Can you believe I actually did it?!
If I could own a wardrobe that was completely and utterly made up of black items, along with the odd splash of white and denim here and there then I would. In fact, I basically managed to do exactly that for the past few years! Of course it looks amazing on Pinterest, but in reality I always looked like I was in mourning and I actually began to crave colour in my life. Who’d have thought it, eh? Now these are baby steps that I’ve only taken in recent months, so we still have a long way to go here, but as a challenge to really throw me in at the deep end I thought I’d attempt to go one whole week without reaching for one single black item in my wardrobe. Yeah I’m not feeling up to that extreme chilli ramen challenge just yet.
The tough bits? My underwear is a monochrome affair, as is my swimwear selection (as pointed out by a commentator in my latest vlog. Nothing gets past you lot!), along with my gym gear too, so there were a few exceptions to the rules. The same went for bags. As I only have one bag that isn’t black and also happens to only be able to squeeze the bare essentials in, there were a couple of days where it was the most practical decision to take something bigger, and therefore something black. But it’s all cool, aside from those snagging points I actually managed to complete my task. I KNOW. Scroll to the bottom to have a watch of the video, and in the meantime here are my learning points from my experiment…
WHITE LOOKS PRETTY BANGING TOO
The thing that dawned on me around three days in, was that I quite like to have a base colour in my wardrobe. Of course that’s always been black, but it just means that there’s something to work from – a black shirt, black jeans – to make picking the rest of your outfit a wee bit easier. Of course this colour is going to depend on you and your style and tastes, but my guess is that most people out there gravitate daily towards one colour without even realising it.
In lieu of black, I settled on white. It’s not the most practical clothing shade (I’m still working through my washing pile one week later) and I doubt that it’s what I would have chosen if we were currently in the throes of winter, but seeing as it’s summer – it worked. Much like black, it pairs with everything and having a lighter base colour really lifted my outfits and made me look something that I never look. ‘Summer-y‘. It also made me feel like Liz Hurley which I am totally ok with.
MY NON-BLACK OUTFIT FAVOURITES
ACCESSORIES ARE OUTFIT-CHANGERS
For someone who prides themselves on being organised – ‘Hello I’m Anna, have we met?‘ – I’m utterly crap at being ready on time. I suck up every last second I have and often predict that doing my hair will take two minutes, when it actually takes 22. Time management ain’t my strong point. This leaves very little time for accessorising. I sometimes throw on a belt as I’m walking down the road, a watch with one hand whilst I’m trying to brush my teeth with the other (I mean, that’s a party trick right there), but proper, actual accessorising that’s well thought out and adds to an outfit? Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Well, it turns out that you can make time for it (if you use copious amounts of dry shampoo and forgo washing your hair) and it really does make a difference. Giving the task a higher priority in my getting ready schedule meant that I felt polished and wasn’t trying to find my belt loops and lock up the flat at the same time. Now I’m not talking anything revolutionary here, but I did manage to crack out a belt or two, don a hat, wear a necklace every single day (got to love a bit of Mejuri) and up my ring game. It might not have been a noticeable difference to others, but it made me feel all the more chic and is definitely something I’ll continue.
A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF WARDROBE POSSIBILITIES
The bottom line is that is was nowhere near as hard as I thought it would be. There were days when I fancied wearing a black t-shirt to balance out my red skirt, or black jeans with a white blouse tucked in, but my yearnings were easily silenced by a non-black item that was hanging up in my wardrobe. An all-white outfit looks terribly chic and makes me feel all French Riviera chic (Mark loves when I say that an outfit makes me feel ‘French Riviera chic‘ – he rolls his eyes every time), and actually I’m having a moment with more traditional, rinsed denim. There’s just something that’s a bit more summer appropriate about the latter and I’m looking to add more girlfriend, straight-leg styles into my wardrobe – feel free to shoot any suggestions over.
Only one day (the Saturday), did I not feel 100% in my outfit and I’m putting that one down to dodgy weather and having a basket-full of washing to do which limited my options. Note to self: Get back on top of washing, nudism is not an option.
Photos by Lauren Shipley
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