Color of the Day - Bois de rose

Bois de rose, 1874 – One of the newest colors is called bois de rose; it is made in three shades, which are constantly used in one costume. The lightest shade is an unhealthy salmon; the middle shade reminds us more of raspberry ice-cream than anything else; and the darker shade is a rich claret. These shades will, of course, not be worn for street dresses, but for carriage, dinner, or watering-place toilets.
Godey's Lady's Book, June 1874

excerpt from:
Elephant's Breath and London Smoke
edited by Deb Salisbury
Available at www.Mantua-Maker.com

Color of the Day - Woad

Woad, 1667 – Woad is made of a Weed, fown upon ftrong new-broken Land, perfectly cleered from all ftones and weeds, cut feveral times by the top leaves, then ground, or rather chopt with a peculiar Mill for that purpofe; which being done feveral times, is made up in Balls and dryed in the Sun; the dryer the year is, the better the Woad. Englifh Woad is counted the ftrongeft, it is commonly tryed by ftaining of white Paper with it, or a white Limed wall, and if the Colour be a French-green it is good. … The making and ufing of Woad, is one of the moft myfterious, nice, and hazardous operations in Dying: It is one of the moft lafting Colours that is Dyed: An intenfe Woad Colour is almost black, that is to fay, of a Damfon-colour; this Colour is the foundation of fo many others in its degree, that the Dyers have a certain Scale, or number of Stalls, whereby to compute the lightnefs and deepneft of this Colour.
History of the Royal-Society of London, 1667

excerpt from:
Elephant's Breath and London Smoke
edited by Deb Salisbury
Available at www.Mantua-Maker.com

Color of the Day - Eosine

Eosine – A new dye known under the name of Eosine has recently been added to the list of red dyes, …The word ‘Eosine’ signifies day-dawn, implying that the colour is that of the rosy hue of morning. On silk, the colour is that of the rose, but on wool it is scarlet.
Textile Colourist, November 1876

excerpt from:
Elephant's Breath and London Smoke
edited by Deb Salisbury
Available at www.Mantua-Maker.com

Color of the Day - Settled Grief

Settled Grief – “You wish to inspect some half-mourning, Madam? the second stage of distress? As such, allow me to recommend this satin – intended for grief when it has subsided; alleviated, you see, Ma’am, from a dead black to a dull lead color. It is a Parisian novelty, Ma’am, called ‘Settled Grief,’ and is very much worn by ladies of a certain age,”
Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, January 1853

excerpt from:
Elephant's Breath and London Smoke
edited by Deb Salisbury
Available at www.Mantua-Maker.com

Color of the Day - Cinder

Cinder, 1668 – And if you will die your wooll of a Cinder colour, which is a very good colour, you fhall put your Red wooll into your puke Liquor; and then it will fail lefs to be of a Cinder colour.
A VVay to Get Wealth, 1668

excerpt from:
Elephant's Breath and London Smoke
edited by Deb Salisbury
Available at www.Mantua-Maker.com

Color of the Day - Sanguine

Sanguine, 1380 – The chief reds were scarlet, named by the Wife of Bath, &c.; sanguine, or crimson, and grain, imported from Portugal – i.e., “vermus or vermilion” – in fact cochineal, a red so fast and permanent that the word “ingrained” had become in the fourteenth century, and still remains, a general term for a fast colour of any kind.
Contemporary Review, September 1883

excerpt from:
Elephant's Breath and London Smoke
edited by Deb Salisbury
Available at www.Mantua-Maker.com

Color of the Day - Grass green

Grass green, 1872 – There are some bright greens which are becoming to the face, but only a few shades. I say bright in contradistinction to sage. A dull grass-green with a slight yellow tinge in it is a picturesque color, and often proves a success in a woollen day-dress, – some material, that is to say, without gloss. In silks or satins it is nearly as coarse and unpleasant as a pure bright green, innocent of any hint of blue or yellow; and when worn, as hundreds of women persist in wearing it, with a mass of scarlet, is so horrible as to give positive pain to a sensitive eye. In any concert-room or large assemblage a scarlet opera-cloak usually covers a green dress, and is capped by a green bow in the hair. One may count these unmakes by the dozen; and they arise from the generally-diffused milliners’ creed, that scarlet and emerald must go hand in hand, because green and red are complementaries. The vulgarity and disagreeableness of this mixture ought to be apparent to anybody with the very rudiments of artistic feeling.
Every Saturday, November 16, 1872

excerpt from:
Elephant's Breath and London Smoke
edited by Deb Salisbury
Available at www.Mantua-Maker.com