Beauty in the Black

Everything starts from a perspective, I should say. Seeing how far I’ve come now, and how different my views are, it’s almost shameful for me to admit that growing up, I was one of those girls who hated on the colour pink, because I didn’t want to be seen as a girly girl. I wanted the guys to think I was cool, and so when I would be asked what my favourite colour, I would say, to the horror of the girls and the admiration of the boys, that my favourite colour was black.

Now even as I'd say this, my Mom was still the person buying all my outfits, and you can’t start telling the typical African parent that you wanted all your clothes to be black colour as a girl. First off, they weren’t going to listen, and second of all, you didn’t want to be whisked off to the nearest Church, so that the devil-colour loving spirit would make its way out of you.

So yeah, I wore the colourful clothes my Mom got for me, but I still had that appreciation for black colour that didn’t leave. Over time, it was black colour and its variants. At that time, I could afford to buy clothes by myself, so I flooded my wardrobe with diverse shades of black and grey. My favourite outfit combination was black on black, or white on black, and since I am dark skinned, I thought it was extremely cool. I still think so whenever I’m on black and black, anyway. There’s this inexplicable confidence that comes upon me, and I relish it.

Might I add that at the time I started buying my own clothes, I had since gravitated from the mentality of liking black so that the boys would think I was cool to just loving black because of how it made me feel. Then, as fate would have it, I got admitted into the University to study Law, and it felt like the clincher in terms of my dress sense.

This is because the Faculty of Law in my University as with most universities in Nigeria has a strict outfit of white and black. It is non-negotiable, and it transcends classroom setting. So, whatever event that is Law related, even though not necessarily in the Faculty’s building should have you on a strict, uncompromising black. Hair, shoes, everything. Now, my wardrobe was already overflowing with this neutral colour, so this practically sealed the deal.

However, since this year began, I developed a liking for bright colours. And yeah, it’s because the first time I wore it due to a wardrobe accident, I got far too many compliments like how the bright colours enhanced the glowing black of my skin. That pretty much did it for me. I went in search for more corporate outfits, and the usual Tessa would just pile on the grey, black and brown (the only other colour I loved almost more than black). This new Tessa though, got herself brown, purple, blue, green... I was on a roll.

The pants trousers are still dark colours, though. But I’ve come to love how I feel when I’m in brighter colours. Because of my first preference, and my profession, black will never leave my wardrobe, but I love that I now have variations for when I’m away from the court, from college, and I'm going somewhere else. What do you think?

Thankful to the Ladies of Hive Community for this most insightful topic. I could have written forever about black, lol.

Jhymi🖤

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_{All images are mine.}