Day 6 - FABruary Style Challenge

Today's challenge was a very welcome one, as it's very blustery outside with an icy wind: "Jacket Up" said Imogen and I was happy to do so!   Over the jacket I wore a winter coat, plus scarf and gloves, which kept me warm when I ventured outside into the wintry weather.

There's a story behind this jacket, which I related in a previous post: Is black really the new black?  I needed a new jacket, something versatile that would suit me and fit into my existing wardrobe.  Like many women I immediately thought of black, however each time I tried on a black jacket I realised that it wasn't flattering, so eventually I bought the jacket that I'm wearing today.  It feels light and yet warm plus the softer shape looks better on me than the many structured black jackets that I had rejected.   Another bonus is that plain black worn near the face of most over 60s is too harsh and doesn't flatter us, whereas the softer colour in this Mango jacket doesn't make me look so haggard. In this outfit I am wearing black trousers, and when I was younger I would definitely have worn a black jacket to make me look taller and slimmer, however at my advanced age the priority is to look younger!

Take a look at some of the colourful jackets in Imogen's post: I love them but suspect that my pension won't stretch that far, having seen the names Vivienne Westwood and Marc Jacobs! However I will use them as inspiration for the next time that I go looking for a new jacket.  I have become a far more discerning shopper since I started following other bloggers. Do you have a favourite over 40 blogger?

The Big Black Fashion Conspiracy

I've been looking on-line for clothes recently, expecting to have far too many to choose from, but if you eliminate everything black, it's amazing how limited your choices become.  I know black is popular, but it's a difficult colour to wear for most of us who are over 60.  Fashion stores, please take note!

I would like some new trousers, which need to be in a petite size as I am vertically challenged, and I have been looking at other possible purchases.  I don't want any more black trousers, but for some bizarre reason most of the petite trousers are black.  Why?  People barely notice us shorties at the best of times, but if we wear black we will be almost invisible!  Navy would make a nice change, or maybe grey or dark brown.  I quite fancy something more colourful too, which will definitely make me more visible, but where can I find more colourful clothes?

Take Marks and Spencer as an example.  The good news is that I can get M & S clothes delivered here in Spain. The bad news is that most of them are black.  They have eight pairs of petite trousers: one pair is charcoal, another pair is navy (which also come in black), there is a "black mix" pair of jeggings and the remaining five pairs are only available in black.  Three of their seven skirts are black.  Out of eleven coats and jackets, eight are in a particular colour: guess what that colour is?! The little black dress is alive and well at M & S, though five other colours are available: a total of fourteen dresses, six of which are black.  I looked at eleven tops (five of them were black) and finally I found eight jumpers and cardigans, where black shared the lead with blue, both of them having three items.


I decided to start my search at Debenhams.com by including only petite clothing in UK size 12. Result!  I was very excited to see that I had a grand total of 231 items of clothing to select from. However, when I looked at the numbers for each colour, I could see that 87 of those items were in black, 63 were blue (the majority of these were dark blue and navy, which on my screen looked suspiciously like black), 18 were cream, 11 were brown, 10 were ivory and the other colours were in single figures.

Debenhams' petite trousers in black and "looks like black"

At first glance Wallis looked very promising, with twelve colours plus  black, however when I checked each colour individually black was the only shade that had more than one page of items to choose from.  Principles Petite by Ben de Lisi has a choice of seven colours, plus black.  It's a small collection of stylish clothes, most of which (surprise! surprise!) are black (14 items) followed by blue (8), cream (4) and only one or two items are available in the other colours.

John Lewis deliver to Spain, so I checked them out.  I was in shock when I went down the list of colours, as although black was in the lead with 51 items  followed by blue with 47, when I clicked on "multi" I saw the amazing figure of 68.  More than black!  However further investigation revealed that most of the multi-coloured items had some black in them, which in my view made them more black than multi-coloured..

I'm not going to give up though.  The fashion industry may still be trying to persuade us that black is best, but I've just seen Pantone's colour forecast for 2013.  It looks as if Emerald is the colour to go for Spring 2013, with other options being African Violet, Monaco Blue, Nectarine, Poppy Red, Lemon Zest, Tender Shoots, Dusk Blue and Grayed Jade.  Dare I say that these all sound like lovely bright colours? With no mention of black!  I'm hoping that this means that the fashion industry will become a lot more colourful and I can start replacing the black items in my wardrobe - but I'm not holding my breath!

Pantone colours for Spring 2013

Is black really the new black?

How much black do you have in your wardrobe?  When you are looking to buy, for example, a new pair of trousers for winter - what colour do you usually go for?  Come on, be honest!  So many women end up settling for black for various reasons: it never seems to go out of date; it is considered slimming (which for most of us has to be a good thing!); it rarely looks cheap even when it is a cheap buy; it goes with most other colours, it's considered chic and it's a safe option. If in doubt, we go for black.  I'm just as guilty as other women in this respect..

But - isn't it also a bit boring?  There. I've said it.  Black can be a bit too predictable and, if we are honest with ourselves, it can be harsh and unflattering once you reach a certain age. Maybe we should be looking for our new black instead of settling for the same old black.

A better choice than black?

In my recent search for my perfect black or navy jacket, I soon realised that none of the plain black jackets that I tried on suited me.  I eventually bought a grey flecked jacket from Mango that was not only a good shape for me but also it was a far more flattering colour close to my face.

In my recent wardrobe purge most of my black clothes went out, though I did keep a black pencil skirt and a pair of black trousers. My last purchases were a pair of navy trousers and a navy trench-coat, which fortunately are proving to be just as versatile as black.  In future I will be sticking to navy or possibly dark brown for my basics, as I have established that they look far better on me and make me look more youthful, which can't be a bad thing.

For me, navy is now my new black.  What about you?  Have you managed to wean yourself off black and find a new colour for your basics?  I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.  Of course, there are some lucky women who still look stunning in black even when they are over 60.  Are you one of them?  

Navy is my new black!  This jacket is now on my wish list.