Shades of Pink
"I believe in pink" - Audrey Hepburn
Pink was my favourite colour when I was a child. I couldn’t get enough of it. I remember my mum searching high and low in the 90s to get a pink plastic ring to go on the bottom of my brush head for the electric toothbrush because I turned my nose up at all the others (when I bought my own electric toothbrush as an adult, I was pleased to discover that pink now comes as standard in a multipack of toothbrush heads. Thank you, Oral B).
My dad used to sing the nursery rhyme, “She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain” to me on long car trips to visit my grandmother, taking great delight in the line “she’ll be wearing pink pyjamas when she comes” because, you guessed it, I was the proud owner of a pair and thought they were the best thing since sliced bread.
I can’t remember how old I was when I first saw Grease 2 but I do remember that I was obsessed with Stephanie Zinone, Michelle Pfeiffer’s character, and that I begged my mum for a pink jacket so that I could pretend I was one of the Pink Ladies. She eventually relented and made me one because those are the things we do for the people we love. I spent many an hour wearing that jacket and carrying random books around the house (copies of the Complete Works of Shakespeare and Pride and Prejudice if I remember rightly), pretending I was on my way to class and singing the songs at the top of my voice - a fact that makes me cringe now because I definitely was not old enough to understand the meaning behind most of them. (Let’s Do It For Our Country, anyone?)
As I moved out of childhood and into adolescence, I found pink to be too girly, too twee. I cycled through different colour stages - purple in my late teens and at university and brown with gold flowers (it was nicer than it sounds) when I lived at home for a bit after university, which must have been the result of some subliminal hangover from my school days because they were also the colours of my uniform. There was also an ill-advised foray into peach and mint green but the less said about that, the better. As an adult, I have been drawn more towards a colour palette of blues and greys for decorating our house (and because there is absolutely no way my husband will agree to paint the house pink) but pink has become my favourite colour to wear. I like to wear it partly because it makes even a basic t-shirt that little bit more exciting but also, being blonde with pale, freckly skin that doesn’t tan, it is a quick and easy way to make me look like I have some colour and am not completely washed out.
Pink is ubiquitous. In the English language, the word pink is often used in common phrases such as “be in the pink” (to be in good health), “tickled pink” (to find something amusing or joyful) “everything is rosy” (things are good) or we see the world through “rose-tinted glasses” (looking at things optimistically). In French, who can forget the famous song, La Vie en Rose, sung by the incomparable Édith Piaf (about seeing the beauty of life when you fall in love)1? In Turkish, they speak of pembe yalan (or a pink lie, like the English white lie). In Spanish, la prensa rosa (the pink press) refers to celebrity or gossip magazines and in Dutch, to be in love is op een roze wolkje zitten (sitting on a pink cloud).
The colour has traditionally been associated with femininity, with affection and with compassion. It is a colour that can inspire both joyfulness and tranquility and the soothing pale pink of a rose quartz is said to help release and balance emotions. Of course, a lot of these meanings are influenced by personal beliefs and the cultures in which we grow up, and they won’t have the same impact or interpretation for all of us.
Personally, I love the variety of shades of pink - from the palest blush of a summer rose to the vibrant, tropical magenta of my favourite hibiscus tea - and everything in between. Here are some snapshots of how the colour pink has woven its way through the seasons of my life.
Spring
Cherry blossom in Aldgate Square, London. London is one of my great loves and there are few things better than to wander around in the spring as it comes back to life after months of slate-grey skies. These cherry trees are a wash of colour against the dark building and the leaden heaviness of the clouds, bringing a promise of the change in seasons and of the beauty to come.
Sunset on Texel, The Netherlands. Texel is an island at the very northern tip of The Netherlands and we were invited to a party there, hosted by the Dutch side of my husband’s family, a few years ago. It is famous for its sheep, but also for its sand dunes and we took the time to sit and watch the sun go down on the beach, observing the colours filtering across the horizon and then, as a parting gift, enveloping the landscape in a haze of pink.
Mother and Daughter, Mallorca. This is one of my favourite pictures of my mother and me. I love that we are both facing in the same direction, that I am being held in her arms as we pivot towards the camera. It reminds me of the famous quote from Antoine de Saint Exupéry: “Aimer, ce n'est pas se regarder l'un l'autre, c'est regarder ensemble dans la même direction” (Love is not looking at each other, it is looking together in the same direction). I suspect it was originally written with romantic love in mind but for me, in this photo in particular, it symbolises parental love and security, the idea of a journey being undertaken together, of a guiding hand and of looking outwards at the same destination, at the as-yet-unformed potential of our future selves. I don’t know if the correlating shades of pink in my cardigan and my mother’s scarf were intentional but I like to believe they were.
Summer
Raspberries on homemade Basque cheesecake. Raspberries are one of my favourite things to eat. I love that they can be sweet and sharp in the same bite and that they add colour and texture to any dessert. I often use them as decoration when I bake because they provide a counterpoint to cut through any excessive sweetness and they glisten like plump jewels on top of a cake. Add dried rose petals to be that little bit extra.
Pink Plantation House, St Lucia. We went on our honeymoon to St Lucia and this was one of the stops on a tour around Castries. At the time, it was a restaurant and art gallery (it may now also be a hotel) and I bought a gorgeous turquoise vase painted with lilies that I use often and which brings back wonderful memories every time.
Wedding bouquet. We got married in June for a variety of reasons (anyone else think of this song from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers?) but one of the most important was because I wanted to choose a time of year when flowers would be abundant. Our wedding colours were blush pink and grey and I loved my bouquet - Sarah Bernhardt peonies, the palest pink roses, gypsophila and rosemary. The day after our wedding saw me at the post office sending it off to a company down in Somerset who turned some of the flowers into gorgeous paperweights as a memento. They sit on the sideboard next to the front door and I smile whenever I see them.
Autumn
King’s Cross, London. I used to work in King’s Cross and every day, I would walk down this tunnel towards the Tube station. I loved seeing the flashes of colour dance across the walls as I walked towards the inevitable rush hour madness - a fleeting micro-moment of joy to prepare me for the pain of having my nose crushed in a stranger’s armpit on an overpacked Tube for longer than is reasonably polite.
Bougainvillea, Dalt Vila, Ibiza. I studied Spanish at university and had the opportunity to live in Spain for a year as part of my course. It is a love affair that has endured for the almost two decades since and I try to go back whenever I can. I love the language, I love the food, I love the culture and one of my favourite places to visit is Ibiza. The north of the island is beautiful - golden sand, white-washed villages, pine trees, secluded coves, incredible sunsets and it is absolutely one of my happy places. I also love to visit Dalt Vila for a change of pace and my favourite time to go is in September when the summer heat is beginning to mellow and the bougainvillea is putting on the last of its dazzling display.
Brick Lane, London. East London is so much cooler than I am but one of my favourite weekend things to do is take my phone and wander around, snapping photos, soaking up the atmosphere and stopping for a bagel at Beigel Bake. My favourite is the salt beef (always with blow-the-roof-of-your-mouth-off mustard and a gherkin) but the smoked salmon with cream cheese is also delicious. I have been known to shelter in this pink doorway while I eat, watching the street scenes around me and enjoying the hustle and bustle. There is also a wonderful book shop on Brick Lane where I while away the hours pre- or post-bagel.
Winter
Empire State Building, New York City. I work for a company headquartered in New York and have been lucky enough to travel there more than once over the years (pandemics permitting). One of my favourite things to do when I am visiting in the winter is to look up at night and see the glow of the tower lights against the sky. If I remember correctly, when I took this photo, the lights were pink in support of breast cancer charities (a cause dear to my own heart after the death of my mother) so it was a perfect convergence of colour and meaning in that moment.
Love poster, Artist Residence cafe, Pimlico, London. My husband and I visited this cafe after a visit to the nearby Tate Britain and I was drawn in by the decor immediately. The walls were full of framed posters, of all shapes, sizes, colours and slogans, but this one was my favourite, not just because it is pink but also because the message is on point. I am a big fan of the design of the old-style Penguin paperbacks that you often find in second hand bookshops so the whole thing is totally on brand for me.
Sunset in Windsor Great Park. If you haven’t guessed yet, I live for a sunset and the opportunity to see one is always something that fills me with both excitement and contentment. Another one of my happy places, we are lucky to live a relatively short drive away from Windsor and have been for many long walks in the acres of open space that make up Windsor Great Park. My favourite time to go is in winter when the sun is setting. There is something inordinately special about wrapping up warm, watching the sky blaze and shimmer through a kaleidoscope of colours and being surrounded by the silhouettes of trees. There is something humbling about witnessing natural beauty in all its glory and I love how it makes me feel so interconnected with the landscape around me, a small stitch in the vast fabric of the world.
I’d love to know: which colours resonate most strongly with you?
Victoria, I have a new found love for pink thanks to you! I have always been more drawn to blues and greens, personally; Mint and Teal (beautiful mixes of the two are my favourite). However, it always made me sad as a child that picking blue as my favourite colour as a young girl meant I was boyish! (I mean I absolutely was the epitome of a Tom-boy and picked football with the boys every lunchtime over daisy-chains and hair styling with the girls). I am very glad that times are changing and now we all get to love the colours that we love! Maybe you could persuade your husband that one pink room wouldn't be so bad? ;) - Gail x
I love this Victoria. I like pink too! You have reminded me of a pink leather jacket that I had as a child, and I too would put it on and pretend to be one of the Pink Ladies 😂 I always wanted a pink wig so that I could be like Frenchie when she has her hair disaster in the first film. Luckily, no one ever supplied me with said pink wig and I'm extremely grateful for that 😂 I also had a bright pink and purple room as a child, I'm sure the boarder was Bubblegum Girls (or something like that)...I need to Google this! X