Hello, Yellow! ’Tis the Season to Serve Some Sunshine!

Last Christmas, to fight the winter blahs and celebrate our first successful month at The Glow Up, I indulged in a little “I love me” present. OK—given the price tag, it was a big “I love me” present, but I budget at cost-per-wear, so there’s that (that’s another post, for later).

Anyway, I fell in love at first sight with a wool boucle collarless cocoon coat in a gorgeous burnished marigold shade from the Olsen twins’ fashion line Elizabeth and James (a low-key favorite label) and have been rocking it all winter long. Not only has it brought a bright touch to otherwise gray days—I also get compliments on it everywhere I go. Like, people literally stop me in the street to remark on the color, y’all. Every. Single. Day.

So it was no big surprise to me when folks started calling marigold one of the colors of 2018. It’s long been a personal fave of mine, evoking exotic spices, hazy summer days and just all-around saturated goodness. But imagine my delight when I discovered that Grown-ish star and perennial fave Yara Shahidi and I—albeit separated by a couple of letters, generationwise—share the same great taste in outerwear (that’s my coat, y’all!).

But what I loved most about Shahidi’s ensemble is that she didn’t just stop at one shade of yellow; she gave us a full monochromatic spectrum, from daffodil to mustard (believe it or not, she’s also wearing yellow kicks). And as one who can personally attest to yellow being my very first favorite color (seriously—before I could pronounce it properly, I called it “lellow”), it got me inspired to incorporate more sunshine shades into my wardrobe this spring and summer when my beloved wool topper is relegated to the closet.

But who are we kidding? Spring starts tomorrow, so now is the time! My colleague Corey Townsend often says, “Black women invented the color yellow”; I’d say that if it wasn’t invented by us, it was, at the very least, invented for us. I mean, who else pulls off yellow—all shades—better than brown-skinned ladies?

And yes, I do mean all shades of brown-skinned ladies; I promise there’s a yellow just right for you. Hint: Lighter-skinned ladies tend to look better in saturated hues and orange- or green-tinted yellows like saffron and ochre than buttery shades. But the more melanin, the more options—which is why Viola Davis, Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira look amazing in any color they wear.

But if you’re still hesitant to consider yellow a go-to when it comes to your sartorial choices, we’ve provided a little celebrity inspiration to get you going. Yellow will be at all your fast-fashion retailers this spring; maybe it’s time to reconsider what this hue can do for you!