Monday, July 8, 2013

Color It Black!

As I've said before, I believe I've always been a goth, although I had no idea that such a thing even existed when I was growing up -- probably because it didn't, not officially, anyway.  All I knew was that black was my favorite color, that I loved to listen to very sad songs, that I preferred foggy or rainy days to sunny ones, and that mummies, skeletons and cemeteries were neat.  I was coloring flowers black with red centers in kindergarten, and I have the picture to prove it; how goth is THAT???

Remember those boxes of 64 Crayola crayons everyone had as a kid?  I always managed to run out of black long before any of the other colors.  I'd have this tiny stub of black in the center of the box, and fairly small navy blue, dark brown and gray crayons stored beside it (they were as close as I could get to black once it was gone).  My mom used to complain because they didn't sell individual crayon "refills" for those boxes.

As a child, I loved to play dress-up.  One of my all-time favorite items was an adult-sized long black nightgown that someone had given me.  It made a wonderful costume for a princess, a fairy, a witch, an evil queen, you name it, and I made it even better by adding crimson red ribbons to it and wearing it with a black lace scarf and a short black lacy robe (more castoffs in my dress-up collection).  But I wasn't allowed to wear black in public until I was around twelve, when one of my aunts gave me a very plain, short-sleeved black velvet dress that my cousin had outgrown.  My mom thought the color was "too old for little girls" (TWELVE is little???) and wasn't going to let me wear it, but I managed to convince her to at least let me wear it to church (I think my aunt helped with that).  Whenever I wore it, I always felt grown up, elegant and mysterious, even though the dress itself wasn't fancy at all.

Then there was that period I discussed in a previous post, when I wore what the fashion magazines told me I should wear, and rarely ever wore black...  I try to forget that period as much as possible; it's too pathetic and painful.

Since then, black has become a mainstay in my wardrobe, although there are occasional days when I don't wear it at all (quel horreur!). 

I know this is probably a rather silly post, but today I just FELT like talking about black, so why not?  In closing, here's a picture of NoNameHotep, my favorite mummy at the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum; since the mummification process blackens the skin (he's actually totally black, the flash lightened him up), I get a mummy, bones AND the color black, all in one lovely package!  :-)



So tell me, how important is black in YOUR life?

14 comments:

  1. Interesting to read about your childhood. As a child I wasn't very interested in "fashion" but forced to wear my sisters outgrown pink clothes (felt like a pig). It wasn't until I got twelve I started to dress in black (when I was able to choose myself). I feel comfortable in black.

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    1. Yes, "comfortable" is a good word for black! I like some shades of pink, but not everyone looks good in it. And I would have HATED to be forced to wear an older sibling's clothes; I was an only child, and very happy about it!

      It's funny, I was able to choose pretty much whatever I wanted to wear, in any color except black. And no jeans, because they were "farm clothes". Parents are weird, aren't we? ;-)

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  2. I don't actually remember transitioning to wearing all black. It was a gradual thing that started in middle school... Of course now, I actually feel uncomfortable wearing a bunch of colorful clothes, as I don't feel like myself. I feel like I'm playing dress up XD

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    1. It's interesting how people react to things so differently! I still love colors, but more as accents to go with the black, except for the occasional day when I don't feel like wearing any black at all (which is rare but does happen). But I agree, I don't feel quite myself without some black, even when I choose not to wear it, unless there's a skull or skeleton on my shirt. Then it seems to be okay. Very weird...

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  3. I recognice myself in your story, I have always prefered black as well :D Some people are born goths, haha.

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    1. Oh, you are absolutely right about that! :-)

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  4. You can add me to your black list...well, not THAT black list, but you know what I mean.

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  5. Black has always been my favorite color. My bedroom is dark purple however not black but everything else in room is mostly black or dark colors. I love black colors. It makes me happy. I wear other colors too but I feel most comfortable and chic in black.

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    1. Oooh, I love the idea of a dark purple bedroom! I could get used to that... :-)

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  6. Black is so important in my wardrobe that if I had to wear another colour, I'd probably never leave the house again!

    I laughed at linnea-maria's comment - my mother used to love to buy me clothes in bright colours (especially pink!), which I was forced to wear because we never had much extra money when the kids were growing up. Maybe that's why I only want to wear black now. LOL

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    1. That could very well be. If someone is forced to wear/eat/read/do something as a child, they frequently will NEVER wear/eat/read/do that thing again because they're so sick of it. My mom forced me to wear my hair in a ponytail with straight-cut bangs until I graduated from the sixth grade. Do you know when I last wore it like that? At my sixth grade graduation! ;-)

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  7. I remember growing up as a kid and one of my classmates at elementary school wore Dr. Martens (of course, back then I didn't know what they were called) and I absolutely loved them. My parents picked out my clothes until I was 12/13 though, but since then I've always worn black very frequently. I don't usually dress all in black though, I like to incorporate some elements of colour into my outfits.

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  8. Yes, the elements of color are what I enjoy playing with. Sometimes they're determined by my mood, other times by what specific piece of clothing I want to create an outfit around. It's fun, isn't it??

    Wow, I don't think we HAD Doc Martens shoes when I was in elementary school; they weren't available in children's sizes back then! Of course, that was when mammoths still roamed the earth... ;-)

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