Oversaturated: Colour and Overconsumption in the Market
While desperately searching for halloween costume ideas, I stumbled across a video suggesting ‘overconsumption costumes’, where you dressed as extreme versions of recent trends. Adorn yourself in a million Labubus with terrifying red eyes; become a real office siren with fangs and webbed hands; or drench yourself in every item of butter yellow under the sun.
Okay, Labubus and Dubai chocolate I get, but butter yellow? Wasn’t it just yesterday that the colour was all over my pinterest feed? Why do certain colours circulate the market so rapidly, but then disappear into the abyss forever? What makes a colour timeless? What are some colour trends that have fallen just as quickly out of fashion as they did in?
Teal: Before there was millennial grey, there was teal. The colour of every accent wall, throw pillow, and Tumblr-inspired tween bedroom circa 2013. In the era of DIY room makeovers and early Instagram interiors, teal was the perfect compromise for those wanting to toe the line between individuality and aesthetic coherence. Bold but not too bold. Whilst it was initially intended to signal taste and creativity, overexposure stripped it of its originality, a similar fate that was soon suffered by its chevron and zebra print counterparts.
Neon: In the early 2010s, every child at a primary school disco could be found dressed head to toe in neon colours, holding a fading glow stick in one hand and clumsily shouting a rendition of gangnam style or Baby by Justin Bieber. I’ve lost track of the number of fluorescent themed birthday parties I attended during this time, squinting as I look back at the photos filled with colours so bright they burn to look at (or maybe that’s just the skinny jeans and flippy sequins talking). Although once popular in the abominable lycra of the ‘80s, I’m doubtful that nostalgia for my parents' childhood was what drove me to adorn the classic ‘highlighter kids’ uniform of shirts so intense they practically glowed in the dark. Rather, I’d attribute the 2010s neon resurgence to youtubers adorned in glasses with ridiculously bright frames, blue haired Tumblr girls and A-level athletes with luminescent jerseys and bright shoes that always managed to catch the crowds attention.
Grey: If you’re at all active on TikTok, you’ve no doubt heard the term ‘millennial grey’, referencing the monochromatic and drab colour scheme the generation often use to cloth not just themselves, but also their homes and children. As Freudian as it sounds, some psychologists view the minimalist slate grey as a rejection of their parents' homes of shabby-chic lace and cluttered trinkets. Surveys show the calming neutrals also serve as a safety refuge to help a notoriously anxious and existentialistic generation cope with the chaos of the technicolour outside world.
Pink: With 2023’s Barbie-core came the resurgence of pink. You couldn’t open up a single social media app without being blinded by hot fuschia or accosted with another Mattel x fast fashion collab. It was a cultural pink renaissance; a reclamation of femininity. For many women, pink became armour, a way to express girlhood and wear it proudly. But like all things that eventually reach viral saturation, Barbie pink burned bright and fast. By the end of the year the fad was over with its downfall occurring through equal parts aesthetic fatigue, coupled with the exhaustion of being oversold ‘empowerment’ through various shades of magenta. Still, for a moment, pink served as a powerful statement.
Butter Yellow: Now to the colour that sparked this whole reflection. Butter yellow arrived like the calm after the Barbie storm, soft and sunny. It felt like the internet’s collective serotonin boost, showing up in everything from matching linen sets to bed spreads. A perfect fit for any self-proclaimed ‘clean girl’ or ‘coastal grandma.’ Perhaps, after years of chaotic maximalism dominating online spaces, we all craved something gentle and grounded. Yet, despite seeming like it was going to serve as the antidote to overconsumption, it soon spread too far, too fast, proving that even calm can also become a craze if it is marketed in just the right way.
Is all this to say you shouldn’t participate in colour trends? Not necessarily. However, it is important to be mindful when purchasing the most popular shade in the shop, as the lifespan of these microtrends seems to be getting shorter every month. Instead, choose colours that represent who you uniquely are, not the curated identity that brands are constantly flashing in your face. At the end of the day, the most timeless colour is the one that feels like you, not the one the algorithm decided you should be.