The Black Dress

The Black Dress. What do we conjure up in our minds when we think about a lady in a Black Dress? The answers are interesting and varying. These range from sensual to grieving, dominance to vulnerable, powerful to aloofness.

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When we dress in the morning for work, or in the evening for dinner or attending an event or party. We select our clothing. Either consciously or subconsciously, depending on our emotional state at that time.

Some of you will say, no, I select what I wear all the time, which is 100% correct. The question is, is it your conscious mind doing the choosing or your subconscious mind.

The use of Colour in our clothing can change our mood and emotions. What we wear helps us feel a certain way. When we feel, we become. Example: When we feel sad, we are sad and become sadder. The Black dress can facilitate us to become that person filled with sadness. Or not, as we will discuss further.

The impression accepted by others will be determined by some minimal and subtle factors. Which will form an opinion based on what they see initially. They see the Black dress before seeing the wearer and whatever the wearer is portraying from her facial expression.

When we consider a Black dress, I don’t want you to think of different styles, low cuts, high cuts, etc. A student of mine went to considerable effort one day to demonstrate how wrong I was regarding this topic. She came to class dressed in a black swimsuit; she called a dress. It was a simple construction of one long cut of cloth. About 6 inches wide that she wore in a V and tied around her waist. This is not, nor was a Black dress.

Back to the dress, The smallest, most subtle accessory can change our dress code or dress sense dynamic. An example: A simple black dress, black shoes, and a simple gold chain using neutral hair and makeup. Can portray quiet eloquence, silence, sadness, death, aloofness, isolation, dread, fear, hiding, secrecy, unfussy, simplistic. But by adding minimal accessories, we can change the statement. 

Let us take the same Black dress and black shoes. But now let us add a Red coral necklace and include a Red lipstick in the makeup. Small, simple addition, but changes the ladies’ appearance radically.

From quiet eloquence to opulent sophistication. She moves from silence to communication. From sadness to joy. From death to aliveness. From aloofness to friendliness. From isolation to inclusion. From dread to confidence. From fear to courage. From hiding to exhibitionism. From secrecy to openness. You can see from this example the impact colour can have on what kind of statement we wish to make.

The statement can be conscious. In other words, the lady may deliberately want to portray wither side of the picture outlined. With her conscious decision, she sets about to either become invisible or to be seen.

But sometimes, when we are getting ready, getting dressed. We select clothing garments without thinking at all, so it becomes subconscious. This is when our true feelings and emotions are raw and visible within the subconscious. The subconscious will create an entire scenario to keep us protected by seeding information to the conscious for garment selection. The intent of the subconscious to keep the lady safe from further emotional instability.

An example of this could be a lady who is in emotional pain or suffering from grief. The lady has to attend an event that she does not want to attend. So she prepares herself and dresses herself the best way she can. But just like driving a car. Her subconsciousness will select what clothing she needs to get through the event without being noticed — the Black Dress.

Written by David P. Ellis

Photo by Liliia Beda on Unsplash

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