Best In Color: September Week 2

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NYC’s Spring 2010 Fashion Week kicks off with a shopping spree like no other: Okay, it really is too early to be naming next Spring’s specific color trends ( though Neiman Marcus’s Fashion Director Ken Downing did tell NY Magazine that we can expect to see lots of Blue), there is one definite trend already spotted as being shared by designers and retailers alike- a hope that fans will actually buy the lines.  To jump start the collective spending mojos 700 stores in NYC participated in yesterday evening’s world wide Fashion NIght Out by staying open late, hosting giveaways, rounding up celebrity guest, even pouring free booze…basically a fashionista’s dream come true. The shopping stimulus idea, co hosted by Vogue magazine and the City of New York, came down from the fashion czar herself Anna Wintour ( who even made it onto the scene herself way out in Queens- I suppose her time at the US Open got her accustomed to actually crossing that bridge out of Manhattan).

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A master’s palette restored and identified after a 25 year mystery at The Met: It’s amazing what a little sprucing and cleaning can do to your psyche.  If you’re a curator at a major museum in possession of a painting whose artist is not been clearly defined- a little elbow grease can do absolute wonders!  The NY Times reports that this is exactly the case at The Metropolitan Museum Of Art.  A painting entitled ‘Portrait Of A Man’ that was gifted to the museum in 1949, was said at the time as being a work by the Spanish Artist Velazquez.  Yet years later the painting ( which is thought to be an unfinished study) was downgraded by experts and the museum as actually coming from ‘the school of Velazquez’ not the master himself. Why? The colors were much darker than Velaquez’s typical palette and the brush strokes not so defined.  Yet it seems as if the last owner’s own handy work may have come into play in this colorful mystery…read more here.

Wedding inspirations for the bride with a designer’s eye for color: Everyone’s favorite color matching system Pantone has teamed up with the Dessy group to create an online means to get your pre-nuptial inspirations flowing. Complete with tools to create image boards, match your favorite hue to bridesmaid dress or wedding day accessory, take a gander at the latest color combo trends and even get 14 free swatches of your favorite Pantone colors ( to take along to vendors of course- after all you don’t want your flower arrangements clashing with your attendees’ Mango dresses!)

Southern Accents says goodbye:  After 32 years in publication the magazine devoted to beautiful homes, gracious living and a sense of place says goodbye.  Their ‘Colors You Need To Know Now‘ was always one of my favorite magazine features-from what I remember they were the first ones ever to put the spotlight on a single hue ( with coveted paint suggestions to boot!)  Check out their Picking Color Palettes 101 for some beautiful ideas- Southern Style.