Book review: True Color

I was thrilled to get an advance copy of Kory Stamper’s new book on color and the language we use to describe it. I loved her first book, Word By Word, about how dictionaries are made. I didn’t write it up in this blog, though, because while I find the topic interesting, it has nothing to do with costume craft artisanship, which is the focus of La Bricoleuse.

But this title is peripherally relevant, hence this post.This book chronicles the struggles of the editors and lexicographers producing a mid-century edition of the Merriam-Webster dictionary in the midst of the advent of advancement in color science. 

If it sounds like this book has esoteric niche appeal, you are correct, and I am squarely in that esoteric niche.

Although I am neither a color scientist nor a lexicographer, I have run dye facilities for theatrical costume shops for decades, and color control is exceedingly important to costume designers. Many prefer to talk about the colors they want used rather than provide color swatches, despite the nebulous interpretation of speech with respect to color. Many consider the emotion evoked by a color to be of primary import in the context of theatrical production.

I have worked with creatives who use emotional language rather than color samples to communicate their intentions with respect to how fabrics and costume pieces should be dyed; for example, “this pink needs to be a little more sad,” or “jazz up this orange with more jubilance.” 

So a book about the struggle of lexicographers putting together a new edition of a dictionary at a time when the field of color science was beginning to be broadly studied and codified, is directly in my wheelhouse.

I don’t want to nerd out too hard in this book review, so I’ll just mention a few of the interesting (to me, at least) topics covered—synthetic dyestuffs in wartime, color standardization for commercial foodstuffs, urine colorwheels as diagnostic tools (really). The book then dives deep into the pedantic minutiae of hardcore word-nerds battling over hairsplitting points of the definition of colors across the spectrum, with coalitions pulling for scientific rigor, artistic license, practical systemization, and other factors.

This involves exactly the kind of low-stakes drama and beefing I love. 

About halfway through the book, the focus turns to color psychology and fashion forecasting, which are fascinating in and of themselves, although be advised that some of the early fashion color names involve racist slurs and other dubious language that now feels jarring & icky.

The book then segues into the maddening limitations to which women scientists were subjected in the mid-20th century—eyeforking yet unsurprising. 

I wouldn’t recommend this book to every theatrical dyer, or even everyone who works with color in a scientific, commercial, or artistic context. I can only say that if this review intrigues you, definitely check it out.

In addition to a whole library of instructional books on dyeing as both a science and an art, I’ve read and appreciated various other color-themed books, so you may also find these other titles interesting:

• Color Charts by Anne Varichon
• Color: A Natural History of the Palette by Victoria Findlay
• A Perfect Red by Amy Butler Greenfield
• Mauve by Simon Garfield