Whats with the Black

For those of you who believe that the world is not just black and white…and life is nothing but a multitude of greys must stop by at London. I have been here a little over 2 weeks and one of the first things that I observed about this place was - that everybody is ‘in black’. The second that thought struck my mind, I felt a mild sense of discomfort since for one I am a person who loves color – colors make me happy! And second and a more practical problem was that I did not have that many black clothes in my wardrobe…so what was I to do?

Is black the dominant code here…some unknown, unwritten rule that native Londoners know of and the new kids on the block just conform to, so as to fit in

Is it the color in vogue...has it been decided by fashion gurus as color of the season for winter 05…is that why people are all dressed in black since the stores would not just sell any other colors?

These and more thoughts about ‘black’ tossed around in my head until one day the rebellious streak in me took over and I dared to wear…a bright green winter jacket. I looked at myself in the mirror and affirmed…yeah that’s better…I don’t need to do things that I don’t believe in…I don’t need to follow the crowd…I don’t need to conform to some silly code that warrants people only wear black clothing.

All was well till I was having this conversation with myself in my living room. The minute I stepped out and was amidst a sea of black attire…I felt like…well there is no polite way of putting this…a glo worm!

Not that people turned around and looked at me. In fact even in what seemed like a hideous green at that time, no one even gave me a second look. That’s the beauty of this place. It has people coming from such diverse backgrounds and one looking so different from the other that it has been said that there is no such thing as a typical Londoner any more. It is so truly cosmopolitan that one seldom reads about city life in London without the mention of clichés such as … ‘London is a world in a city’ and a journey on the tube is like ‘finding yourself in a Benetton ad’…And I have digressed again from the point I was making

So coming back to the green jacket day, on that day I somehow realized what’s behind the unwritten code of black

The green I somehow felt was jarring to the eyes in a weather which is grey most of the time this time of the year. It just spelt someone who is loud…and if I were to stretch it…someone who does not care about inconveniencing others around. The green amidst the sea of black was an ‘eye sore’. Well this is just me desperately trying to theorize seriously about the dominance of black

Talking to a German acquaintance who has only black in her wardrobe…and I mean ONLY black clothes….no other color…not even white, she says

I started buying only black clothes since I was too lazy to sort out laundry. Now I can just put everything in one wash load. And I don’t even have to waste time every morning trying to match my clothes and figure out what goes with what. I can pull just about anything from my wardrobe and I know I’ll never feel out of place in office.

Black is a matter of convenience! So much for over analyzing…and why do I get the feeling that this piece sounds like I wrote it since I had nothing else to write about…

Categories: Wandering Around_ , Humor_