Taylor Swift's new album has everyone seeing orange: An exploration of the color

Washington Post

4 days ago

NEW YORK — Orange you ready for it?
Taylor Swift swathed her bombshell album announcement in a shade she's calling Portofino Orange Glitter after donning the color onstage during the latter part of her latest tour.
So now, will 'The Life of a Showgirl' usher in the pop star's Orange Era? On the 'New Heights' podcast Wednesday night, Swift leaned toward a yes.
'I've just always liked it, Jason,' she said, addressing interlocutor Jason Kelce, while sitting next to boyfriend Travis Kelce. 'It feels like kind of energetically how my life has felt. And this album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour.'
In all its glory, the color can evoke creativity, enthusiasm, energy, optimism and more. While some see a downside in the brighter hues, perceiving them as clownish or silly, orange is more often exuberant or inviting, color experts said.
The positive sentiments are precisely how Swift described the mood she wanted to capture on the album: 'so exuberant and electric and vibrant.'
Here's an exploration of the color orange, from pale peach to deep terra cotta.
Laurie Pressman, vice president of Pantone Color Institute, said Swift's shifting of her color story to a bright orange feels like a 'new personality coming out.'
'And she looks so happy,' Pressman said. 'She's glowing and she's basking.' The orange hue Swift is going with is the perfect expression of positive vibes, Pressman said. The closest shade in Pantone's vast library of color is called 'Exuberance.'
'Even when you go down to the peaches, which are very pale,' she said, referencing the spectrum of orange, 'there's a deliciousness, there's a warmth that comes with that. There's just a softness, a tactility. There's a sweetness to it.'
In its deeper tones, orange is also all goodness, Pressman said.
'Going all the way over to the darker terra cottas, there's an earthiness and authenticity, but also warmth. Whereas red is about being bold and dramatic, orange is more friendliness, more approachable,' she said, noting a previous era of Swift's.
The saffron shade is a different story in a contemporary context in India, said Dheepa Sundaram, who researches Hindu nationalist politics as an assistant professor of religion at the University of Denver.
In ancient Hinduism and Buddhism, she said, monks and other spiritual figures who renounce worldly life clothe themselves in saffron garb as a way to express their piety.
'Some people have speculated that it's because saffron (the spice) was really cheap as a dye and sort of fit with the poverty roles of monks and aesthetes. Kings and royalty preferred more expensive colors like the colors of rubies and emeralds,' Sundaram said. (Nowadays, though, saffron is among the world's most expensive spices.)
Fast forward a couple thousand years, give or take, to a right-wing policy strategy wielded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's powerful Bharatiya Janata Party that aims to implement Hindu nationalist views and embraces the saffron color as a symbol. Incendiary, anti-Muslim songs have been dubbed 'saffron pop.'
'The color saffron has become their color. They have sort of positioned themselves as true Hindus, and this has become part of that schtick,' Sundaram said.
Swift and Kelce frolicked last year in Lake Como, but did they also hit up Portofino and soak up some orange-hued charm in the coastal village known for its colorful buildings?
That's unclear, which didn't stop the mayor of Portofino and the Portofino Yacht Marina from jointly hopping on the orange Tay train for the album announcement. On Tuesday, the Italian Riviera playground for the rich and famous, via Instagram, issued the 'it' couple an open invitation to visit.
'We are ready to welcome you, and we are already preparing an official Portofino Yacht Marina T-shirt for you... with a logo in perfect orange!,' read the Italian-language post. 'Between sunsets on the sea, music and the magic of the main square, Portofino awaits you. And it already shines in your color.'
The luxe destination features ocher- and terra cotta-colored buildings along the port that reflect on the water, particularly during sunsets.
We went directly to the source, redheads, to suss out the orange appeal.
Sara Schafer, a 40-year-old lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is the ginger-haired mother of two ginger-haired daughters. All three are dedicated Swifties. Schafer also proudly owns a bright orange car.
'We're all really excited. It's a great day when we have Swiftie news,' she said. 'I love everything orange. It's like happy sunshine.'
Scott Walls, a hospital operations manager in Norwalk, Connecticut, is also a ginger, but he doesn't count himself among the Swifties. He's a huge New York Knicks fan, though. And what are the Knicks' team colors? Bright orange and blue, often proudly worn by mega-fans like Spike Lee.
'I've got a ton of Knicks stuff,' said Walls, 32. 'And it's funny that growing up in Westchester (New York), I played on a basketball team that had orange and blue as the colors.'
He encountered some light teasing as an orange-haired kid growing up in small-town Pelham. 'Sometimes people would make comments. I didn't like it so I'd fight back. My brother is also a redhead and he would celebrate it more,' Walls said.
Schafer added: 'You know what they say, redheads are the feistiest. We feel everything more deeply.'
Amy Wax, a color expert focusing on residential and commercial design, called orange a universally feel-good hue that evokes youthfulness in interior spaces.
'I've done dining rooms in a really, really rich rusty orange. It kind of takes the traditional red dining room and updates it. It feels more contemporary,' she said.
Swift's stage design featured orange touches, including a projection of a mysterious orange door, confirmed by Swift on the podcast as a clue she was heading into a new era.
Orange also works for transitional spaces like hallways. 'A light orange in a hallway can feel very pleasing and energetic,' Wax said.
Orange blends beautifully with browns, cream colors and other neutrals, she said.
Natalie Tincher, founder of the BU Style consulting company and personal wardrobe stylist, said people shouldn't fear wearing the color. There's likely a shade out there for everyone. Swift's own tour included lots of orange stage costumes, including the work of the late Italian designer Roberto Cavalli.
Vibrant orange will pop and softer oranges can lend harmony with softer skin tones, Tincher said: 'Incorporate it into a scarf, a handbag or a trouser if you don't want it reflecting your face.'
And what company is known for its orange luxury goods? That's right, Hermès. The 'Hermès Orange' and 'Hermès Amber' are signatures of the French fashion house known for its silk scarves and pricey handbags.
On a more egalitarian level, and despite the seasonal nature of — dare we utter the words — pumpkin spice, Tincher sees orange in some shade or another as perfectly acceptable year-round.
For the bright, bold shades, consider pairing a loud orange with a lighter tone, Tincher said. Or go all in with a bright monochromatic orange look.
'And browns are very big right now as a neutral so you could do a rich brown with a bright orange,' she said. 'Mom's rules aren't the case anymore.'
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Associated Press journalist Colleen Barry contributed to this story from Milan.