Colour up your wardrobe

Tired of being told you look like you're "dressed for a funeral"? Want to add more colour to your outfit but don't know where to start? Otago Polytechnic fashion design student Emma Cavanagh and ODT photographer Linda Robertson look into the options.

A certain southern penchant for black has not gone uncommented over the years.

Indeed, a recent letter to the editor again cast the issue in a less-than a flattering light.

"I found it rather depressing" wrote the Roslyn, Dunedin correspondent following a trip downtown, "to see the number of women dressed completely in black."

It made me think. Do we need to brighten our winter fashion? Has Dunedin's dark and gloomy weather entered our wardrobes as well?

The problem is, black is easy. Black is simple. Throw on some black and you're out the door. No worries about your clothes matching, because they're all black. Black is flattering, it suits everybody and is basically our nation's colour. The All Blacks wear it, celebrities wear it, even John Key wears it.

Tania Gray, manager of Plume, thinks black can speak volumes. "It keeps you simple, it keeps you a lot like the next person and it has power."

So I don't think any of us want to let go of black, but what about accessorising it with some colour?

Cat Callanan, accessories buyer for Arthur Barnett, says colour is making a comeback. "It's slowly coming into mainstream and now things are more colourful."

Adding colour to your wardrobe doesn't need to be expensive. A simple, coloured scarf will do the trick. Tie it around your waist, wear it as a headscarf or spruce up your handbag by tying it to the handle.

"Scarves are an inexpensive way to add colour," Cat says, "They automatically lift a person."

You don't have to stop at scarves. Handbags come in all the colours of the rainbow. And just pop into Arthur Barnett to look at the extensive array of colourful hosiery.

Match your belt with your shoes, or your hat with your bag and you are now wearing colour. Easy!

A popular colour this season is purple.

"Our most dominant colour is purple," says Neil Gaudin, owner of Dunedin store Void.

Other retailers point out mustards, yellows and reds also rank highly.