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Its easy to mark the beginning of a style obsession when you have a blog and a search feature. The design*sponge lust for can be traced back to the 2008 Mini Trend: Ombré and Grace revisited the trend just last week.   Even in 2008, it seemed like ombré was already everywhere. So it was a bit surprising when I had a bit of trouble turning up much about the history.

It turns out that the word ombré is relatively new. In French, it means shaded or shadow, but in decorative arts it refers to a graduated color scheme that moves from light to dark. Its not a new concept its one that nature perfected. But historically, it refers to a method of dyeing fabric. The first recorded use of the word as a dying technique was in 1841, but didnt even enter the Oxford English Dictionary until 2005.

To bring the ombré look home,  you can try your hand at dip-dying fabrics or paper cups. Im planning on making an ombré fade cake for Valentines Day. There are also plenty of ombré options in stores.

In textiles, you can achieve the ombré fade through dip dying. The same effect can be achieved in glass or ceramics. In ceramics, Japanese artist Miyashita Zenji has perfected the art of a technique of applying overlapping, irregular and extremely thin bands of tinted clay in graduated hues from top to bottom to create a graduated color scheme.

I was a little surprised and disappointed to not turn up much more on this new word and trend. (However, it seems that if youre looking for ombré hairstyles, you have a lot of options.) If you have any sources to contribute, let me know. Otherwise, Ill keep digging. In the meantime, enjoy the color fade!

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