On the Radar -- Falling for Olive

So we've all heard by now that emerald green is the color of the year.  But -- did you know that olive green is the color of the fall?  

Neither did I.  Until I started looking at the fall collections.

 

It's everywhere.  Every designer seems to have at least a few accents of olive, if not a whole collection of it.  Poor emerald green.

Phillip Lim 3.1, Pre-Fall 2013

Brian Atwood DEA boot, Pre-Fall 2013

Ted Rossi Tribeca Clutch, Fall 2013

Pamella Roland, Fall 2013

And, hell, look at this Gucci lineup!  It's all olive green!

I feel bad for you, emerald green.  Here you thought it was your time to shine, and your dull cousin olive has stolen the spotlight.  Granted, he was in Pantone's color trend list, too, so we shouldn't be all that surprised.  I mean, they called him lichen green, but it's really just old olive with a fancy name.

Maybe next time, emerald.  Just let olive have the glory for now...

Our addition to the lineup, this vintage velvet jacket, available here.

On the Radar -- Emerald Angles

I'm sure by now you've heard that Emerald is Pantone's color of the year for 2013.  I'm on board with that because emerald is my birthstone, and the color is one of my faves.  But you can get even more specialized than just the color -- the angles and facets of the gemstone itself are hot right now, too.  That deep, dark green mixed with hard geometric lines makes for some interesting, and beautiful, home decor and fashion.

Console from bocadolobo.com

This green is all about glamour. It's sharp, classic, but also, new.

Desk Set from apartment48.com

 The lines are crisp, but never boring.  The scale can be bold.

Pillow from Giardino on Etsy.com

Or delicate.

Emerald and tourmaline earrings by Petra Class, from craftcouncil.org

And of course, you can get your fix with vintage finds, as well...

Vintage glass from Lemon Rose Studio on Etsy.

On the Radar -- Add Some Zest

Tribune Standard, Spring/Resort 2013

We're looking forward today, moving into 2013.  We Blackbird girls have been flirting with orange for a while now, but a citrus-y zing of lime, lemon, and orange hasn't been really been on our radar -- until we found THE CHAIR.

We were shopping in one of our favorite haunts recently (we'll never tell where it is...so don't EVEN try...) when we saw it.  A very square, very 1960s lemon-lime-orange houndstooth masterpiece of a chair with, drumroll please...the matching footstool.  In pristine condition.  We snatched it up.  We had to repack the car -- meaning we had to unload everything, put the chair and footstool in, and then repack the other stuff around it somehow.  Then it had to live in the car for weeks.  It still doesn't have a home, but it will very soon.  It's part of a top secret Blackbird project that we will reveal in the coming weeks.  I can't show you the whole thing...but here's a sneak peek!

I thought at the time, "Man, those colors are fun!" But now, after looking around a bit, I've found that it's right on trend for spring.  The zingy colors are everywhere, from cars:

2013 Dodge Dart Rallye with Citrus Peel paint

To planners:

2013 Planner from greengrass2 on Etsy

To fashion:

Rachel Roy, Resort 2013

To quilts and crafts:

Orange Slices quilt by Natalia Bonner, from TrueUp

And then I looked at the Pantone trends -- they are the go-to source for colors -- and they have it all right there on their graphic (along with, ahem, navy*):

Brilliant!

*check out our On the Radar blog post from August, Navy Chic.