Adding to Autumn's Color Palette

As I mentioned in my previous post on color trends, people do get bored with the same thing year after year.  Yet in spite of that, they are cautious of change.  They are even more cautious of change in a tough economy.  So color leaders have their hands full creating new palettes.  They have to consider moods, current events, technology, lifestyles, culture, and more.  For the palette to be of use in fashion, it must contain a fraction of colors from previous years (so we can still wear some of what is in the closet), something new (so things feel fresh), and yet stay true to the season (so we remain grounded.)

There are more new palettes each season than you can shake a paintbrush at, so part of the fun is simply finding one that you like.  Pantone, being a leader in color, produces seasonal palettes for fashion and decor.  Naturally, their palettes, and all the other fall palettes, have to be out for the industry to use far in advance of the actual season.  Pantone had the Fall 2011 palette available in February of this year.  For women, it looks like this:

I enjoyed going through the Lunar Blue collection and producing our own version of the Autumn jewelry color palette.

One of the phenomena I noticed was that (of course) gemstones are often composed of many colors, or swirls of related colors.  Unakite, for example has both the 'emberglow' and 'cedar' hues in a single stone.  Wood jasper has a nice combination of both "coffee" and "nougat."  "Phlox" and "orchid" can be found in both shaded amethyst and flourite.  So with cleverly designed gemstone jewelry, you can accent any aspect of the color palette you desire.

Jennifer