As long as it’s black
I bought a sweater this year. I last owned one in 2011, when I unwisely stripped down while trying (and failing) to make macarons and casually tossed my sweater onto a hot hob. A friend from Goodreads asked me, “What color did you buy?” I bought black, of course. I also could have chosen from charcoal and grey.
All women’s clothes in Auckland are black. Ok, that’s a lie. But 85% of women’s clothes in New Zealand malls are black, with a sprinkling of brighter accent colors that work with black. Check out any line of humans waiting for a bus on an Auckland workday morning and everyone is wearing black.
Here are photos I took at the mall today. I didn’t deliberately select the stores, these are just the womenswear stores between my car and the shop where I bought the “fluffy” towels my realtor told me I needed to tszuj my bathrooms.
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Admittedly it’s winter, but the season makes no difference. Our best known designers like Zambesi and NomD work black like it’s an entire palette in itself. I love them for it.
[image error]Current NomD collection
[image error]Current Zambesi collection
The color is ingrained in our culture, even though apparently our preference for black branding is hurting New Zealand businesses overseas. New Zealand’s obsession with black was the subject of a 2011 show by the New Zealand Fashion Museum.
Confession: this has given me some qualms about packing for my October trip to GRL. I like blending in, because it camouflages my social awkwardness. I guess I’ll have to wait and see how many other people in California, Colorado, Minnesota, and Maine choose the best color of all.
