How to Wear Black

There’s something powerful, mysterious and confident about wearing the color black. No matter what the occasion, you can’t go wrong with selecting this sophisticated basic as the centerpiece of your outfit. Here’s how to wear black and make it work for you.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Black pants
• Black sweater or blouse
• Black textured shoes
• Colored necklace
• Bright purse
• Bold lipstick
• Eyeshadow
• Blush

1. Understand that black can serve as a great backdrop to showcase your beauty.
2. Realize that you can wear one black piece, such as a black sweater or black pants or put together a whole black ensemble.
3. Use different textures to make your look more interesting. For instance, pair smooth black velvet pants with a chunky oversized black cable knit sweater and black snakeskin shoes, boots or bag.
4. Invest in a sexy black dress that you can accessorize up or down, so you can wear it for dressy and also casual situations.
5. Make black the background for a bright color. Add a deep turquoise necklace, a hot pink purse or red shoes to accessorize a simple black dress. Or wear a black blouse with dressy pants or a skirt in a deep red, pink or greenish blue color.
6. Take advantage of black’s slimming properties. To slim wide hips, don black pants or a black skirt or wear a black top to instantly minimize wide shoulders or downplay a heavy middle section.
7. Play up one feature, such as your lips or your eyes, to stand up to the weight of your black outfit and add a little drama.

Tips & Warnings

• Realize that today, you can don’t have to stick with one color palette. You can wear brown boots with black pants or pair black shoes with a red or cream purse and still be fashionable.
• Try mixing black and navy for a very “now” look.
• Be sure the shades of black match or at least work together when you put together different black pieces, or you can end up looking disheveled instead of sleek.
• Beware black makes people with certain skin tones look washed out. Counteract the effect by using a warm blush to add a lively glow to your cheeks.