The Wearing of the Green

Kelly, juniper, sage, sea-foam, and emerald are familiar shades of lucky green. But, unfortunately, this bright and happy color hasn’t always been lucky, and in the fashion world, it has occasionally been considered a curse.
The unlucky charm of green is attributed to Carl Wilhelm Scheele, a late 18th-century chemist who developed a new pigment dye by mixing arsenic and potassium in a copper solution. The new shade turned the relatively rare color of green into a fashion phenomenon.
The “new” green was presented in dresses, trims, flowers, and even wallpaper. The problem, of course, was that the dye was toxic. Those who wore it, and primarily those who worked with it, became sick, blistered, and even died from the exposure. Despite its toxicity, the bright green color in various forms remained fashionable until the late 1800s.
By early 1900, after well-documented cases of injury and death due to the arsenic exposure, the color green went from fashionable to shunned and was considered “unlucky.” Even among more modern fashion houses such as Chanel, seamstresses consider the color green to be bad luck.
Long before the days of arsenic green, the color had its ups and downs throughout history. Before Queen Victoria set white as the traditional wedding gown, green was a popular choice for brides because it invoked fertility. However, Shakespearean actors in England refused to wear green on stage because it was bad luck. At the same time, Sailors banned the color aboard ships because it is believed to attract lightning.
Today, green is back on top, bringing a mostly positive and usually happy tone. Even a hint of green in accessories can bring freshness to any look. So, wear the green. Times have changed. It’s now a color of health, life and happiness.