Style Starters: Celebrating The Beauty Of Black Women Rocking Bold Colors In High Fashion

@queennyakimofficial Instagram/Essie Nakan

By Avon Dorsey · December 6, 2020 Updated

This season, the fashion industry forecasted bold, neon-hue colors as the next big trend. As expected, the masses followed suit and the idea trickled down from the retailers to the streets.

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Funny enough, we didn’t need the powers-that-be to tell us that wearing bright colors is ‘a thing.’ In fact, Black women have always rocked phenomenal outfits that incorporate our favorite bursts of color. Get Tickets To The 2018 ESSENCE Street Style Block Party! From Betty Davis to Coretta Scott King, Erykah Badu to Patti Labelle,our stylish ladies have always shined in every shade. Scroll through for a look back at the evolution of Black women rocking bold colors in fashion and then be sure to grab your tickets to join us as we celebrate all things Black fashion, beauty and style at the 2018 ESSENCE Street Style Festival!

Give us a bold color and we’ll give you a look you won’t forget

Like Solange in this stunning, mustard yellow, symmetrical dress, there’s no color we don’t rock well.

Slaying in every shade

ESSENCE cover girls Jada Pinkett-Smith, Queen Latifah, Regina Hall and Tiffany Haddish give us a colorful rainbow of jewel-tone dresses — once again demonstrating how melanin is the perfect compliment to a fiery, bold color scheme.

An iconic combination

From Lena Horne in this perfectly plum number, Rosa Parks in a blush pink ensemble, to the pop of color radiating from Susan L. Taylor’s jewelry, our queens going bright and bold on the mainstream scene has been a tradition for decades.

A Colorful Melody

Taking the trend from the runway, to the stage, to music videos, Erykah Badu and her “bag ladies” gave us candy-dipped flava.

Go Green Or Go Home

We can even pull off bold colors from head to toe, as seen with Issa Rae’s citrus lime pantsuit that turned all the heads!

The Bold and the Beautiful

Tyra Banks stunned in this lemon flavored number, reminding the world that pairing bold colors with naturally textured hair can result in the chicest of looks.

Colorblocking 101

Stunning actress Dorothy Dandridge gave us Earth Mother ‘muted jewel tones’ for this 1951 film poster.

Politically Fabulous

Civl Rights icon Coretta Scott King was never afraid to add a little color to any political space. She had us swooning in red….and a hint of blue…at this 2005 gala.

Lady Slays The Blues

The Festival scene is our fashion playground and supermodel Chanel Iman’s ‘baby blue’ dress was a hit for Coachella 2018.

Bey Fearless. Bey Colorful.

Beyoncé’s gloriously melanated Coachella performance was made that more epic with this neon-hued pink crop top.

Dreaming In Color

Songstress Betty Davis was a technicolor dream in this 1969 photoshoot.

50 Shades of Slay

In our ESSENCE July 1992 issue, we painted the town in multi-colors of street style!

Shine Bright Like A Diamond

Sharam Diniz gives us Ankara-print glam vibes with violet ruffle details—we stan a bold, colorful queen!

The Best To Ever Do It

Sudanese model Nyakim and this breathtaking photo perfectly sum up the history of Black women rocking bold colors in high fashion: nobody does it better.