Hot summer colours.


The sun is out so for me that means white linen. I love it, would live and die in it. But... as with everything else in my first year on the Riviera, I am having a steep learning curve on colours.  Maybe because the sun has gone to my head, maybe it's because I'm slowly changing from a whiter shade of pale to an almost glowing cappuccino,  I am becoming bold. Whatever it is, Anna will testify that it is the case. She is having to wear sunglasses to avoid the glare and the other evening at the wonderful Caruba trio jazz concert, it's a wonder she could hear the music my dress was so loud!

Don't get me wrong, I've always loved colours, the females in my family are famed for being ladies in lavender, but this is a much bolder departure. Hot pinks, orange, lime green... where will it end? I know my husband is wondering as we had to go to buy some bedlinen. I have an unspoken rule - always pure white cotton. Is that what I bought? Oh No, I came away the proud owner of an explosion in a paint factory. The bedding is the rich colours of a sari and livens up the white walls of the bedroom immensely. My friends are all standing back in amazement, especially those who come to visit. They cannot believe the riotous bedlinen, they love it and are probably too polite to say it keeps them awake.

It has long been recognised that colours affect our moods, so the glorious technicolour in my case is such a positive sign. I don't do 'drab', I'm not beige with all that it infers. Never have, never will be. I have a backgound in art history and the vibrant jewelled colours of the Pre-Raphaelite painters are among my favourite. Of course, I love the romance that these painters were trying to return to; the bygone idyllic days. They idolised women, put them on pedestals.

It seems a quaint idea now. We women have come so far, if we want to be on a pedestal we want to have climbed up there ourselves, helping others along the way, not be thrust there to be left languishing gathering dust. So my message is for a colourful summer, from clothes to tablewear - bold, Mediterranean, sunshine, feel-good hues that say, 'Hey, we're here, we're strong, bold and most definitely colourful.


Check out the article 'Colour Me Happy'.