting shorter and colder, and we naturally trend towards darker and warmer fabrics. Which means that for the next several months, you may want to consider using it more as an accent color than a centerpiece. Save the focus pieces for the spring and summer when the balance shifts to light and cool. For now, if you have limited funds to transition your wardrobe, I would concentrate on small affordable pieces like scarves, gloves, and hats that can easily be worn with your regular outfit. A basic shirt which can be worn under an existing vest or corset is also a wise spending choice. Now I shouldn’t assume you are all poor, so if you do have the cash flow to invest in more expensive pieces, a nice wool jacket or cloak would be a fabulous choice. You could also upgrade the more basic choices with finer fabrics if you so wished, as fine fabrics often take the color more truly than cheap ones do.

Recipes for Crafters

Speaking of clothing, it does help one stock up if the merchants of the land carry the color in their shops. I’ll include the correct color recipe for you, which gives many different ways to mix it depending on your preferred tool.

That’s all I have time for for this educational essay. I do have other duties besides beautifying the Realms, so you’ll have to figure out anything I missed without me, or catch me at the next gathering when I am not otherwise occupied and I would be happy to discuss it more in depth with you. Until then, Happy Peri Hunting!