Not Black Enough

OneEyedDiva

OneEyedDiva

SF VIP
Location
New Jersey
Decades ago when you bought an article of clothing that was supposed to be black...it was jet black. Now it seems "black" is more often really a dark charcoal gray. I don't know what happened to the dyes but I prefer my black be jet black. Have you noticed the same thing with your (allegedly) black garments? I bet ya'll thought this post was going to be about something else. šŸ¤£
 

OneEyedDiva said:
Decades ago when you bought an article of clothing that was supposed to be black...it was jet black. Now it seems "black" is more often really a dark charcoal gray. I don't know what happened to the dyes but I prefer my black be jet black. Have you noticed the same thing with your (allegedly) black garments? I bet ya'll thought this post was going to be about something else. šŸ¤£
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Expected exactly what the thread title alludes to.

Black clothes matter.
 

Remy said:
I think black, like navy can come in many different shades. I don't have a lot of clothes. If someone wants to match clothing, the shade differences can be an issue. One of my favorite winter colors is dark charcoal gray. That and dark green.
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I hate the color variations when trying to match clothing. I do a lot of mixing and matching and yes, there are a lot of shades of navy. I think it should be outlawed. LOL šŸ˜‚
 
every color seems to have many variations ...

iu
 
Pinky said:
It's the same with gray clothes .. I've given up trying to match gray clothes. I find the blacks aren't dark enough a lot of times.
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I spent most of my career in the apparel industry. Here's the straight skinny on clothing colors:

Unless the same brand is purchased from a coordinated separates or other apparel group "story," shade matching isn't a consideration, even within a manufacturer's offering.

Pantone colors (the gold standard for color matching and identification) contains over 15,000 distinct shades in its database.

Even white isn't standardized. Black isn't black. Grey isn't grey. Navy isn't navy.
Truth is, they never have been.
 
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Ya got me there.
I was reminded of a black co-worker. She was married & had 2 kids. We were chatting about race, relations, family, etc.
She said something about her mother-in-law that really surprised (and amused) me. Her mother-in-law said the children were "too dark" & she constantly encouraged them to go swimming at her house because she thought the chlorine would lighten their skin color.
Unbelievable! šŸ˜‚
 
win231 said:
Ya got me there.
I was reminded of a black co-worker. She was married & had 2 kids. We were chatting about race, relations, family, etc.
She said something about her mother-in-law that really surprised (and amused) me. Her mother-in-law said the children were "too dark" & she constantly encouraged them to go swimming at her house because she thought the chlorine would lighten their skin color.
Unbelievable! šŸ˜‚
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There is documentary called, if i remember correctly, 'Dark Girls' about that kind of intra-racism. I was aware already from people knew but it was well done piece that could open the eyes to some about one additional pressure on Black females. It is related to the pressure on most females to bow to societal norms of 'beauty' (while also taking care to not dress 'too sexy' because god forbid we expect men to control themselves). But Black women get a double dose of that and sadly much of it from their own families.

The notion of lighter is better also is part of Hindu Caste system. In some middle income Hindu families that say have farm land and/or dairy cattle (like my first In Laws) Moms will try to have the kids born with lighter skin doing chores that keep them out of the sun which can substantially darken it.
 
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Personally was never too concerned with fashion, my wardrobe generally small. However, maybe because it was, i developed a style of own, dressed to suit me within confines of school and workplace rules.
I tend to like contrasts, so i'd pair a neutral color (Black, Grey, Brown) with a bright color that i thought was complimentary: Yellow with Brown; Red looked good with Black or Grey. Or i would pair sharply contrasting shades of Blue or Purple part of spectrum with each other. The only lighter, closer to pastel shades i'd wear were blues and purples.
 
As Knight said, " Black clothes matter". But I have to admit for most of us guys, black may be beautiful, but it's black, We don't know stuff like, "puce". Women actually have a greater ability to distinguish between colors than men. But it's a statement of our wealth, when women can notice the blackness of their clothes.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
. I don't know what happened to the dyes but I prefer my black be jet black.
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At a guess I would say that it comes down to costs. My wife has made me an amazing collection of Aloha shirts, I can buy Aloha shirts online for next to nothing, but my shirts cost a small fortune. It takes three yards of fabric to make one shirt, the fabric that my wife buys costs around Ā£15 @ yard. That's Ā£45 per shirt, before it's been made and before the additional costs are added, like notions, paper pattern, interfacing and so on. Each shirt is around Ā£55 before it's even a shirt.

Apologies if that sounds boastful, the point that I am making is, you get what you pay for. Not all of my shirts are of an Hawaiian flare, this particular one is an Art-Deco design. The shirt must have been washed and ironed countless times in the ten years that I have had it. The quality of the fabric and the strength of the dye that has been used is evident. There's no fade, no greying and even the hard wearing parts around the collar have withstood all that washing an ironing.

There are two fabrics, the Art-Deco pattern and the plain jet black to enhance it. Not black enough? I don't think so.
shirts 104.JPG
 
horseless carriage said:
At a guess I would say that it comes down to costs. My wife has made me an amazing collection of Aloha shirts, I can buy Aloha shirts online for next to nothing, but my shirts cost a small fortune. It takes three yards of fabric to make one shirt, the fabric that my wife buys costs around Ā£15 @ yard. That's Ā£45 per shirt, before it's been made and before the additional costs are added, like notions, paper pattern, interfacing and so on. Each shirt is around Ā£55 before it's even a shirt.

Apologies if that sounds boastful, the point that I am making is, you get what you pay for. Not all of my shirts are of an Hawaiian flare, this particular one is an Art-Deco design. The shirt must have been washed and ironed countless times in the ten years that I have had it. The quality of the fabric and the strength of the dye that has been used is evident. There's no fade, no greying and even the hard wearing parts around the collar have withstood all that washing an ironing.

There are two fabrics, the Art-Deco pattern and the plain jet black to enhance it. Not black enough? I don't think so.
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Not necessarily.

Most but not all natural fabrics will fade with time, sun exposure, wear and laundering. Sure, very low quality garments like cheap cotton tees and thin batik prints will fade faster, but 100% natural fabrics, no matter how costly, will eventually shrink, wrinkle and fade. Mother Nature intended Her creations (wool, cotton, linen, etc.) to break down over a relatively short period of time. As in a few decades.

100% synthetic fabrics and synthetic blends tend to hold their color, wrinkle less and fade less. Which is how humans intend our creations. It's also why our landfill mountains of crap will take literally thousands of years to fully decompose.

Hawaiian print shirts that have been laundered repeatedly and are as fresh today as a decade ago surely contain some synthetic fiber. Cotton simply won't stand up to that kind of regular use and laundering without fading, fraying or otherwise showing its age. That's simply the nature of the goods.

Regardless of fabric quality and content, shades of even brand new black apparel will vary from one garment to the next, as will those in navy, white, red, yellow and every other color. Fabric and apparel manufacturers use the entire spectrum of colors. Plus dye lots vary.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
Decades ago when you bought an article of clothing that was supposed to be black...it was jet black. Now it seems "black" is more often really a dark charcoal gray. I don't know what happened to the dyes but I prefer my black be jet black. Have you noticed the same thing with your (allegedly) black garments? I bet ya'll thought this post was going to be about something else. šŸ¤£
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Yes, especially pants. The black on the pants donā€™t match the black top. same problem with navy blue. I want it to be dark dark dark.
 
horseless carriage said:
At a guess I would say that it comes down to costs. My wife has made me an amazing collection of Aloha shirts, I can buy Aloha shirts online for next to nothing, but my shirts cost a small fortune. It takes three yards of fabric to make one shirt, the fabric that my wife buys costs around Ā£15 @ yard. That's Ā£45 per shirt, before it's been made and before the additional costs are added, like notions, paper pattern, interfacing and so on. Each shirt is around Ā£55 before it's even a shirt.

Apologies if that sounds boastful, the point that I am making is, you get what you pay for. Not all of my shirts are of an Hawaiian flare, this particular one is an Art-Deco design. The shirt must have been washed and ironed countless times in the ten years that I have had it. The quality of the fabric and the strength of the dye that has been used is evident. There's no fade, no greying and even the hard wearing parts around the collar have withstood all that washing an ironing.

There are two fabrics, the Art-Deco pattern and the plain jet black to enhance it. Not black enough? I don't think so.
View attachment 195063
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If I passed by you when you were wearing this shirt, you certainly would have gotten my attention HC! That is quite unique. And yes, the black is black enough. :giggle:
 
OneEyedDiva said:
If I passed by you when you were wearing this shirt, you certainly would have gotten my attention HC! That is quite unique. And yes, the black is black enough. :giggle:
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Ooh, you flatterer, but don't stop, I love it. Tell you what Diva, just so that you know, a black & white Art-Deco shirt cries out for a black fedora companion. Don't you think?
black 001.JPG
 
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