Why Black Clothing is Versatile & Attractive

A true or blood red stirs me, such as when I see a luscious, red rose.

However, my love affair with red is not as frequent as my love affair with the color, black. I have worn and enjoyed these colors for 18 years now, and black especially is my go to color to wear or decorate with at any given moment. 

Black is by far the best color, not only loved by goths, minimalists, artists, writers, actors, priests and the French, to name a few. 

The majority of the clothing I wear is black, with the occasional dash of red, white or purple close to my face as black tends to wash me out (but which does not deter me from giving it up). Here are some of the reasons why I prefer black:

13 REASONS TO WEAR BLACK

1. It lends to an air of mystery.
   • Black is a simple, but highly complex color. Some people like to get attention from loud colors, but I think subtle attention is real attention. Personally, I am much more intrigued and attracted to a man wearing black, than one wearing color, for instance. It makes me wonder why he is so low key and not seeking attention, and makes him more intriguing. It is the same for women I meet, even just to be friends with.
2. It lends to an air of sophistication.
   • This is why the French are known to love it, why the little black dress is symbolized worldwide to be the article of clothing of elegance.Black clothing looks very elegant, even if it is just a black tshirt and jeans.
3. It matches everything.
   • This is one of my favorite ones. I can spend my time in the morning selecting lovely accessories, rather than worrying if my clothing matches. That time saved means I can have breakfast, which I have the terrible habit of skipping due to bad time management. Having only or mostly black clothing also means that you need less clothing because you don't have to worry about matching, and people don't notice as much if you wear the same item twice.
4. Easier laundry care
   • You do not have to worry about your clothes running in the laundromat if they are all the same color: black! White gets dingy after a while, and sometimes red runs in color. Even if you have a red item amongst mostly black, if it runs in the wash, it rarely shows on the black clothing.
5. Less likelihood of staining
   • I used to wear white t-shirts under black jackets, but the very day that I wore them, would be they day they got stained by pasta sauce or curry. I am not a klutz, but it seems so ironic that this always happened on the day I am wearing white or red. So, now even if I wear red, it is as an under-layer with black as the over layer or a as a bottom, such as a lovely, long red and black skirt that I have. Some of my black items do have just a trim of red lace, but they do not show stains as they are so small.
6. It is appropriate for any situation
   • Black is appropriate for work, for school, for weddings and formal occasion. I believe that at Indian weddings all black is seen as not being a festive color, although in the culture, black is also seen as the powerful color of the god Krishna and the goddess Kali. That is the only instance where I think black can be seen as inappropriate. However, the solution is easy, if you have an Indian wedding to go to, purchase a black sari with silver, gold or red decoration, or just wear a different color scarf (dupatta) with it, such as a red scarf, which is seen as good luck. Caveat, don't wear all red to an Indian or Chinese wedding as the bride usually wears that color, and white is the color of mourning in both cultures.
7. It's slimming and makes you have a nice silhouette.
8. It looks neater in your closet as well as while you are wearing it.
   • It may be personal preference, but I find that people look more put together when wearing black. Plus, in your closet, it looks very neat, and less like a cluttered mess such as when you have different colors. I am very visual and affected by colors, so it makes me calm in the morning to look into my closet and see a neat black set of clothing.
9. It lends to an air of confidence and intelligence. 
   • People wearing black always seem more refined ore intelligence to me. It evokes a confidence that one does not have to call attention to oneself or proove anything to others, which is the true measure of confidence in my opinion.
10. It is a powerful color.
    • Think of the black suit, the priest's robe, the color of the gods Krishna and Kali, etc. These are all symbols of power.
11. It is a sexy color.
    • I can't describe it, but the look of black lace or a man in a black t-shirt and jeans is incredibly sexy. It may be due to all the associations with black that I have made thus far, or black just has that effect in itself.
12. It makes me feel at home in myself.
    •  This is the whole reason that I started loving and wearing mostly black. It was not because my friends were all wearing black or because some magazine told me that black was trendy to wear. It just felt right and comfortable when I wear it, like I am sinking into my own skin.
13. It makes shopping easy and saves time. 
    • I have no worries about going through racks of clothing to find the perfect hue or item that will go with something else. My second worn color is red, and sparingly, green. However, I only like one hue in both of those colors - blood red and hunter green. There are time where I have purchased items and the color looks different in different lighting, which is very frustrating and time consuming to have to do the return process. With black, it's black in the store and black at home. Time saved.

1. Please share why you enjoy wearing black.