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Throwback Thursday: Another Round of Neon

March 11, 2021 by WendyB

I walked by Macy’s the other day and was so happy to see neon colors in the window that I took a picture. DayGlo is a longtime favorite of mine.

Sorry about the glare.

I really liked the cropped blue jacket with the long pink dress. Eventually, I figured out why the combination appealed to me so much: I wore it in 2013!

Click for 2013 post.

And the neon-yellow shoes on the Macy’s mannequin? I have those too.

Homegrown-vintage shoes in 2019. Click for original post.

If you want to be a part of the slow-fashion movement, it certainly helps to have very consistent taste.

Neon colors had a moment in spring 2012 too — alongside pastels, interestingly enough — and I wrote about that for the Huffington Post. I’ve been meaning to repost all my old HuffPost stories here just in case they disappear from their original publication site, so here goes:

Spring’s Brights and Lights: Neon and Pastels in Fashion
The description “classic with a twist” is a fashion cliche, but it’s true that the most striking acid brights are those that bring a “wow factor” to otherwise classically cut clothes and accessories.
By  Wendy Brandes, Contributor
Fine jewelry designer and blogger
05/09/2012 05:07pm EDT | Updated October 8, 2012

You can’t miss one of the big fashion trends this season: eye-popping neon colors. As Stephanie Solomon, fashion director of Bloomingdale’s department stores, says, “Whether it be a handbag, belt, a pair of jeans, a dress or skirt, this spring, neon is what will make anything in your wardrobe a wow.”

The description “classic with a twist” is a fashion cliche, but it’s true that the most striking acid brights are those that bring a “wow factor” to otherwise classically cut clothes and accessories.
Jennifer Lopez epitomized the look when she appeared on American Idol in March in a sleek neon-pink gown from Michael Kors’s Resort 2012 collection. Days later, Lopez wore Kors’s fitted acid-yellow crewneck dress with neon-pink Casadei pumps for a Brazilian television interview.

In the U.K., British ELLE wanted the “brightest bag possible” for a photo shoot. Cambridge Satchel Co., whose traditional-looking, handmade leather satchels are sold at upscale stores such as Harrods and Harvey Nichols, rose to the challenge with neon colors. Sales of the resulting fluorescent green, pink, orange, yellow and blue satchels exceeded the company’s expectations. Cambridge Satchel opened new workshops in the U.K. to keep up with demand.

This isn’t neon’s first time in the style spotlight. Ingrid Johnson, professor of textile development and marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology, says a vivid orange-red that was a signature color of designer André Courrèges in the 1960s was a predecessor of the DayGlo colors that the influential late designer Stephen Sprouse used in the ’80s. Paul Cavaco, now creative director of Allure magazine, helped launch Sprouse’s signature line. He says Sprouse custom-ordered fine Italian fabrics in fluorescent colors previously seen in ’60s psychedelic posters and ’70s punk hairstyles. “He made [neon] part of the vocabulary of fashion.” Cavaco says, “It was no longer just ‘downtown,’ it wasn’t grubby, it was very chic.” Sprouse’s cashmere sweaters, dresses and camel coats in DayGlo colors — “always rooted with black or camel or grey,” Cavaco notes — were sold at high-end department stores including Bergdorf Goodman.

The aesthetic that led Sprouse to balance neon with neutrals might explain why today’s other big color trend is the polar opposite of neon: soft pastels, especially mint green. “You’ve got this dichotomy,” says Leatrice Eiseman, the executive director of the Pantone Color Institute. “The natural aspect of color on the one side … and what’s unnatural as an attention getter.” She describes mint green as “a breath of fresh air and that’s what we look for at this time of year” while fluorescent colors are more like “15 minutes of fame.”

If you’re ready for your 15 minutes and don head-to-toe neon, “Own it,” say Rob Zangardi and Mariel Haenn, the celebrity fashion stylists who put Jennifer Lopez in Kors. If you’re intrigued but not that daring, they suggest a neon bag or bangles. As for color choice, they say, “Highlighter yellow and neon greens look great on a darker skin tone and brunette hair. Neon pink and electric purple look great on lighter hair and skin tones. “

My fellow fashion bloggers are adding neon colors in a variety of ways, including neon-yellow nail polish and striped neon socks. (I’m sticking to my vintage Sprouse jacket in DayGlo orange.) Pastels are equally popular; skinny, mint-green BDG jeans from Urban Outfitters are the hot item. Take a look at how these bloggers interpret the trends.

  • Blogger Rocquelle P. of Consider Me Lovely in a neon lace skirt from ASOS.
Okay, I should really make the time to upload each blogger’s photo individually, with the credits, but that’s not going to be today. You get Rocquelle and a bunch of thumbnails!

You might also like
Throwback Thursday: Sharing Earrings With Madonna Again
What Wendy Wore: Casual for Thanksgiving in Florida
Happy New Year! With Throwbacks to 1994 and 2004.

Filed Under: 80s style, blogs and bloggers, clothes, clothing, Fashion, Fashion Repeats Itself, fashion trends, great minds think alike, homegrown vintage, journalism, pictures of me, Throwback Thursday, vintage WendyB photos Tagged With: dayglo, huffington post, huffpost, neon colors, slow fashion, slow fashion movement

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sheila (of Ephemera) says

    March 12, 2021 at 2:03 am

    I remember when you wore that great pink dress and that to-die-for jacket! Such a great outfit! I really hope people embrace colour as we come out of this darkness.

    Hope you and Mr. B are well, Wendy! Big hug!

    • WendyB says

      March 12, 2021 at 10:53 pm

      Hugs to you too!

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MEET WENDY BRANDES

Award-winning designer of fine jewelry inspired by women's history and pop culture. A former journalist who writes about jewelry, fashion, medieval history, news, feminism, dogs, cats and whatever else is on her mind. Blogging since 2007.
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