An Eulogy for the Color Black

Black. It's weird how this one color can be so versatile. Sleek and sexy, black is said to flatter the body. It has the power to transform a dumpling body into something curvaceous and slightly alluring--or at least the power to manipulate our self conscious into believing we look better and slimmer. Look at that, a color that can boost confidence.

I'd also like to point out all of the ironies of this one color. Black is worn to both funerals and weddings. If you didn't get it the first time around, an eulogy is "a speech or writing in praise of a deceased person or thing," but it can also simply mean "high praise or commendation." The two are at parallels in the way they seem so clear cut, but when you break them down you realize there's much more complexity to their meaning.

Black is the staple color in the Gothic culture. It represents darkness, mystery, seduction and tortured souls, which is why the group as a whole is often frowned upon by mainstream society. On the other hand, black is a chic and timeless color popular in the world of fashion. Every girl knows that one of the most essential articles of clothing one must own is a little black dress. It's a wonderment that something so simple can speak elegance and sophistry. When I don't feel like coordinating an outfit or if I can't find anything to wear, black is my go-to color. Even more, I feel like one can never have too much black in their wardrobe, partly due to the fact that it is the only color that is ALWAYS in-style, regardless of the season.

Black is classic. Nothing more to say. Even though it's a dark color, and dark is usually accompanied by a negative connotation, it still has widespread acceptability and holds a predominance over any other color in our lives (arguably even more so than white--after all, in terms of dress, an old tradition is that white shouldn't be worn after labor day while black doesn't have an expiration date).

Now then, what better way to end this post than with a poem by the master of beautifully dark poetry, Edgar Allan Poe:

A Dream

In visions of the dark night
I have dreamed of joy departed
But a waking dream of life and light
Hath left me broken-hearted.

Ah! what is not a dream by day
To him whose eyes are cast
On things around him with a ray
Turned back upon the past?

That holy dream - that holy dream,
While all the world were chiding,
Hath cheered me as a lovely beam
A lonely spirit guiding.

What though that light, thro' storm and night,
So trembled from afar
What could there be more purely bright
In Truth's day-star?