Is Black the New Black?

In all black with my friend,
Denise

          I get a lot of flack for wearing nothing but black. I usually add some color to my outfit but it’s pretty much 100%  of the time black pants, be they slacks or sweats. And, honestly, I prefer all black with no pop of color. I probably have 30 pairs of black pants and at least that many black tops, sweaters, and jackets. There's for sure a pair of black pants underneath that blue top in my blog pic.

          I just like black. I think it’s a versatile color that goes with anything. It can be dressy or casual. You can wear black to work, out for the evening, around the house and to the beach. I do own a couple pair of jeans but my favorites are the black ones. In my opinion there are only two colors that don’t go with black and that is navy blue and brown.

          Here are my reasons for loving black so much:  It’s slimming, it looks sophisticated, it goes with everything, it can be dressy or casual and it doesn’t show dirt as easy as lighter colors. I sometimes wonder if I chose Kali, my cat, because she’s all black. When I got married recently I choose to wear a ‘nicer’ pair of my black slacks with a silk jacket rather than a gown of any color.

          Hey, I’m not the only one out there who wears black all the

time. I’ve seen you. Plus lots of celebrities and style icons reinforce the all-black attire. Steve Jobs always wore a black mock turtleneck with his jeans and tennis shoes.  Carrie Donovan, who was fashion editor for Vogue, Harpers and the NYTimes Magazine, wore large eyeglasses, black clothing and pearls. Remember her? Then, of course, we can’t forget the ‘man in black’ Johnny Cash or Michael Kors who is known for wearing black pants, t-shirt and jacket most of the time.

          I think it’s fun to watch our fashion as we get older. There’s a tendency to get stuck in a particular style trend somewhere along the way. You know, you’ve seen people who have eyeglasses with wings or who are wearing stirrup pants well past their fashion trendiness. What about leg warmers, shoulder pads or fingerless gloves? I’m guilty also of keeping the same hairstyle for the last several decades. I wonder if wearing all of such a vapid color is another style rut for me.

          Personally, I'm sure wearing black all the time is lazy. I don’t have to think about coordinating an outfit everyday. I can live with that laziness if it frees me to do other things. The bottom line for me is that I wear what I wear because it’s comfortable. What about you? Do you think black is the most versatile color? Do you think it's just plain boring?


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