Color Theories
Color Theories
The Polo Gazette, Issue N˚ 10
Bright colors, and unusually original ones, have long been a seasonal staple of the Polo stylebook. The tradition of incorporating fun, even festive, colors into a look springs from the world of preppy pursuits—boating and golf, escapes to the beach, garden parties.
But wearing color in a modern, Polo way isn’t easy.
Here, among other things, we look at a few important ideas to keep in mind, including how to ground a bright shot of color by pairing it with an otherwise sober palette. There’s also a fine line between calling the right and wrong kind of attention when you mix unexpected colors, and for a master class in that we take a surprising look at the amazing, kaleidoscopic array of this season’s Polo shirts.
Ways to Wear It :
Bright Shots
The Polo approach to wearing bold colors follows three main styling principles
1
The Balancing Act
The sophisticated color statement here is pairing a hot pink Polo shirt with an orange cable-knit sweater. Keep the rest plain
1
The Balancing Act
The sophisticated color statement here is pairing a hot pink Polo shirt with an orange cable-knit sweater. Keep the rest plain
Match Points
In 1950, Josef Albers painted Homage to the Square for the first time: a yellow square inside an orange square inside a sky-blue square inside a blue-grey square. He was 62. Over the next 26 years, he would paint variations of this arrangement more than a thousand times. His finished his last one just weeks before his death at 88.
It’s tempting to slot Albers into that most hopeful species of artist, the late bloomer, along with Cervantes, who published Part One of Don Quixote at 58 and Part Two 10 years later. Like Cervantes, who started writing in prison, Albers produced his first Homage seemingly oblivious to the turbulence of his life—he’d just quit his teaching position at Black Mountain College in North Carolina, and moved to New York City, not the easiest place to achieve serenity for a senior citizen with no immediate prospects.
2
Snappy Goes With Sober
A pair of linen pants in a bright color has its volume kept down by paring it with dark blue. Going with black rather than brown tassel loafers makes it modern
3
Embrace Color-Block
The surprise move here is seeing how a pulsating green straight-collar jacket can be worn with a matching striped shirt if the pants provide a sober counterpoint
The Polo Gazette
Issue N˚ 10
