mfad•9mo ago

Biomimicry Color Theory - Topic of the day 4/3/25

The biomimicry/biometic color theory contends that the most harmonious color combinations are those found in nature. Do you agree with this? And whether or not you agree, is this a common motif in your fits (whether intentional or not)?

Biomimetics

Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms "biomimetics" and "biomimicry" are derived from Ancient Greek: βίος (bios), life, and μίμησις (mīmēsis), imitation, from μιμεῖσθαι (mīmeisthai), to imitate, from μῖμο...

heckle•4/3/25, 4:02 PM

zacheadams•4/3/25, 4:06 PM

someone show me a fit that goes hard like my favorite pic of this year so far

zacheadams•4/3/25, 4:06 PM

https://www.dezeen.com/2021/11/15/auroboros-biomimicry-dress-crystalises-transforms-real-time/

zacheadams•4/3/25, 4:07 PM

https://www.reddit.com/r/malefashionadvice/comments/1280n1/the_biomimicry_color_theory_an_view_on_why_some/

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Weeg•4/3/25, 4:07 PM

Idk if i agree but i do really like making color combos that i see on my hikes and stuff

Weeg•4/3/25, 4:07 PM

Its just a different way of looking at color combos

zacheadams•4/3/25, 4:08 PM

dutch ballet x iris van herpen
https://www.operaballet.nl/en/articles/biomimicry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2hKZpqKcAg

Nationale Opera & Ballet

Biomimicry | Nationale Opera & Ballet

Major collaboration between Iris van Herpen and Dutch National Ballet

YouTubeIris van Herpen

Iris van Herpen x Dutch National Ballet ~ 'Biomimicry' Short Film

Iris van Herpen and Dutch National Ballet debut collaboration by unveiling the short film entitled ‘Biomimicry,’ featuring Jingjing Mao.

For the ‘Biomimicry’ film, Iris van Herpen and Dutch National Ballet explore the symbiotic relationship between the metamorphic force in which fashion and dance interlace. The film, directed by Ryan Mc...

NotDisliked•4/3/25, 4:08 PM

yeah easily can just function as a source of inspo, but there are plenty of incredible fits combining colors that cannot be found on god's green earth

Meaty,•4/3/25, 4:08 PM

yea i also like putting colors together that remind me of fox mcloud color palettes so idk

pinkkea•4/3/25, 4:13 PM

implying fox mccloud isn’t part of nature

ilya•4/3/25, 4:13 PM

I was about to say, the definition of nature matters

nowhereface•4/3/25, 4:18 PM

I graduated high school in art and ever since then this has become a part of my personality
I can‘t NOT think like this

awz5082•4/3/25, 4:21 PM

Good inspiration but not a source of color matching inspo for me. Also, in terms of nature + color matching, mammals lost the ability to see a good deal of the visual spectrum, which humans partially recovered through a mutation, so many bird, insect, etc colorations and other color combinations in nature are lost to us.

awz5082•4/3/25, 4:22 PM

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-birds-glow-blacklight

Atlas Obscura

Everything We Know About Birds That Glow

Owls, puffins, and lots of other flying friends exhibit fascinating patterns under blacklights.

awz5082•4/3/25, 4:24 PM

Fun series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYj-7IrjC4c

YouTubeNetflix

Life in Color with David Attenborough | Official Trailer | Netflix

Experience a world that has long been hidden from our eyes.

Watch Life in Color with David Attenborough https://www.netflix.com/lifeincolorwithdavidattenborough

SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/29qBUt7

About Netflix:
Netflix is the world's leading streaming entertainment service with 204 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV ser...

Ninjury•4/3/25, 4:28 PM

This feels like a good descriptive model of why some things work consistently well, but not necessarily a prescriptive one in that there are many many many color combinations that work that don’t fit the model

jfarrell468•4/3/25, 4:31 PM

This reminds me of a question I asked awhile back: why are our inner layers usually lighter (e.g. white shirt, dark jacket)? I don't think anyone came up with a good reason for why this usually looks better, but I think it's very interesting to try to understand why certain fits look good.

Ninjury•4/3/25, 4:45 PM

I was actually at a framer the other day who does framing for things like sculptures. I have a wooden piece I wanted framed, and he suggested a black background/surrounding. he said a lighter background than the object often drowns it out and removes focus.

But that seems almost opposite to menswear where usually the coat/jacket/tie is more interesting than the shirt - despite the general pattern of dark outside and light inside being similar

Jjfarrell468 This reminds me of a question I asked awhile back: why are our inner layers usua...

Gatan do rock•4/3/25, 5:05 PM

I think this might be historically correlated to ease of upkeeping. A darker outerwear protects lighter inner clothes from grime. Dyes could also be placed on outerwear that isn't so frequently washed to preserve the colors better. I'm not a historician though so this is all speculation.

heckle•4/3/25, 5:11 PM

No there’s something more visually appealing to it

Gatan do rock•4/3/25, 5:12 PM

I'd just say we're more culturally used to it

Ninjury•4/3/25, 5:23 PM

Maybe!

beans•4/3/25, 5:39 PM

Declarative value statements like "most harmonious" are absurd but taking color inspo from nature is lit

beans•4/3/25, 5:45 PM

Ninjury•4/3/25, 5:48 PM

I really like fall inspo: orange leaves, blue sky, brown tree trucks. Blue and orange are really nice together

Bbeans Click to see attachment

pacific_north_dressed•4/3/25, 5:54 PM

ya this is absolutely how I feel about it

pacific_north_dressed•4/3/25, 5:56 PM

that said, I love leopard and cheetah print, as well as snakeskin does that count as biomimicry

Steve•4/3/25, 6:09 PM

Most of nature is relatively muted earth tones. These tend to be inoffensive and work well together. It certainly doesn't mean other things "can't" though.

Steve•4/3/25, 6:13 PM

I think it's a great starting point for people just starting to think about matching clothes ala basic bastard wardrobe. It's funny this came up because without any attention to color theory per se, I am literally teaching my 3 year old to pick out clothes based on combos he sees in nature.

Steve•4/3/25, 6:15 PM

It is less about theory and more to break his belief that the only way to "match" is for everything to be literally the same color. So he shows up to school looking like a tomato or a blueberry

Zzacheadams dutch ballet x iris van herpen https://www.operaballet.nl/en/articles/biomimicry...

adaptation•4/3/25, 6:35 PM

I love this shit so much

adaptation•4/3/25, 6:35 PM

The closest Iris ever got to the perfect version of her dance-nature-fashion ethos imo

SSteve Most of nature is relatively muted earth tones. These tend to be inoffensive and...

beans•4/3/25, 6:49 PM

relatively muted earth tones

lies! nature is full of wonderful and bright colors!

Steve•4/3/25, 6:54 PM

It is! But "most" (proportionally) is varying shades of brown, green and blue. Which is tough to fuck up when combining them.

SSteve It is! But "most" (proportionally) is varying shades of brown, green and blue. W...

Tandy•4/3/25, 8:33 PM

I would argue that it’s more brown/gray, black and blue due to the sheer surface area the ocean takes up. 71% of the planet is ocean after all. Greens make up a much smaller portion

Steve•4/3/25, 8:44 PM

Fair enough, I was thinking places humans generally spend time. Regardless, my broader point was just that if the message means "wearing earthtones keeps you from looking like a clown" that's fair enough. The phrase "most harmonious" seems ridiculous though. Especially given - to beans' point - there are SO many colors combinations that exist in nature and certainly vary in how harmonious they are.

Steve•4/3/25, 8:51 PM

I.e. This exists in nature. I do not expect this photo/color combo will make it into most people's inspo folder

Tandy•4/3/25, 9:09 PM

I will also say that having purple so high up on the list can be construed as a cultural holdover to when purple dye was nightmarishly expensive. Ergo purple clothes must be done perfectly because culturally speaking it’s expensive looking. Also fluorescent/bright colors pop up in nature, baboon faces are bright and so are poison dart frogs. And bioluminescence is fluorescent, literally glowing and that pops up as well. The deep sea is full of weirdness like glowing bodies and deep sea gigantism

Zee•4/3/25, 10:10 PM

I do like earthy colours if thats what u mean?

brown & green
blue & gree

storymfg etc

Shrimp my Ride•4/4/25, 1:52 AM

I think like anything, these sorts of approaches and systems can be useful as ways to think about and organize colours...particularly if you are at the start of your fashion journey.

But I think once you have enough fits under your belt, you need to rely on your "sense" of what works, which I think is a combination of experience, emotion and probably innate talent.

You can always keep this stuff in mind, but in the end you wear what makes you feel happy and like yourself.

Balduin•4/4/25, 1:55 AM

I mean, I do sometimes choose a colour that can also be found in the very biological place of my eyes. And yes, that is something I intentionally choose, because it tends to look nice and bring out my eyes. Also happens to be one of my favourite colours in general, so that's a plus. I guess if you really want, you could call that biomimicry.
...but you don't have to. And other than that, I don't think I specifically go for nature inspiration... I just wear what I feel like.

SSteve I.e. This exists in nature. I do not expect this photo/color combo will make it ...

zeometer•4/4/25, 4:44 AM

i mean i see the vision https://discord.com/channels/1116793467654381685/1345665682179624971/1345670927588921364

Biomimicry Color Theory - Topic of the day 4/3/25

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