Colour Research for Final Piece

In order to create a final piece, I first need to decide what colour pallette I will use. I have found hundreds of secondary images from the 1950s of brightly coloured dresses and contrasting colours, which I have posted on this blog as part of my research and added to my sketchbook, but the colour schemes I like the most for my final design are the more understated, classic colours.

As my final piece will be a cape, and therefore outerwear, I think it should be a more toned down colour which can be worn with most other colours without clashing, such as this beautiful design from 1955, which I found at fashion-era.com.

I love the deep navy colour on this coat, which connotes luxury and glamour without trying too hard. It is for this reason that I have decided to use the same dark blue colour in my final piece, for the bottom layer of the cape. For the top layer of the cape I will need a colour which compliments the navy blue but doesn't overpower the bottom layer, as the top layer will already be gathered with a ribbon adornment, taking enough attention already.

Here is a photograph from the 1950 February issue of Harper's Bazaar I found at myvintagevogue.com. The model wears a beautiful navy suit, but I think the outfit fades into the background when paired with the bright contrasting jewel colours of purple and ruby red. I don't want this to happen to the bottom layer of my cape, so the top layer should definately be a darker colour.

I love these black and white images. I think they are far more reminiscent of the glamour of the decade than the colour ones, perhaps because they remind me of the 'silver screen'.

 This photograph of Marilyn Monroe is from the silver screen. It is a still from the 1959 film 'Some Like It Hot' by Billy Wilder. I think the black and grey tones in it are beautiful and I would love to incorporate them in to my final piece. The sheer fabric that Marilyn wears is also very inspiring- it is interesting and sexy but still a classic design. I also like the straight lines which creep onto the transluscent black section. I will therefore look for a fabric which incorporates all of these elements- the black and the sheer section(s), and use it as the fabric for the top layer of the cape.

 I think the black fabric of the top layer will work really well with the navy layer underneath, like in this fashion photograph from 1952 which I found at myvintagevogue.com: