Coming Clean With My Ombré Obsession

When the ombré trend first hit the blogosphere, I  thought it was ridiculous how a certain style can so quickly rocket into a mass obsession.

But something happened during wedding planning. . . first I found myself falling for the ombré wedding invites, then an ombré style cake . . . and before I realized what had hit me, I was riding the lead horse of  that bandwagon.

Technically speaking, ombré is a French word that means “shaded.”   It’s hard to find a more particular definition, but to me it specifically evokes a gradual variation of color on an object.  For textiles and garments, it’s usually obtained by dip-dying fabrics.  But now that ombré is such a trend, there’s an overuse of the term, marketing bi-color dip-dyed items as ombré.

On Etsy, for example, many products are tagged “ombré” and appear in search results. . . many products that are just two solid lines of color change.

I’m picky about what ombré items I like. I like a subtle, murky change of color, from bold pink to the palest pink-tinged white for example. Or with watercolor – I like when you see the ebb and flow of the water and color over the paper.

When I was searching for bridesmaid clutches on Etsy, I couldn’t find any perfect ombré clutches, but I did fall in love with several bags.  Here they are!

Ombré Orange Pleated Slouch Tote by CheriDemeter on Etsy

Yellow Ombré Pleated Clutch by CheriDemeter on Etsy

Hand Dyed Blue Ombré Linen Tote by BVann on Etsy

Hand Dyed Canvas & Leather iPad Case by McLovebuddy on Etsy 

Bonus item!  I am seriously lusting after this Blue Beaded Ombre Bib Necklace by RachelMulherin on Etsy

What do you think about the ombré trend?

Do you think there’s a difference between ombré  and dip-dye?