Black is the new black

Top: Forever 21;

Polka-dot skirt: thrifted;

Belt: Ann Taylor Loft;

Shoes: Clarks;

Scarf: H&M, Nyc;

Clutch: House of Le'Moore.

When I was younger, I associated wearing all black to being a sign of coolness, something that belonged to artists, New Yorkers, Parisians, jazz musicians and creative intellectuals. It evoked mystery and sophistication to me. I never thought it was weird to wear all one color,especially when it looked so chic on many people.

As I got older, the color lost some of its cachet. My mom told me to wear less of it because she associated it with death and aging -- she thought the color made me seem older than my years. In time, all black to me became part of Western culture's associations with goths, death and funeral homes.

It's funny how we can have a bias against a color, and how a color can have so many different connotations to it. Now that I'm working retail, I'm trying to infuse that younger sentimentality to make my all-black dress code more bearable. Black is cool, I tell myself. Everything about this outfit is really basic, but there are hints of personality thrown in because of the pattern-mixing and color palette.

This thrifted skirt is new to the blog; I've had it for a couple months and haven't really been able to style it well because the waist is too big for me. After last week's successful skirt-styling, I decided to try it again by wearing it high on my waist and cinching it with a belt.

I was thinking that I'd get in trouble for wearing the scarf because it was bright and hid my nametag a little (which I have no problem with but of course makes me seem estranged from the whole working there thing), but instead I got a lot of compliments today from coworkers and a couple of customers. Note to self: see what else I can get away with wearing while also keeping to the all-black code. I see black skinny pants and a leather skirt in my future...

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