Green’s Reality Is Serious

UPDATE: Le Creuset has joined the Zelensky Green initiative (which I just made up). The newest color for its Dutch ovens and other enameled-cast-iron cookware is Olive Green.

—Nancy McKeon

The military green of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s T-shirt shows the serious side of the color, while the giddy green of Bottega Veneta’s spring suit reflects the color’s message of rebirth.

By Nancy McKeon

THE TELEVISED IMAGE of Ukraine’s incredibly steadfast Volodymyr Zelensky in an army-green T-shirt cannot be what fashion prognosticators envisaged a year ago when they declared that green would be the color of 2022.

They were forecasting fashions like the vivid Kelly green suits and dresses that Bottega Veneta marched down the runway for this spring. Or the Beata Coated Jeans in Emerald from The Frankie Shop, pants that threaten to redefine the word “vivid.” And Allure magazine has assured us that green is 2022’s biggest beauty trend, including but not limited to lime eye shadow.

So emeralds, having nothing to do with the Isle or the fact of today’s being St. Patrick’s Day, are everywhere. Except in my closet or even in my neighborhood. On the streets I see men and women punctuating the usual New York black with lightweight khaki-green quilted jackets and army-green barn jackets. At this gloomy moment, it just seems right.

I’m a fan of green in many of its shades and manifestations. But I think I’ll hold out for vivid flashes of greenery in objects around me, rather than turn myself into a plump four-leaf clover. Here are a few things that have caught my eye, with a nod or two to the more outré ideas out there,

LEFT: For those who dare, the “Just My Luck” eyeshadow palette from Colourpop has a nine-pan green and coordinating shadow, $14.

RIGHT: Part of Williams-Sonoma’s new Famille Rose collection, this serving bowl looks like spring is springing all by itself. Made of hand-trimmed porcelain, it’s about 10½ inches in diameter and $59.95.

Bottega Veneta sent this suit, right, down the aisle for spring 2022, but I’m hoping the color trickles down to the cute little Cassette bag in Parakeet ($1,000).

LEFT: From Cos comes this $69 oversized shirt in cotton. There are plenty of the shirts available in normal blue and white, but the pink and green are almost gone.

RIGHT: Embracing the green trend, the Moonlight Ankle Boot from Louis Vuitton is $1,720.

From the Bunny Toile collection of Michel Design Works, paper cocktail napkins are $8.99 for a package of 20 napkins (luncheon size is $9.99 for 20). The hostess napkins are $9.99 for 15. Not shown: a glass Bunny Toile soap dish, about 5 by 6 inches, for $12.99.

LEFT: We’ve seen color coming back into drinking glasses for a couple of years now, but not as spring-like and cheerful as these, the Morro Stemless Wine Glasses from Anthropologie. Handmade of soda-lime glass, they’re $48 for a set of four. Anthropologie calls the color Pink, but we know it’s Green.

RIGHT: From Hermès, “Danse Pacifique” pays homage to Papua New Guinea in a classic 36-inch-square silk twill scarf. In this colorway (there are six others), it’s as fresh as spring itself. $480 at Hermès boutiques and Hermès.com.

LEFT: This découpage “Frog Close-Up” rectangular glass tray is 11 by 14 inches, its image dating from the early 20th century. It’s $185, and made by hand by John Derian Company, of course.

RIGHT: The hand-glazed stoneware Lilypad Platter is almost 21 inches long and 12 inches wide. It’s $78 at Anthropologie. (The Lilypad Serving Set, also shown, is handcrafted of stainless steel and is $38.)

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