Pink's Comeback

The Annunciation by Fra Angelico (1400-1455)

It seems etched in stone tablets that pink is for girls (and blue is for boys), but pink's association with femininity only began in the 20th century: [bold added]

The European attitude towards pink was influenced by Christianity. The Renaissance artist Fra Angelico, an early innovator in color symbolism, gave his angels robes of pink, the color of flesh, and wings of gold, the color of light, to illustrate how the Holy Spirit transcended the boundary between heaven and earth.

Gentleman in Pink (1560)

Pink’s association with divine power made it popular in royal circles, especially after the discovery of more potent dye sources such as the South American brazilwood tree. For some, there was no such thing as too much pink: The famous 16th-century portrait “The Gentleman in Pink,” by Giovanni Battista Moroni, depicts an Italian nobleman named Giovanni Gerolamo Grumello dressed head to toe in salmon pink....

It wasn’t until the 20th century that pink lost its masculine overtones and became indelibly feminine. As late as 1918, the British Ladies Home Journal advised mothers to dress their little boys in pink, “a more decided and stronger colour,” and their girls in blue, “which is more delicate and dainty.” In 1937, the avant-garde designer Elsa Schiaparelli challenged such color norms by packaging her new perfume, “Shocking,” in a bright pink box.

During the suit-and-tie decades your humble blogger's closet was filled with white and blue shirts. Occasionally wearing stripes, I donned pink when I really wanted to change it up. It was perfect for Fridays before they were designated casual.

Pink is about to come full circle.

Centuries ago it represented the divine and powerful, then was stuffed into the children's corner during the 20th century.

Pink will be everywhere when Barbie is released on July 21st. Get ready for the comeback.