The word ombre means 'shade', and with fabrics the effect is obtained (in this white to navy dress, for example) by dipping the fabric in dye for increasing amounts of time, so that the one piece of fabric has a whole range of colour hue, from pale to dark, or vice versa. You could also use different pieces of cloth, leaving each one in the dye pot for progressively longer periods of time, so that the colour intensifies with each dipping.
Flowers can also be selected and arranged this way, as in the pink table centre from Martha Stewart Weddings.You would probably obtain the best effect by using many different types of flowers so that the colour range can be more nuanced.
I'll never forget, however, the impression of the way that the same flowers are graded by colour at the flower market at Covent Garden. Here in Melbourne, we don't have the luxury of such a range.
