Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Pantone Color of 2013: Emerald

In the land of the Fashion Industry the Pantone colors are the first place many fashionistas look for the “in” colors of the year.  This year’s color of the year is Emerald.

OK… cool… now what?

Well let’s go back to last week when I had you pull out your swatches and take a look at the famous fashion guru’s on the Pantone website.

Let’s start with the fashion guru’s.  They know the fashion industry, they choose trends, and they support creative ways to move the industry forward, as you can read here, they sometimes are fashion forward by bringing inspirations from past decades.

Let me switch gears real quick for an example:  Industry experts in automotive measure cars selling.  They look at cost of a vehicle, miles per gallon, resale value, and other practical, logical and boring things.  

Auto makers were trying to figure out what drove the sale of a new vehicle… is it the miles per gallon, paint color choices, the options they can select for cloth, leather, wheels, heated seats, etc.  

What astonished executives was this… many customers count the number of cup holders in the vehicle before deciding to purchase it.  

What?!?   Cup holders?  Really?  

That is what is changing designs of new vehicles today?  Yep.     
(Note:  this isn’t for every customer or the only factor but it was a shocking one.)

Let’s go back to the fashion guru’s… they may know the industry, the trends for styles and colors but I think the reason you are here, on this blog, following us on Facebook… the fact that the Fashion Guru’s haven’t gotten yet is this… Not everyone looks good in the fashion guru's trend choices.   

What!?! 

Yep.  You heard it here.  You are NOT crazy when that Emerald blouse looks hideous on you because it was cut like a potato sack.  You’re NOT crazy when that Emerald set of eyelashes looks like an alien possessed you.  

Trends are NOT a good source of information when it comes to finding YOUR best look.  Leave the trends to the models and grab your swatches for this next step.

Emerald may be the trend color of the year but it doesn't mean that it is YOUR color of the year. 

For this next step we are going to call Emerald green.  It’s in the green family.

Your color green looks different and let me show you what the 6 DCC’s green swatches look like when placed side by side..


Tell me what you see.  I see olive for Warms, darker green for Deeps, bright green for Clear’s, lighter green for Lights, medium green for Softs and semi-bright green for Cool’s.

Do you see Emerald?  It might live between Clear and Deep.






What if Emerald is just the starting point?


Come back tomorrow to hear more about our Green discussion.

For today… Tell me what your favorite color Green is. 


  • Which color green do you use to paint your house, add as throw pillows or use as a comforter for your bed?
  • Which color do you wear (besides St. Patrick’s Day and Christmas)?  What DCC are you?
Use a paint store color if you need to explain your color (like Home Depot, Benjamin Moore, etc) and add the link with your response!



See you tomorrow!

Laura Gutknecht
Certified Christian Image Consultant
Supporting Editor of FashionMeetsFaith.com



7 comments:

Diane said...

Yay for emerald! I'm a deep (old Color me Beautiful - between a true Autumn & true winter) and look great in a variety of greens.

My sewing studio is painted a blue teal...and the accent color is lime green.

Karen said...

Hmmm....I am not that into green. In my house, it appears in a more aqua/faded teal shade in antique pottery pieces, not an over abundance either. No textiles in green as I just don't care for it as a decorative element. I do have a kelly green sweater that is gorgeous, and as a clear I can wear jewel tones, but am just not a 'green' person in general. I have had so many compliments on the kelly green sweater, I would go with that shade of green again. Not in my house, just on my person! In moderation. : )

~Brenda said...

I'm a warm and get compliments when I wear my olive color dress.
Our bed comforter is some shade of green, but other than that I usually don't decorate with green.

Laura said...

I agree with the above comments. I almost never use green in my home decorating. And although there are greens in my "Clear" color swatches, I don't like how it looks on me. On the other hand, I like teal or turquoise. My bathroom just got decorated in these kinds of colors with browns and white. I find they look good on me too. But definitely not emerald green!

Anonymous said...

I'm excited to see green as "the" color of the season. I use green both in my decorating and my fashion choices. My DCC is clear, and I actually have shirts in every green on my swatches (not intentionally). I always get compliments on how great the colors look on me. I also have an emerald green purse that I bought back in the spring. My livingroom and diningroom is painted a muted teal/sage color. My familyroom and kitchen are accented with the same color. I enjoy contrasting the greens with navy blue, which is a neutral I wear anytime of year.

Unknown said...

Hey Ladies, Laura Gutknecht here... thank you for all of the great comments!

My house is mainly painted green on the inside. I love that it is a color that "warms" a room and helps it feel cozy and yet relaxing at the same time. The color is a pale-medium green/sage shade.

I love wearing a deep emerald green with my Clear complexion as well as wearing bright green depending on what the outfit is.

Megan C said...

My house has 2 green rooms. One is Kelly green and one is mint green. I also have a lot of house plants so green in every room. My favorite green is neon, especially on my toenails in the summer. I don't really wear much green otherwise.