Stop believing everything you read!
Some years ago, this was announced… New Study: Wearing Black Makes You Appear More Attractive, Intelligent, and Confident
“Good news for Scandinavians and goths – people who wear black are considered to be more attractive, intelligent, and confident. The study, which was conducted by an online t-shirt store, surveyed over 1,000 people, asking them which clothing colour they associated with certain personality traits. Black ended up coming out either first or second in every single positive category, with 66% of women believing its the most attractive colour on a man and 46% of men preferring black on women. In terms of confidence, red came in at a close second, although it was also heavily associated with arrogance and only 12% of people thought it made the wearer appear intelligent. Black, on the other hand, managed to snag 45% of the vote for intelligence.”
And then social media, TV and radio programmes, newspapers, etc. were all quoting the results as gospel!
For the life of me, I cannot understand why people believe everything they read on social media, the TV news, the internet, newspapers, etc. without checking it out first.
What’s wrong with the educated world?
Just because it’s written down does NOT mean it’s the truth!
Each variation of the article I’ve seen has a clear link to the ‘British study’ they mention so no-one has any excuse for not being able to check this out properly.
The survey was conducted by Buytshirtsonline, a U.K. company. Researchers presented survey participants with nearly-identical photos of people of the opposite sex where the only thing that was changed was the person’s shirt colour. Participants were asked to share which colours correlated with certain traits, in their opinion. Black took the lead (or second place in very few cases) in every positive category like sexiness, trustworthiness, and intelligence.
Any research worth its salt should be verifiable so the first question to ask is…
Is this valid research?
This ‘new research that shows wearing black clothes makes you appear more intelligent, confident and attractive’ has been undertaken by a shirt retailer.
That hardly floats my boat. If it had been undertaken by a university or Which? magazine, I might have given it a tad more credence.
Apparently, they interviewed 1000 people.
Who were these people? Age? Sex? Status? Income bracket?
We naturally assume they were customers of said shirt-retailer. I see no evidence that allows me to verify this… so I must ask:
- Were they alive?
- Were they drunk?
- Did they find them on the street?
- Did they pay people?
- Did they, perhaps, not even run a survey at all and make the whole thing up?
A humongous well done to said shirt-retailer. They created a fabulous marketing device to get people to know they exist and, possibly, even locate their website – all regardless of the validity of the ‘survey’.
What they’ve done is to create a massive talking point, one specifically designed to stir emotional reactions – which is exactly what happened, and what spurred me to write this.
My response was motivated by my absolute exasperation at the rubbish the majority clearly read and believe without checking the facts first.
From the tender age of 11, when I first encountered the fascinating subject of history at grammar school, I was taught to question absolutely everything. My two favourite questions have always been, “Why?” and “Where’s the evidence?”
But then, it’s a free world and you’re free to believe any old rubbish you want.
Your choice, after all.
Perception and the colour black
As an image consultant, I firmly believe, teach, and know from long, personal experience that black and the darker shades of blue are the colours most likely to engender confidence.
They will also help to make you look intelligent.
For instance, you don’t see hoodlums going to court dressed in pink or yellow. Their barrister will counsel them to wear a dark-coloured suit to make them look as though they should be afforded some courtesy and respect, even if they have just robbed a bank, despatched their other half, or punched the vicar.
All the services – police, fire, army, navy, air force – wear the darkest of colour uniforms because black and navy and variations of both inspire respect.
The ‘research’ itself is entitled ‘The Perception of Colour’. And that’s what this is all about – perception.
How other people perceive you can never be ignored – unless YOU wish to be ignored, that is!
You never get a second chance to make a fabulous first impression so stop faffing about.
If you need to make a great first impression, the question shouldn’t be, “What colour shall I wear?”
The question should be, “If I wear (name of colour), how will I be perceived?”
Here are some facts, psychological perceptions, dressing tips, keywords, alternatives, and quotes about the colour black to help you make up your own mind
Interesting facts about the colour black
- Black is the absorption of all colour and the absence of light.
- Black implies weight – people will think a black box weighs more than a white one.
- In heraldry, black is the symbol of grief.
- In Aztec culture, black represented war because black obsidian glass was used as the cutting edge of battle swords. It was also the symbol of religion; priests wore no other colour but black.
- The colour black can be serious, professional, and conventional, but black can also represent the mysterious, sexy, and sophisticated.
- Black is a visually slimming colour for clothing and like other dark colours, in interior design, black can make a room appear to shrink in size.
- Black is associated with sophistication and power… tuxedos, limousines, judge’s robes, and priests’ robes are all typically black. Consider ‘the little black dress’, or ‘the black tie event’. Affluent and success-orientated women often choose black as it can give an impression of elegance, sophistication and confidence.
- Black is intimidating, unfriendly and unapproachable because of the power it exudes. It can prevent two-way communication because of its intimidation. The salesman wearing all black will make a lot of sales, but no friends! It radiates authority, but creates fear in the process.
Movement and the colour black
Here’s a fabulous tip from an expert in image and movement, Michelle Cook:
- Movement with strong intention and effort imply weight too
- Wear black, add movements with weight, and use voice with weight = implies authority, strength, solidness, directness, clarity.
Psychological perceptions and the colour black
In colour psychology, black means power and control, hanging on to information and things rather than giving out to others.
Teenagers often have a psychological need to wear black during the stage of transition from the innocence of childhood to the sophistication of adulthood.
- It signifies the ending of one part of their life and the beginning of another, allowing them to hide from the world while they discover their own unique identity.
- It is important they go through this stage but could become a worry if it continues on into adult years if they continue to wear black to the exclusion of other colours.
Too much black can cause depression and mood swings and create a negative environment.
- Combined with white only, it can create an argumentative atmosphere.
- It is best to use some colour with black to lighten and brighten its energy.
Black comedy: creating comedy out of a tragic event or situation.
- As the opposite of white, movies, books, print media, and television typically depict the good guy in white and the bad guy in black.
- In more recent times, the good guy is shown in black to create mystery around the character’s identity.
Black packaging can make an item appear expensive and heavier.
- Used as the primary brand colour, it has a bold, powerful, classic effect that feels confident and sophisticated for more expensive products.
- It creates a classy and elegant impression. Consider Chanel, Hotel Chocolat, and Guinness.
Using black for selling and marketing products and services to the high-end youth market, including music-related businesses, is seen as cutting edge and trendy.
- The youth market tends to be attracted to black with its sophistication and rebelliousness.
Tips for business dressing using the colour black
- Tip #4, from page 40 in the Colour Analysis Training Manual
Darkest neutral jacket/suit with lightest neutral blouse/shirt underneath will provide the most sharp business look.
- Taken from the live training course, and from page 50 in the Personal Ladies’ Style Training Manual
Black is a very powerful colour and shows that you intend to be in total command. Only strong Deep Winters/Autumns or Bright Winters can carry off solid black in a suit and it may form a barrier between your client and who they are trying to communicate with.
Maybe it should be kept for funerals or for if/when a lady has to take the lead in a room full of business men dressed in suits!
A black pinstripe or patterned suit is much less threatening
On-the-spot, brilliant, bespoke style advice from trained image consultants
- taken from the live training course, and on page 46 of the Personal Shopping & Wardrobe Training Manual
Tina: This (dress) was meant to be my foray into skirts for work with my boots. I think it cuts me off right at my widest point. And what do I wear on the top with it? Is there a solution to the lumpiness?
Suzie: Add a ribbed rollneck in black. They’re great for the bigger bust. Go for a petite top so it’s shorter and finishes at the top of the skirt. Make it look like a dress. Or add a longer top, tuck it in, and add a belt.
Polly: Add a body.
Tina: Then I could add a little cardigan.
Suzie: A little grey bolero would look good, in good quality wool, with a little black ribbon it. Try Phase Eight.
Keywords for understanding the significance of the colour black
Authority, Bold, Confidence. Classy, Dramatic, Elegance, Formal, Sophistication, Strength, Power, Protection, Mysterious, Committed, Serious, Depth, Wealth, Style, Classic, Polished, Secrecy, Seriousness, Aggressive, Sexy, Self-control.
Additional words that represent different shades, tints, and values of the colour black
ebony, jet, ink, lampblack, coal, soot, charcoal, raven, midnight, obsidian, onyx, sable
10 fabulous quotes about the colour black
“I’ve been 40 years discovering that the queen of all colours was black.” Pierre-Auguste Renoir
“Black is not a colour.” Edouard Manet
“Without black, no colour has any depth. But if you mix black with everything, suddenly there’s shadow – no, not just shadow, but fullness. You’ve got to be willing to mix black into your palette if you want to create something that’s real.” Amy Grant
“I fell in love with black; it contained all colour. It wasn’t a negation of colour… Black is the most aristocratic colour of all… You can be quiet, an dit contains the whole thing.” Louise Nevelson
“You can wear black at any time. You can wear it at any age. You may wear it for almost any occasion.” Christian Dior
“I love black because it affirms, designs and styles. A woman in a black dress is a pencil stroke.” Yves Saint Laurent
“Women think of all colours except the absence of colour. I have said that black has it all. White too. Their beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony.” Coco Chanel, Chanel
The country music icon, Johnny Cash, was known as ‘The Man in Black’. He wrote, “I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, / Livin’ in the hopeless, hungry side of town, / I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime, / But is there because he’s a victim of the times.”
Cash also said, “I wore black because I liked it. I still do, and wearing it still means something to me. It’s still my symbol of rebellion against a stagnant status quo, against our hypocritical houses of God, against people whose minds are closed to others’ ideas.”
“Life is indeed colourful. We can feel in the pink one day, with our bank balances comfortably in the black, and the grass seemingly no greener on the other side of the fence. Then out of the blue, something tiresome happens that makes us see red, turn ashen white, even purple with rage. Maybe controlling our varying emotions is just ‘colour management’ by another name.” Alex Morritt
