Did you see a lot of people wearing purple this year? Purple was 2018’s Color of the Year, which is some made-up designation by the pretentiously named Pantone Color Institute. (Correction: I just checked Pantone’s website. Pantone called the Color of the Year “ultra violet.” That’s purple to us less pretentious folk.)
I’m not sure how Pantone, a company I’d never heard of up until a couple of years ago, ended up in charge of deciding the year’s color, nor how they selected purple. I know I didn’t get a vote. Not that I don’t like purple. (Oddly, I’m wearing a purple shirt right now.) But why not burnt orange? Now there’s a color I can really get behind.
Nike must have gotten Pantone’s color memo. The two finalists at the WTA Finals, Elina Svitolina and Sloane Stephens, both Nike-sponsored players, battled it out in purple Nike gear.
Elina Svitolina
Elina honors the Color of the Year with a purple dress. And a purple visor. I have to say, that’s a lot of purple. We’re almost in Barney territory. (Wait–how fun would it be to have a tennis exhibition where the pros have to wear short-armed Barney costumes? The proceeds could go to a children’s charity. Someone needs to make this happen.)
It’s obvious I’m not enamored of all this purple, but those yellow sneakers rescue this outfit from my total scorn. I’m pretty timid when it comes to putting colors together, so I always admire people who can pull off unexpected combinations. Of course, we already knew Elina was a bold fashionista–her tuxedo outfit for the WTA Gala easily won our fashion face-off a couple of weeks ago.
Sloane Stephens
Sloane avoids the Barney route, opting to pair her purple cap-sleeve top with an orangy-red skirt. Again, I wouldn’t have thought to put these colors together, but Sloane looks smart.
Note that the tucking trend continues. When last we polled on this subject, we liked it on Angelique Kerber but didn’t want to start tucking our own tops. Whatever we may think, it seems this trend has legs.
It has already been a heady few weeks for Elina, what with winning both the WTA Finals AND our Gala fashion face-off. Can her winning streak continue???
I gotta defend Pantone–the company has been around for more than 50 years, and its color book (https://www.pantone.com/products/graphics/formula-guide), which includes almost 2,000 different shades and specifies which inks to mix to achieve them, is invaluable for folks in the printing industry. So I’d say that Pantone is a pretty legitimate arbitrator of the color of the year.
Okay, I guess I could have researched Pantone. Thanks for the information! (I still think Color of the Year should be a more democratic process. Should have been on Tuesday’s ballot.)
I agree about Pantone. And yuck to the tuck. Yes, it looks a bit neater, but long lines rock! And that’s why Elina wins my vote. That dress is sweet. The yellow pop on her feet is a perfect counterbalance. I’m guessing she knows her color wheel. Whereas I can’t get enthusiastic about purple and red.
Yes, the yellow sneakers make the outfit. I do like the long lines, too. But I’m coming around to the tuck, on other people. Other people with toned midsections. And I do like the purple/red combo.
But why are we discussing color and tucking when we could be discussing tennis players in Barney costumes??? I almost put Nadal in the choices but wanted more male/female balance. He would do it, and it would be an amusing contrast between his massive biceps and the puny T-Rex arms. 😊