Every year when the colour forecast comes out and the colour of the year is announced, I immediately think it doesn’t apply to me. 2012’s Tangerine Tango, 2013’s Emerald, 2014’s Radiant Orchid. Every year I think: I will never wear that. Especially the way some retail chains interpreted Emerald as bottle green was appalling. Turns out though that I love green and my favourite emerald shirt has adorned me on numerous outings.
So true to form I find marsala challenging, especially in sweltering February: the warm shade is just too much for me at the moment. To be honest – and I consider myself quite educated when it comes to colour – I had to look up what exactly marsala is. Ex editor-in-chief of Elle Decoration South Africa Laureen Rossouw described it as “earthy wine red” which I think is spot on. It’s not brown and it’s not red. It reminds me of an African mud hut or a dry river bed. It’s something I expect to see on the walls of a beautifully decorated bush lodge but I don’t yet see how this re-interpretation of 90’s burgundy is going to feature in my interior. That doesn’t mean that it won’t happen of course! I had a look around at what some other people have done with it and found it very inspiring.
I also realized that my favourite vintage leather coat is nothing other than the colour of 2015. So while I won’t start painting walls just yet, I can definitely wear this earthy wine red with flair.
Happy Colouring!
