Issue Date: December 12, 2004

Think pink (or any other color) this holiday season

By Mary Ellin Lerner

Elvis bemoaned his blue Christmas, and Crosby crooned his paean to a white one. This year, Yule's coolest are dreaming of a holiday splashed with shades of purple, orange and other untraditional colors.

"Think hot pink," advises the Pier 1 Imports holiday catalog, displaying an array of fuchsia and purple ornaments, along with rosy-hued cushions and Christmas stockings.

Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Mich., the world's largest Christmas store, weighs in with neon yellow, orange, pink and green smiley-face ornaments and "imperial purple" tinsel.

Thom Filicia, Pier 1 spokesman and interior design maven of Bravo's "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," says there's a new individualism at the holidays, allowing us to move beyond staid reds and greens to more creative themes and colors. Christmas has long been celebrated as a season stretching from Thanksgiving to New Year's -- and in today's multicultural society, Filicia says, that season also encompasses Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. "People are building a broader palette that takes them through the holidays," he says. "They are also making celebrations personal. That's why you're seeing all these vibrant colors. It's a way of making the holidays your own."