The color pink is probably the most gendered color in our society.
But did you know that it has long been associated with men more than women?
Pink, derived from red, formerly associated with masculinity
Before the 19th century, pink was considered a shade of red. The word "pink" did not exist, we said "light red" or "white red" to designate this color close to the shade of flesh.
If we go back to the Middle Ages and more so to the Renaissance, the color pink was mostly worn by men. Red was a color that symbolized power and wealth. Indeed, red was one of the most expensive dyes of the time and therefore pink which contained it, was also.
1) VASARI, Italian Humanists (1554)
2) JACOB BUNEL, King Henri IV in March (1605-1606)
As far as children are concerned, the first gendered trousseaux for babies appeared in the 12th century where we can find this transposition of the color codes of adults on the clothing of children: pink, color considered as a pale red, is associated with boys and blue, divine color of the Virgin Mary, is for girls.
But in general, children are most oftenly dressed in white, image of purity and in white cotton which was easier to clean than a colored fabric.
Pink, a softened color symbol of femininity since the 18th century
The romanticism movement of the 18th century brings to the color pink the symbolism of tenderness, softness along with femininity and cuts the link with red that previously associated it with the violence of war. This is accentuated by the Marquise de Pompadour who designated the color at the court of Versailles, which even owes it the reference of "rose Pompadour".
François Boucher, Portrait de Madame de Pompadour à sa toilette, 1758, oil on canvas, 81.2 cm by 64.9 cm, Cambridge (Massachusetts), Harvard Art Museum / Fogg Museum.
It was not until the beginning of the 19th century that the color pink had its own name, borrowed from the flower as for the color purple.
It is at the same time that men's wardrobe becomes much more sober: dark colors and black prevail, leaving this color entirely to the female wardrobe.
But it is only at the beginning of the 20th century that pink, in opposition to blue, will be associated with gender and especially around the 1930’s/1940’s with the arrival of the baby boom along with the industrial manufacture of clothing, marketing and of course advertising. Pink thus becomes an established color for women and blue for men.
The female icons of the 1950s and 1960s reinforce this distinction of gender by color: Brigitte Bardot with her pink gingham dress on the cover of Elle Magazine, Marilyn Monroe and her tight dress color "shocking pink", shade of pink invented by the house Schiaparelli, Jackie Kennedy and her Chanel suit or Audrey Hepburn.
1) Brigitte Bardot on the cover of "ELLE"
2) Audrey Hepburn - Fanny Face - film Audrey Hepburn in a promo shoot for the film in L.A Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Image
3) Jackie Kennedy in a pink CHANEL suit in Dallas
4) Marilyn Monroe in Schiaparelli "Shocking Pink" dress
The appearance of the Barbie doll in 1959 might also have something to do with this separation of the kinds by the color!
Pink in vintage and today's fashion
"It is society that gives their meanings to colors," according to color historian Michel Pastoureau. Today, the color pink tends to exceed this difference of the sexes claiming its character of "non-gender". Indeed, the wave of "millennial pink" that swept through social networks in late 2015, especially on Instagram, and the fashion world questioned the link that could have color and gender. Pink then became the representative color of genderfluidity. Color no longer of a gender but of a generation where the individual predominates.
Old or not, pink has its place in your dressing room! Come and rediscover this color, rich in history and at the same time modern at Lysis via vintage pieces from Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint-Laurent or even Thierry Mugler.
Our selection of vintage pink products is available here.