Book 36: Mauve: How one man invented a color that changed teh world by Simon Garfield

Interesting topic, but for me there was a bit too much science and I got lost.  I wanted more pictures and more information on color itself.

I do find the color mauve fascinating.  I never knew it was the first coal-tar color and what an impact it had on society.  And maybe I was skewed by the color by growing up in the 80's and having everything labeled "mauve"

I thought I knew exactly what mauve looked like, I thought it was just another word for "Dusty Rose" and looked like this...

But in the book the color was more purple-y than what I would have labeled mauve. The picture below is from the book and is a dress dyed in the original Perkin's mauve.

Now I can see that the 80's mauve is a lighter version and that there is a whole hue range that will be produced by a dye, but I never associated this version of mauve as mauve.

I maybe should explain why this color and the color name is so intriguing for me.  Back in the mid 80's and continuing on for 10 years I sold window coverings and right at the time that mauve was at its hey-day (OK besides the Victorian age, but then again the 80's had a Victorian bend to it in decorating at least).  But I am know coming to realize the 80's mauve is a lighter, more pink version.  Her are some other images that show the color mauve and I remembered it.

Did you know that the color of the year for 2014 is Radiant Orchid?  To me it looks more mauve than 80's mauve.  What do you think?

Oh, and I much prefer the original mauve and the Radiant Orchid and the original Perkin's mauve to the 80's version.