Why We Love White (And You Should, Too!)

Here at VeriVide, we love the colour white! Confused as to why we have chosen to write a whole blog just about the colour white when we could have picked any? Carry on to find out our reasons why.

White is the purest of all colours. Being a conciliatory colour white projects cleanliness, neutrality, innocence and delicacy. Doctors wear white coats, brides traditionally walk down the aisle in a white gown and it is the common colour of clothing for babies. White is also complex as while it projects peace and freedom, to designers it can also suggest modernity and innovation.

The colour white also affects us physically as it is known to help with mental clarity, encourages us to deal with obstacles and declutter, can purify thoughts and presents new beginnings.

White has a range of associated meanings.

White has a different meaning in countries around the world. White is traditionally worn by brides throughout the western world and Japan, whereas other cultures wear bright colours. Black is worn in mourning in the UK, however in China and parts of Africa they wear white instead. Also historically medieval European queens would wear white for deep mourning. In Chinese culture, white was also connected with autumn, metal and west. In every country around the world, a white flag is used as a sign to surrender or to show a truce. In Japan, they have created six individual terms to describe ‘whiteness’. In ancient times, the Greeks believed wearing white would guarantee pleasant dreams.

 Below are our favourite expressions including white:

• “White as snow” – expression meaning clean and pure
• “White elephant” – term for surplus possession
• “Pearly whites” – expression for teeth
• “White knight” – phrase describing a protector

Other interesting facts about white:

• More classic American t-shirts are sold in white than in any other colour
• Commercially there are more shades of white available compared with any other colour
• If white appears in a dream this is believed to show happiness in a home
• White castles in dreams show achievement, destiny and spiritual perfection
• ‘White Lab Coat’ – a traditional garment worn by scientists but before the late 19^th century they used to wear beige.

Why is White important?

Today we live in a very fast paced world and calm is something that we all crave after a long day – this is the reason why white is increasingly becoming more and more important. With this in consideration, Pantone have included a bigger selection of whites (in warmer and cooler shades) in their new colours for Fashion, Home and Interiors, including Brilliant White (11-4001 TCX), Sea Salt (11-1302 TCX) and Buttercream (11-0110 TCX) to name a few.

Optic white

Brilliant White (11-4001 TCX) as its name suggests is a very bright optic white with a blue tone, this was added to the range in response to requests for a brighter optic white than Bright White 11-0601 TCX which used to be the only optic white in the Pantone Fashion, Home & Interiors range.

Bleaching of textile materials removes the impurities and oils which cause the natural yellow/ beige colour of the yarn, making them look whiter. However, if you look at a bleached example side by side with an example which has an Optical Brightening Agent (also known as a fluorescent whitening agent) added, it will appear grey rather than white.

Most people prefer a brilliant white T-shirt or other garment, and this can only be achieved by the addition of a fluorescent whitening agent.

When Fluorescent whitening agents or OBA’s are added to a product they absorb the invisible UV portion of the daylight spectrum and convert this energy into the longer-wavelength visible portion of the spectrum, i.e., into blue to blue-violet light. Fluorescent whitening, therefore, is based on the addition of light thus the item appears brighter as well as bluer to the human eye.

Other tones of white

Brilliant whites are very stark and clinical so not suited to all products. Pure white bathroom fixtures and tiles are common but most people prefer a more subtle milky tone when decorating other rooms. Likewise a crisp, white shirt looks great with jeans and dark outerwear but who wants their coat to look like a lab coat?. Use Cannoli Cream 11-4302 TCX, Coconut Milk 11-0608 TCX, Sugar Swizzle 11-0607 TCX or Tofu 11-4801 TCX  instead! Pantone added all these colours to increase the number of neutral tones in the textile and home range.

Get your hands all 2,625 of Pantone’s Fashion, Home & Interiors colours in Pantone Cotton Chips book. This has removable chips for successful colour matching and colour specification or buy a larger individual Pantone Swatch.

Need more information? Contact Georgina on 0116 284 7790 or pantone@verivide.com