Ombré

See also: Color gradient

File:Kleurenovergang van zwart naar blauw.png

Ombre: black to blue

Ombre /ämbər/ or less used "ombré" means shading or shadow. The word is applied primarily in this article to describe the gradual blending of one color hue to another, usually moving tints and shades from light to dark. The word's mispronunciation and misuse among as "ombré" (used in the title of this article) comes from the confusion of the English and French word for shadows or shading "ombre" (without the accented "e") with the word "hombre", which is a false cognate, a word that actually means "man" in Spanish. The word correctly pronounced rhymes with the English word "somber" /sämbər/.

Shading has always been a commonly seen as a treatment wherever coloring is applied and has been. It has became a popular feature for hair coloring, nail art, and even baking, in addition to its uses in home decorating and graphic design.

In fashion

History

Using shading or creating an "ombre" effect is ubiquitous. For instance, in fabric printing, using a special printing block called a 'rainbowed' block, was used in the early 19th century to produce textiles with graduated color designs. Om as a textile treatment came back into fashion in around 1840 and was used throughout the 19th century. In machine embroidery an ombre effect was achieved by dyeing the threads in graded colors beforehand.

21st century

Dog The Bounty Hunter's ombre hair, 2007

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Khloe Kardashian in 2011

Ombre as a hair colouring technique is believed to have been popularised in 2000 when the artist Aaliyah had her hair dyed in a subtle gradual fade from black at the roots to lighter towards the hair tips. As of 2010, the ombre hair trend was still popular. The style has been adopted by many A-list celebrities such as Alexa Chung, Lauren Conrad, Nicole Kidman, Beyoncé, and even Jared Leto, among others. One stylist finds that the ombre hairstyle requires very little upkeep, making it easier for it to remain on trend. While ombre was initially the gradual lightening of the hair from dark to light, it has expanded to take on various other techniques, including the fading of a natural color from the roots to a more unnatural color (such as turquoise or lavender) at the tips.

The popularization of ombre hair encouraged the spread of the ombre technique to other facets of beauty, such as nail art. The adoption of the ombre nails trend by celebrities like Lauren Conrad, Victoria Beckham, and Katy Perry, helped popularise it.

Other uses

Home

File:Purple ombre cake.jpg

A cake with purple ombre frosting.

Following the early 21st century trend, many popular home decorators have incorporated ombre into their home decorating styles. Martha Stewart describes the gentle progression of color in ombre as a transition from wakefulness to slumber. Ombre can be used in many products from textiles to glassware, and as a wall-painting technique, where walls are painted in colors graduating to a lighter or darker tone towards the other end.

Baking

In baking, ombre effects are typically achieved through applied techniques such as frosting on a cake; but it is possible to bake individual cake layers in graduated tones from light to dark.