Kerry Parnell: Orange one of the hottest colours of the new season

Donald Trump might be out of the White House but he and his wife Melania appear to be on-trend, with orange one of the hottest colours of the new season, Kerry Parnell reveals.

Orange is having a moment. It might be out of the White House but it’s back in style.

When Donald Trump departed this week, one legacy he left was his tangerine tone. From Nigella Lawson throwing shade with his, er, shade, to Melania’s choice of freedom frock, orange really is the new black.

The former first lady boarded Air Force One on Wednesday in a trademark black Chanel suit and Louboutins, then must have pegged it to the bathroom and flung off her clothes like she just couldn’t aBidem, before emerging at Mar-a-Lago in a dramatic flowing orange Gucci kaftan and flats.

Short of singing, “I’m free, to do what I want, any old time”, she couldn’t have made her message clearer.

She’s also on-trend, with orange one of the hottest colours of the new season. According to Vogue, 2021 is all about “joyful dressing”, with designers filling the recent runways with sunshine yellows, citrus oranges and hot pinks.

Former US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania move on from the White House but not the orange trend. Picture: Alex Edelman/AFP

Weirdly, everyone has gone nuts for eating oranges too. Nigella Lawson won Twitter on Wednesday when she shared a Bitter Orange Tart as her recipe of the day.

“I should also let you know that if you don’t have Seville oranges, the recipe also gives the option of using the juice of regular eating oranges,” she added, which was just as well because half the world has run out of Seville oranges thanks to another bizarre trend – lockdown marmalade.

Liz Hurley is in on it, this week posting a photo on Instagram, proudly brandishing jars of her homemade marmalade, whilst wearing a teeny-tiny crop top. She might be doing a lot of lockdown baking, but she surely can’t be doing much lockdown eating if her endless stream of bikini selfies – including a Santa-hatted one on Christmas Eve – are anything to go by. I say this bitterly jealous, of course and I haven’t munched so much as a mandarin.

“Lockdown has turned me into a demented housewife: 47 jars of marmalade nestling in my larder with more Seville oranges awaiting me,” she wrote.

Ex-boyfriend Hugh Grant said what we all thought, posting “Paddington 3”. What our duffle-coat-wearing furry friend from Peru would make of Liz’s efforts, we don’t know, but hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to find out. Because if we’re talking marmalade, then this surely has to be the year the long-awaited Paddington threequel gets out of whatever production jam it’s stuck in. (Let’s paws and see what I did there.)

Orange is also seeping into our homes – with the bright and bold hue tipped as a hot new trend in everything from sofas to cushions and feature walls.

To go with your orange clothes, food and furniture, it stands to reason you’ll want to paint yourself in the stuff too. Orange eyeshadow, lipstick and even blusher are being tipped as the new season’s “sexiest trend”, which will be some small consolation for The Donald.

Finally, you’ll also need to dye orange streaks in your hair, a la Bella Hadid, who showed off her flame-coloured fashion-forward look on New Year’s Eve.

But be warned – don’t do it all at once, or you’ll be less directional and more doompety dee.

If you are wise, you’ll listen to me.