The mauve measles: when purple went viral
About this episode
Kassia St Clair joins Beks to discuss the impact of mauveine, the first synthetic dye, on Victorian culture and fashion.
A teenage chemist’s accidental discovery didn’t just revolutionise colour history – it sparked a viral Victorian colour craze! Cultural historian Kassia St Clair joins Beks to uncover the story of mauveine – the world’s first synthetic aniline dye. Practically overnight, this striking purple became a mass-market sensation. Mauve reshaped Victorian fashion and left a legacy that stretches all the way from a laboratory in Victorian London’s East End to portraits of icons like Oprah Winfrey. ------- Kassia is the author of books including 'The Secret Lives of Colour', 'The Golden Thread' and 'Liberty: Design. Pattern. Colour'. She specialises in telling stories about the overlooked and everyday. ------- Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ddv3yLM6VeQ You can email us with any questions via podcast@nationalgallery.org.uk Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast ------- Paintings mentioned: Sir Arthur Stockdale Cope, ‘Sir William Henry Perkin’, 1906. © National Portrait Gallery, London…
People in this episode
Host: Beks
Guest: Kassia St Clair
Topics covered
- synthetic dye
- Victorian fashion
- colour history
- cultural history
- aniline dye
Keywords
- mauveine
- Victorian colour craze
- synthetic dye
- fashion history
- Kassia St Clair
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The National Gallery
Books & works: Sir William Henry Perkin, The Marriage of Victoria, Princess Royal
More episodes of Stories in Colour
- Pink is for girls, blue is for boys
- The hunt for the blackest black
- Rediscovering history’s women colour theorists
- Decoding paintings through colour
- Deadly chemical cousins: oranges and yellows
- A blue more expensive than gold − ultramarine
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