The Timeless Red

I am Half-Sick of Shadows, said the Lady of Shalott, painting by John William Waterhouse, 1916. Location: Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto Source: Wikimedia Commons

Timeless red ... all of its shades involuntarily can visualize the verbal metaphors of ancient times. 'Lady in Red', Satine in 'Moulin Rouge', 'The Great Harlot' and 'Babylon Red' and so on and so on.. There are quite a lot of examples and all of them make you think about 'space-time-clothing-era' contexts and relationship between many aspects of visual culture. 
And after all, when all this is cleared up, you start to get a better sense of the fragile boundary that separates the challenge from vulgarity. 

Therefore, I invite you to look at some of the brightest moments of red in the history of fashion, art and visual culture!

Since the antiquity, color red has been the symbol of life and also the symbol of power, wealth and passion. In the context of fashion history, red cloth always has been a very expensive to dye. That is why red fabrics were historically a sign of wealth and status. 
Relatively recent fashion history has shown a lot of designers who have been using this color and turned some of its shades into icons of time. Timeless "Valentino Red" or, for example Christian Loubutin's shoes with the red soles, that have turned the color into a distinctive sign. Year by year and season by season it is common to hear that red never goes out of style as it always appears on the catwalks, red carpet, festive events and even in the street style.

Ancient Red 

Mural painting from fullonica VI 8, 20.21.2 at Pompeii, now in the National museum of Naples. (A fullo was a Roman fuller or laundry worker (plural: fullones), known from many inscriptions from Italy and the western half of the Roman Empire and references in Latin literature, e.g. by Plautus, Martialis and Pliny the Elder. A fullo worked in a fullery or fullonica.) Source: Wikimedia Commons

In ancient Egypt, red was the color of life, health, and victory. During festive events Egyptians used red ochre to color themselves. As a substance for cosmetics, - red ochre was used to color lips and to redden cheeks. Egyptian women also used red henna to color their hair and paint their nails.

Greeks and Romans also valued red as a dye for clothing, hair, makeup and painting. The rich cinnabar frescoes from many Pompeiian houses communicated luxury to visitors. [10.] 
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In Ancient Rome some types of the togas were adorned with red stripes. These stripes were status symbols. Meanwhile roman brides at a weddings wore a red or orange veil, called a flammeum. Red was the color of blood – but blood was a symbol not just of death, but of life – of fertility and love.

​Red pigments were used to color statues and also the skin of gladiators. 
​Red was also the color associated with Roman army.  Red tunics of Roman soldiers helped to hide red stains of blood. In Roman mythology red is also assocaited with the god of war, Mars. Roman officers wore a cloak called a paludamentum which, depending of the quality of the dye, could be crimson, scarlet red or purple.  

Medieval Red 

Petrus Christus. Portrait of a Female Donor, ca. 1455. National Gallery of Art, Washington Source: Wikimedia Commons

 During the Middle Ages, red color was utterly dominant. The emperor Charlemagne wore red shoes according to Byzantine tradition. In Christian art, red represented the blood of Christ and of Christian martyrs. Since then red became the color worn by Catholic cardinals. 
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​Red dye was very expensive and therefore red clothing was a sign of high status and wealth. It was worn not only by cardinals and princes, but also by merchants, artisans and townspeople, particularly on festive events or special occasions.

There were many different shades of red and, of course - variety of pigments.  Ordinary people used the roots of the rubia tinctorum, the madder plants. This color resembled brick-red hue, and it faded easily in the sun or during washing the clothes.

Only the wealthy people and aristocracy wore bright scarlet clothing dyed with kermes, or carmine that was made from carminic acid. This color was obtained from tiny female scale insects, which lived on the leaves of oak trees in Eastern Europe and around the Mediterranean. The insects were gathered, dried, crushed, and boiled with different ingredients in a long and complicated process, which produced a brilliant scarlet. 

As we can see in many medieval miniatures, the bright red Gothic dresses worn by wealthy ladies were fashion statement of the Gothic era. But then came the Renaissance era of fashion and brought with it new discoveries.

Renaissance Red & Secret Of The Cochineal Beetles

A native of Central America collecting cochineal insects from a cactus to make red dye (1777). Source: Wikimedia Commons

It turns out that the early inhabitants of America had their own bright crimson dye! It was made from the cochineal, an insect which feeds on the Opuntia, or prickly pear cactus plant.  Red-dyed textiles has been featured in the Paracas culture (800 - 100 BC) and found in tombs in Peru and in other sites of South America.
And then, from the 16th century, a brilliant new red appeared in Europe.  Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and his soldiers discovered that Aztecs had another treasure beside silver and gold... They had the tiny cochineal beetle which lived on cactus plants, which, when dried and crushed, made a magnificent color of red.  Cochineal could be harvested several times a year and it was considerably brighter and more durable than other colorants previously known in Europe. It worked particularly well on silk, satin and other luxury textiles. In 1523 Cortes sent the first shipment to Spain. Soon cochineal began to arrive in European ports aboard convoys of Spanish galleons.
Thus Spanish merchants started import the cochineal dyes from the new world and it made red really very fashionable.  So, by the beginning of the 17th century it was the preferred luxury red for the clothing of cardinals, bankers, courtesans and European aristocracy.

Hyacinthe Rigaud. Louis XIV of France, 1701. Image: Wikimedia Commons

Splendour of the Baroque Red.
Red Heels & Red Shoes

Red was a color of power in 17th-century France. It was especially associated with the Sun King, Louis XIV of France and with his temple of splendour - Versailles. The red heels of the King's shoes were discreet symbols of his royal status. Historians say, that Louis XIV was a man who was very proud of his legs and he usually wore all kinds of fashionable clothing that would show them off. 
In the well known portrait painted by Hyacinthe Rigaud Louis XIV of France is wearing knee-lenghth pants and beautiful silk stockings. His heels — which were quite high for a man — were not just red, but scarlet. Soon nobles all over Europe were painting their heels red. Such heels  meant that they belonged to the court.   Back then red was also a fashion statement - chic, flashy and very expensive. Is it any wonder that red was an expensive color in 17th-century France? At that time, the red dye was made from the cochineal beetle found in Mexican cactus. Red dye was as valuable as gold. [9.]  

Red of Revolution

At the end of the 18th century red was a color that called for the fight. It was a color of ambitions, sacrifice and victory. After all red was a color of Revolution. During the French Revolution, the Jacobins and other more radical political parties adopted the red flag. Many Jacobins ar revolutionaries wore a red Phrygian cap, or as it was also called - liberty cap, that was modeled after the caps once worn by Phrygians of Asia Minor. Later the cap was known as a headgear characteristic to freed slaves in Ancient Rome. 
In the middle of the 19th century, red became the color of a new political and social movement known as socialism. Among workers and representatives of a various left wing movements, red was a color that expressed political views. During the French Revolution of 1848 and during the Paris Commune in 1870 red banners were almost everywhere. Red was a color of many socialist parties across Europe. 

However, what was the role of the color 'red' in the fashion world?

In 1826, the French chemist Pierre-Jean Robiquet discovered the organic compound - alizarin. That was a powerful coloring ingredient taken from the madder root - the most popular red dye of that time. 

As the Industrial Revolution spread across Europe in the middle of the 19th century, chemists and manufacturers sought new red dyes that could be used for large-scale manufacture of textiles. Among the newly discovered and popular colors imported into Europe from Turkey and India in the 18th and early 19th century was a color called - Turkey red, that was known in France as rouge d'Adrinople. 
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Turkey red used madder as the colorant, but the process was longer and more complicated, involving multiple soaking of the fabrics in olive oil, lye, sheep's dung and many other ingredients. As a result of coloring was the fabric that was more expensive, brighter and more lasting. Its hue was quite similar to carmine and it perfectly suited for cotton. 

Fairy-Tale Red 

Slippers Date:1790–1810 Culture:European Medium:leather, silk, metal Public Domain of metmuseum.org

​THE RED SHOES
"There was once a little girl who was very pretty and delicate, but in summer she was forced to run about with bare feet, she was so poor, and in winter wear very large wooden shoes, which made her little insteps quite red, and that looked so dangerous!
In the middle of the village lived old Dame Shoemaker; she sat and sewed together, as well as she could, a little pair of shoes out of old red strips of cloth; they were very clumsy, but it was a kind thought. They were meant for the little girl. The little girl was called Karen." [12.]

In "The Red Shoes" by Hans Christian Andersen, the author specifically describes a pair of shoes made from red Morocco leather, a supple material that was often used for footwear during the 19th century. Prior to the mid-century development of chemical dyes, it was difficult to color leather in shades of red. These shoes, therefore, would have been a valuable commodity. [4.]
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​These in the picture above are just like the ones, mentioned in the fairy-tale...Sharply pointed slippers with tiny heels were the prevalent style in the 1790s and 1800s. This pair features the red Morocco leather much favored at the time and a tiny heart-shaped buckle threaded with silk twist to form a jaunty tassel. Particularly notable to shoes of this period is the distinctive shape of the sole with its wide ball and narrow waist. 

"The Red Shoes" published by Hans Christian Andersen in 1845 is a quintessential European folktale. It tells a moral tale based upon the idea of temptation and eventual redemption. The story is based upon the protagonist's desire for a pair of shoes and the consequences of her temptation. 

And then... there are fashionable slippers, dating back to the early 19th century, when they have become more like a fashion statement. More than that, red slippers have become a reference to the popularity of oriental motifs at that time.
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LADY IN RED

​The famous fashion designer Valentino Garavani once created a new shade that has become the iconic red - Valentino Red, a particular bright red shade which mixes carmine, purple and cadmium red. The inspiration for this particular hue came from his journey in Spain, where the young tailor, during a performance in the Barcelona's opera was greatly impressed by the floating scarlet dresses which moved lightly on the stage. 
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In the history of 20th century fashion not only Valentino Red has been the main scarlet shade...Christian Dior also created memorable shades of red, like the iconic "Rouge Dior" lipstick, that "dressed the woman's smile"in 1953. This red was one among many other shades of red in the creative repertoire of  Dior. 
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Christian Louboutin since the start of his career has been a real lover of red. He uses red sole as his creative signature, his trademark in almost all his creations. 

The movie "Moulin Rouge!" won the Oscar for Best Costume Design in 2001. The movie star Nicole Kidman was a real lady in red as she was dressed in a ruby dress, - symbol of passion and sensuality according to the whole movie theme. [5.] 

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Timeless red is the primary color of excellence that was used for ages as a fashion statement of attraction, fascination and provocation, but not only because it is memorable, ambiguous, ancient and eternal.

References & Further Reading: 


1. Pastoureau, Michel.  Red: The History of a Color. - Princeton University Press, 2017. 
2. www.thoughtco.com/phrygian-cap-bonnet-rouge-1221893
3. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/01/why-red-is-the-oldest-colour
4. www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/exhibit/jALCun-debzuKw
​5. itinerariesoftaste.sanpellegrino.com/taste-guides/red-fashion-cinema
6.http://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/9312/reflections-on-the-meaning-of-red-in-art-fashion-and-film​ 
7. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullo​
​8. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red
9. www.npr.org/2007/02/13/7366503/the-color-red-a-history-in-textiles 
10.www.forbes.com/sites/drsarahbond/2017/09/30/love-blood-and-the-ancient-history-of-the-color-red/#25930aa9739e
11. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/156192 
12. www.worldoftales.com/fairy_tales/Hans_Christian_Andersen/THE%20RED%20SHOES.html

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