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Faire Garb => Sewing => Topic started by: Puck on February 19, 2016, 10:02:45 PM

Title: Color combo ideas?
Post by: Puck on February 19, 2016, 10:02:45 PM
What are your favorite color combos for dresses? I'm struggling to settle on colors for my new garb and looking at paintings and other peoples garb just makes me more torn on what to do so I need some help! My cohort will be in blue but I don't know if I want to match him or not. The main colors I keep going back to are purple, blue, red, green and deep yellow (goldenrod/mustard). Deep, saturated shades mostly.

Help a Puck out?!

ETA: I'm hoping to go fabric shopping on Sunday if funds and decisions allow
Title: Re: Color combo ideas?
Post by: isabelladangelo on February 20, 2016, 06:21:08 AM
Really, I love a lot of color combos but most of my garb base is either pink, red, or purple with other colors as accent.  Or, the main color may be something different but with those colors as accents - you'll always find pink, red, or purple in my garb somewhere.   

With the colors you've listed, all of them would go together if you get the right shades.  Blue and gold?  Go Navy!  Beat Army!   Purple and gold?  Mardi Gras!  Green and gold?  Saint Patty's Day!   Red and gold?  Perfect classic comb. 

I've personally done the purple with each of those colors as well.  Purple and blue look lovely together while purple and green look nice and fresh. 

You need to figure out what your color is and then match to that - my favorite color is turquoise but I look hideous in turquoise.  That's what I go with the "rose" colors.  Figure out what color you look best in and always match to that. 
Title: Re: Color combo ideas?
Post by: Lady Renee Buchanan on February 20, 2016, 08:08:27 AM
Before you do purple, I would check what is the norm at your faire.  While anyone can wear what they want, a more historical faire such as Bristol, wearing purple will probably get you a lot of raised eyebrows (especially if the garb is noble), because purple has been associated with the color worn by the queen only.  That said, people do wear purple, and they don't care at all.  But I always like to know the lay of the land in advance.
Title: Re: Color combo ideas?
Post by: isabelladangelo on February 20, 2016, 08:20:51 AM
Quote from: Lady Renee Buchanan on February 20, 2016, 08:08:27 AM
Before you do purple, I would check what is the norm at your faire.  While anyone can wear what they want, a more historical faire such as Bristol, wearing purple will probably get you a lot of raised eyebrows (especially if the garb is noble), because purple has been associated with the color worn by the queen only.  That said, people do wear purple, and they don't care at all.  But I always like to know the lay of the land in advance.

This is an unfortunate renn faire- ism that is taken out of Elizabethan Sumpturary laws in the wrong way.  What the Elizabethans called purple and what we would call purple today are two different colors.  The Sumptuary laws in question specifically mention purple silk - no other fiber.  Purple came from a specific dye as well - the blood of sea snails.  Because of that, it was more of a purplish maroon than what we would call purple.  There is also a TON of research out there that shows that what we call purple can be achieved using a mix of madder and woad - both common throughout the middle ages.   

So, if you aren't on cast, don't worry about this renn faire-ism and feel free to correct those that perpetuate it. 
Title: Re: Color combo ideas?
Post by: Puck on February 20, 2016, 12:00:11 PM
I think the purple issue really comes down to shade and material. Anyone had access to purple, but it wasn't as color fast and obviously would be on less fancy fabric. Our garb is going to be dirtied and worn so there's no way it would be confused with nobility of any kind.

I frequently wear all of those colors which is why I'm having such a hard time deciding. Plus green and gold makes me think packers (my wife is a 'Sconnie), purple and gold makes me think vikings, red and green christmas etc. The curse of an associative mind! Shade does make a difference though so I guess I'm just going to have to wander and see what I find. Thankfully my cohort will be with me so he can help me decide, even though he's new to all this.
Title: Re: Color combo ideas?
Post by: gem on February 20, 2016, 08:47:07 PM
Have you gone fabric shopping? I think that's where I'd end up--harder to set your heart on a certain color, then find fabric that's just right, than it is to just go get fabric that you love.

Where I tend to struggle is in combining colors (I'm making a black skirt; what color guards? What color lining and trim to go with duck green velvet? Etc. [Answer in both those cases, btw, was brown!]). What I do is make croquis (sketches) of the garb, and then color those in with various color combinations. I generally hit on one or two that seem right, and then go shopping once I have a general idea of what things will go together.

But I agree with Isabella about finding a color scheme and working within it. I ended up with a lot of brown (no surprise; it's my favorite color), and tend to work it through many of my ensembles, from main color to coordinating colors, to trim/accent... and that ends up giving me a whole wardrobe of pieces that work together, even if they weren't made or bought to go together originally.
Title: Re: Color combo ideas?
Post by: operafantomet on April 27, 2016, 02:15:51 PM
Crimson/dark red and moss green shades has always been a favourite combo of mine. This one in particular (click to enlarge):

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/operafantomet/renaissanceportraits/firenze1/th_raphael1505.jpg) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/operafantomet/media/renaissanceportraits/firenze1/raphael1505.jpg.html)

With modern colour easthetics, based on scientific colour theories, green and red is seen as opposite colours if the colour circle. But historically they were seen as similar. Not in terms of the actual shade, but in terms of the colour intensity. Hence, green and red went perfectly together. Green and yellow were on the other hand seen as opposite shades, and would seldom or never be combined. Things have changed...

Another lovely combo is black and gold. Never fails.
Title: Re: Color combo ideas?
Post by: Puck on April 28, 2016, 01:01:23 AM
Quote from: operafantomet on April 27, 2016, 02:15:51 PM
With modern colour easthetics, based on scientific colour theories, green and red is seen as opposite colours if the colour circle. But historically they were seen as similar. Not in terms of the actual shade, but in terms of the colour intensity. Hence, green and red went perfectly together. Green and yellow were on the other hand seen as opposite shades, and would seldom or never be combined. Things have changed...

Thats really interesting, thanks for the info!! I think I'm going to go with crimson and teal, or at least something that works with those colors since I just finished warping my belt for this costume with crimson, teal, black and light gray.

(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1644/26083189174_25d510780e_b.jpg)

It looks nicer in person. The flash kills the colors a bit.