PICK A COLOUR:
AS LONG AS IT’S
BLACK OR WHITE
Ever remember making
chatterboxes in class as a
schoolkid? Colouring in each
side and asking your best friend
to pick a colour?
Colour’s all well and good in the
playground, but when it comes
to impact, nothing beats black
and white.
From Audrey Hepburn’s
Givenchy wardrobe in Breakfast
at Tiffany’s to Rihanna zipping
up a full-length Tom Ford zebra
print dress complete with a
Zebra mane, the power of
monochrome is undeniable.
Back in the 60s as the world
and our TVs got bigger and
brighter and more colourful, no
one stood out like Audrey in her
black Givenchy column dress,
eating a croissant and a deli
coffee outside the most famous
jeweller in New York City.
In My Fair Lady that ethereal
floor length white beaded gown
was enough to convince royalty
that she simply had to be a
princess.
So what does a bambi-eyed
movie star have to do with
Rihanna?
Nothing frames a beautiful face
or bright red lipstick or Audrey’s
signature winged eyeliner like
simple black and white.
The wild girls like RiRi wear
bold prints, thick printed stripes
like the ones she designed for
River Island, big black Wildfox
and Karen Walker sunglasses,
plus a half-shaved head or a
pixie cut. We won’t mention her
new mullet or her Instagram
account.
And if your style’s a little more
understated than the infamous
RiRi?
Think Gwyneth wearing her
white caped Tom Ford gown to
the Oscars (who needs a supertight mermaid gown to look
sexy?). Or Kate Moss hanging
onto the arm of Johnny Depp
in that iconic feather-trimmed
black dress.
Lingerie stores might try to
convince you to head for the
racks of brightly coloured
bedazzled bras, however
black and white is as sexy and
timeless on a woman as the
crisp white shirt and black tux is
on a man.
Remember when white
undies made Kate Moss a
supermodel and Mark Wahlberg
a star?
Can you believe he has his own
production company now? Not
to mention Megan Gale wears a
one-piece black swimsuit like a
reincarnated Sofia Loren. Yep,
the key to style is pretty simple:
it’s all written there in black and
white.
By Sarah Neill