With warm weather arriving, it's starting to feel like we've actually made it through the other side of winter. You might even dare to say that there's a sense of optimism in the air. However short that lasts, the euphoria that arrives with the sun has crystallized our sartorial needs for spring — sage.
A light green shade, sage is the perfect transitional color if you’ve been sticking to darker hues over winter. It’s light, but not garish and just looking at it calms you down. It also doesn't hurt that the plant itself has cleansing connections, with some Native American tribes burning sage before prayers or to purify a space (just maybe don't do it yourself).
Sage clothing also acts as the perfect neutral as Jane Boddy, European Creative Contributor at The Pantone Institute, explains. "It's definitely at the softer end of the green spectrum and it's this softness that makes sage more calming and soothing than some of the more chlorophyll fused greens that are a part of the conversation. What's really important about this tone, is how it's almost grey. This enables it to be seen and used as a neutral."
The color first started infiltrating our lives back in January 2020 with designers like Jacquemus showing all-sage tonal fits, and has popped up in a slightly darker iteration in the SS21 collections (our favorite is Lemaire’s various takes on the shade). Clearly, sage isn’t going anywhere and if you haven’t added the calming color to your wardrobe, now is the time.
Below, we've rounded up the best sage pieces out there.
