Outfits featuring red and white, or orange to commemorate residential school victims
By Sonam Kaloti, Arts Editor
This year, some Canadians are opting to adorn orange instead of the classic red and white flag colours for Canada Day to commemorate residential school victims. While some Canadians want to cancel Canada Day completely, others will simply be swapping red and white for orange to raise awareness and honour the Indigenous children who were forcibly taken to residential schools throughout history.
There are plenty of ways to fashion orange even though it is one of the arguably harder colours to work with. The line should be tread carefully since the orange is meant to raise awareness for Canada’s gruesome history of colonialism. If you opt to wear red and white though, go wild. Here are some outfit tips and tricks to overcome this stat holiday’s fashion crisis:
Orange
Orange shirts are being sold with fantastic slogans to raise awareness for Indigenous peoples which you can buy from the Orange Shirt Day website. Otherwise, any orange shirt will do. If you want to spice up your orange look, you can try some orange pants, hats, shoes, or makeup! Orange is the type of colour that silk and flowy material are made for, but it’s also great as a bold accent colour. Try long dresses, silk scarves, orange-rimmed sunglasses, orange leather, or an orange blazer with a matching clutch.
Overall, orange is a much more summer-friendly colour and emits the warmth of the season but pairing it with other colours is much more difficult. Black and white are the world’s most forgiving pairing colours, but you can also try the likes of magenta which won’t clash with orange but will fit in sync with its flavour of boldness.
Red and White
When it comes to the classic scheme, everything’s been said and done already. There’s no worry of underdressing or overdressing. You can go business, casual, or party, and it will not matter whatsoever—so dress comfortably and in something that makes you feel confident.
Dresses are great to welcome the vibe of summer, as well as an in-between of all dress codes. Red and white stripes, polka dots, or mix and match dress and stockings are sure to be a hit. Even a white blouse with a red skirt or shorts, or vice versa, will put an edge on the “casual but fashionable” front.
Personally, Canadian flags and logos on t-shirts and tanks feel tacky so I suggest opting for coloured patterns, but you do you. There’s room to carry a Canadian flag, or put on some maple leaf face paint, though.
Outside of coloured clothing, accessorizing is a must—it’s summer after all! Throw on some shades or a sun hat to finish off the look.
If you desire to go more business, put on a funky Canada-coloured dress jacket, or tie! Even red pocket napkins, fancy hats, or pulled-up socks are fun ways to spice up an otherwise everyday look.
Spruce up your look this Canada Day to show yourself off in your most confident skin. After nearly two years of the world rarely getting to see your fits, make this one count.
