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Wear black at night

Ever since meeting a billionaire’s wife who only ever wore black when she went out at night, I swore to do the same thing. I’ve been doing this for getting on for two years now and it works an absolute treat. Sure, she’s wearing Dior and I’m wearing Comptoir Des Cotonniers, but who cares.

A lot of people feel bad about wearing black, just generally. They think it’s boring, or it’s cheating or it’s funereal or something. And to those people I say: knock yourself out. Wear as much colour as you want! Twist yourself up in knots about whether or not this goes with that. I’ve been ready for ages – I’ll meet you at the bar.

But if you don’t care, if you just want to be able to get dressed to go out without thinking about it, if you don’t want to risk ever turning up and looking wrong or out of place, just only ever wear black.

I have got three black dresses, two pairs of black trousers, a black jacket, a black shirt and some black sweaters and – for going out at night at least – that’s it. Those are my options and it’s very relaxing.

“I always wear the same thing at night,” I will say at dinner when the conversation comes round to clothes.

“No you don’t,” says everyone. “Yes I do,” I say calmly. “You just don’t notice, because that’s the way it is. Because it basically doesn’t matter what you’re wearing, as long as it’s black.”

“But you don’t,” they will insist, getting a bit angry now – you can’t always wear the same thing, that’s not… possible! It’s not… feasible! If you wear the same thing every time you go out then what’s the point?! Is anyone noticing what they are wearing? (Answer: Only if you look awful!)

Magazines and newspapers do not suggest that you wear black when you go out because black looks bad in photos. Look:

Screen Shot 2015-10-06 at 11.47.09

This is a probably very nice dress, from Zara. It is perky and playful with little frills down the front and a pie-crust collar. I am seriously considering adding this to my stable of black party dresses. But in the photo, it looks awful, you can’t see where it starts or ends or anything. So black is a hard “sell” on the page and when fashion editors want to put together a shoot, they don’t want to feature a lot of black dresses. But I’m telling you, if you find it tricky to get dressed for an evening out, especially if you have got small children – just wear black.

I accessorise, obviously. With gold! Anything, as long as it’s gold. Gold is my One Colourful Thing at night. If you see a woman in Soho past 7pm, being knocked down at a zebra crossing and she’s wearing a lot of black and gold, call my husband because it’s ME!

I also came across just now, also in Zara, this very nice clutch, which would nicely update my all-black evening wardrobe: I am channelling Jo Elvin’s Ox Blood pantsuit (but only a bit).

Screen Shot 2015-10-06 at 11.44.40

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Comments

  1. Charlotte says

    October 8, 2015 at 9:00 am

    Yes to all of this. I always wear the same black things, used to care at bit but now don’t at all as I figured the only person who notices is me. Am thinking of adding to my repertoire with a black jumpsuit though, so versatile!

    Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      October 8, 2015 at 9:18 am

      modern!!!!! do it

      Reply
  2. vickimead says

    October 8, 2015 at 10:44 am

    I wear black, all black sometimes. I have the most gorgeous pair of hipster boot cut black jeans, black boots and I wear with a tight black top. I kid on I look a bit like catwoman, the Michelle Pfeiffer version. Actually I look like a small slightly faded chipmonk without the red lippy. There’s no real relevance here, I just wanted to think about Batman, Michael Keaton version for a minute or two. Esther – you look amazing in the olive green I’ve seen you wearing in pics. You probably look amazing in black too.

    Reply
  3. theminx (@DaMinxy1) says

    October 8, 2015 at 2:45 pm

    I used to do that, too. I had one beautiful, well-fitting, black wrap dress that I wore to every social event. I accessorized it with jewelry I had made myself, and people seemed only to notice the jewelry and not the dress. My husband, though not as persnickety as yours, prefers that I not wear black constantly so I have gotten out of the habit. (I say that I as am wearing head-to-toe black today. But I am going to be on TV later and don’t want to be noticed.)

    Reply
  4. Yui Snowdon says

    October 8, 2015 at 8:43 pm

    Is the black dress still available in shop ? I want one ! 🙂 X

    Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      October 8, 2015 at 9:08 pm

      I haven’t tried it on, can’t vouch for it… but here it is! http://www.zara.com/uk/en/woman/dresses/view-all/dress-with-ruffles-c733885p3062036.html

      Reply
  5. laurawelsh says

    October 8, 2015 at 9:29 pm

    I look bloody awful in black but great in navy. Do you reckon I could just do this instead?

    Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      October 9, 2015 at 11:16 am

      yes

      Reply
  6. Tess says

    October 9, 2015 at 8:31 am

    Just recently decided to wear black all the time. Loving it.

    Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      October 9, 2015 at 11:17 am

      it’s SO GREAT. it’s so freeing

      Reply
  7. Lillymo26 says

    October 10, 2015 at 8:09 pm

    Hello ! Do you have any recommendation about childrens clothes ? I buy my daughter’s clothes from Boden once in a while. Where do you shop for your childrens clothes ?

    Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      October 11, 2015 at 9:10 am

      Boden definitely and then H&M and sometimes Gap if I’m feeling very generous. Bonpoint is simply not worth the money and their clothes are so fragile you will tear holes in them in seconds BUT they do the absolute best best best girls’ tights. Worth it xxx

      Reply
      • Yui Snowdon says

        October 11, 2015 at 1:29 pm

        Thank you ! Will try all those. Xx

        Reply
  8. Snolly says

    October 12, 2015 at 4:50 pm

    I hear you, I am ALWAYS in black. The angsty goth phase never went away for me, it just aged like fine wine.
    Do you think having bright orange hair counts as your one colourful thing?

    Reply
    • esthermcoren says

      October 12, 2015 at 6:04 pm

      yes

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Weekly Index: 9th October 2015 says:
    October 9, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    […] Just wear black at night, it’s simple, and who has time to colour co-ordinate these […]

    Reply

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