Colour Secrets

We see colour around us every day, and as stitchers we work with it, admire it and think about it constantly. But have you ever considered the history of colours? A new book by Kassia St. Clair called The Secret Lives of Color does just that and the website ‘99% Invisible’ has written a fabulous review on the book that also includes an audio interview with the author which you can check out HERE.

Colours – Image by Chris Martin from Pixabay (source)

Just reading the article and listening to the interview with Kassia is incredibly enlightening as we learned so many interesting facts about colour that most of us have probably never considered.

For example, did you know that sports teams tend to play better when wearing red?!

Coloured threads – Image byAdrian MalecfromPixabay

Or that green wallpaper originally had so much arsenic in it, it is rumoured to have killed Napoleon? Or that people were whipped in Roman times if they were caught wearing purple – a colour reserved for royalty?

So, next time you thread up with DMC 909 you might take a moment and pause in remembrance of Napoleon, or if stitching with DMC 333 be glad Nero is not around to catch you using his royal colour. Like many things in life, colour is something we all take for granted yet behind each hue there is a fascinating back story to be told.