How to wear: head to toe colour.

‘I’m not going to lie to you, the all-colour days are going to
be more of a challenge than the black and monochrome days.’
Photograph: David Newby for the Guardian

If you wear colour, wear all colour; if you wear black, wear all monochrome. It’s that simple

Is it more modern to wear head-to-toe colour than all black these days? Ha! Trick question. Either is fine. Sometimes I see a woman in an unusual colour combination and think to myself, she’s clearly a genius – from now on, I’m only ever wearing lavender with navy, or lime with aubergine, or whatever. But then, the next day, someone in a black trouser suit over an inky rollneck slinks past and I take it all back.

It has to be one or the other, though. It’s not about giving up black; it’s about giving up filling in the gaps with black. Filling in the gaps with black is a thing we all do, without even thinking about it. Wake up in the mood to wear a bright pink sweater, automatically reach for black jeans to wear with it. Or, having been seduced into buying a new winter midi skirt in emerald green or peacock blue and figuring out how to wear it, try it on with every black top in sight, without considering any other colour option.

If you wear colour, wear all colour; if you wear black, wear all monochrome. It’s that simple. And it’s way more sophisticated that way, I promise. Now, I’m not going to lie to you, the all-colour days are going to be more of a challenge than the black and monochrome days. Opening your wardrobe to get dressed in the morning is a lot like opening your fridge to cobble together a packed lunch. Your dependable black trousers or skirt are like sliced bread: they work with any other ingredient, pull the whole thing together, turn one bold flavour into a complete package.

By Jess Cartner-Morley.

Full story at The Guardian.