Melanie & Doreen – Style md – are Toronto-based wardrobe consultants and personal stylists. stylemd.ca
by Doreen Binder
On a recent balmy June evening, seven of us gathered at a downtown restaurant to celebrate a friend’s birthday. All of us, women, showed up wearing basic black. We had all personalized our colour choice in some way. Some in head-to-toe black with a great piece of jewellery. Others mixed it with white. One friend boldly paired her black twinset with splashy red pants. Another women added a punch of fuchsia with a flower nestled at her bosom. Someone else wore an ecru lace top trimmed with ruffles.
We laughed about our wardrobe selection. A few of us admitted to swapping white ensembles for black at the very last minute because they just did not feel right. I was one of those people. White can look very fresh, but it seemed to me to be too casual for an evening at a French bistro.
At our table it was unanimous, black was a go-to colour for when we wanted to feel elegant or chic ⎯ winter or summer. It was also the choice on an off day, when we were not feeling so great about our bodies, ourselves, and just needed to feel pulled together.
Does this mean that we never wear brights or pastels? Hardly. I personally love lots of colour. I love having the options of all the colours of the rainbow. But for me black is like a longtime friend, easy, comfortable and reliable and sometimes just what I need in a pinch.
