Yellow or Savoy? An Introduction to the Nineties

The debate around the Eighteen Nineties in England has often led to consider that decade as a phase characterised by a widespread dissemination of ideas, attitudes, and works related to Dec- adence and Aestheticism. The analysis of some aspects of the two most important magazines of the time might offer a more correct introduction to the period, with all its contradictions and complex- ity. The yellow colour, which appeared to connote the decade and gave the name to its most famous magazine, was only one of a series of colours that tinged the period, and The Yellow Book and The Savoy, while trying to find a difficult balance among different trends and needs, reflected more than a single current or attitude, offering a composite and complete picture of those years.