Photo: Style.com at Whistles SS15 show. (I bought those shoes!)
In my mind, there is no ‘new black’. Not pink, not denim, not anything. There is only black, and it is timeless and perfect. Black can be draining and unkind to ageing skin. Sometimes,I don’t care. I still love it. It is an inky security blanket. Black is Urban. Elegant. Mysterious. More importantly, badass.
When I first got out of school and went to work in New York, Norma Kamali and Donna Karan were my fashion heroines, and EVERYTHING they did was black (it was the early 90’s) so that time period is sealed in my brain in the way that your Style gets set, and sometimes frozen, unfortunately, in certain eras. The convenient thing about black is that if you have a lot of it, your whole wardrobe goes together. I had the choice of either having a nervous breakdown (sort of) or taking a year off in 1995. Since that was an easy decision (I opted for the year off instead of the breakdown) I decided to travel around Europe by myself for a year. I took a black blazer, a few black knit dresses, a pair of black pinstriped palazzo trousers, black heels, black tights, a black scarf, a black cardigan, black biker boots, black sunglasses, and a pewter coloured leather backpack. Everything went with everything, and nothing looked dirty or coffee stained, because, you know… black. I look back on the photos from that year, and the clothes still look good now, because black doesn’t date.
Just because it is spring time, and there are tulips and daffodils on every patch of lawn, that doesn’t mean I’m going to start dressing like a handful of sugared almonds. Nope, you’ll still see me in plenty of black on the blog, flattering or not. A few of my favourite items of clothing that I’ve had for decades are black. I’ll never wear it exclusively like I used to, but it will always have a space in my closet and heart.
6 Comments
Cynthia
March 31, 2015 at 12:27 AMGreat blog! Especially love the last photo that has black and a color. This year, I am dedicated to shades of blue with black as we head toward summer.
Lisa
March 31, 2015 at 2:29 PMThank you, Cynthia xx. I also love black with colour; there is a Christopher Kane black shift dress with a tiny bit of acid-bright lace on it that I am dying for at the moment….
Lana
March 31, 2015 at 6:46 AMThanks so much for stopping by my blog today, so that I could find yours! I love your writing style. I don’t have much black in my wardrobe, although it’s actually a pretty good color on me. Because I live in gray Seattle, I tend to wear a lot of color – maybe to brighten up the day? But I agree – you can never go wrong with black.
Lisa
March 31, 2015 at 2:28 PMHi Lana! I’m sure black is good on you; it almost always works on a blonde 😉
une femme
March 31, 2015 at 7:33 PMOh, you’re a woman after my own heart! There’s something about wearing black that makes me feel so grounded, and visible on my own terms. I’ll never give it up. Love this post!!!
Lisa
March 31, 2015 at 8:44 PMThank you, une femme! xx