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Yoliswa Dube

THE mirror at the end of our hallway is a great buddy of mine.

I never leave the house without consulting with her first although on tough days, she doesn’t always give me the affirmation I need.

You must be thinking I’m crazy personifying a mirror right? I’m even chuckling at myself right now. But well, it is quite helpful. A lot of the times, you visualise certain pieces together, but they don’t make any sense until you actually try them on.

Even when you do try them on, you’ll probably think you’re all that and a bag of chips until you actually stand in front of a mirror and realise you look crappy. It can be a lot. Figuring out what to wear can be a real roller coaster ride if like me; you’re serious about personal branding and care about how you look.

On days when I can’t make up my mind about what to wear from just standing in front of the mirror, I take a mirror selfie. Yes, weird, I know but it helps to take a picture and see how I appear to others. Just the other day I was having difficulties deciding what to pair my new black and beige skirt with.

I had worn a black blazer and wasn’t sure whether to wear beige or black heels. The beige shoes matched the beige on the skirt perfectly. They also did wonders for my legs, if I may say so myself. On the other hand, the black shoes looked rather too chilled for the feisty skirt, but they worked well with the black blazer.

I really wasn’t sure which pair to go with so I wore one shoe from each pair to make a more accurate comparison and take a mirror selfie. At this point, you’re pretty sure I’m out of my wits, rights?

So here I was looking at the mirror selfie and wondering which shoe looked the hottest. The clock was ticking and I was running late, but I also didn’t want to leave the house looking crappy, so I picked the black shoes. Black is always a safe option, always. It pretty much matches with everything even on days you don’t really want to look safe.

You really have got to be out of your mind to mess up any black fashion piece! Black nuetralises any over the top combinations. It will break outfits that are too colourful and help tie everything together nicely.

If you don’t already own a black blazer, top, pants and shoes — you need to get to stepping and hook yourself up! Black is also a great colour to wear on its own; all black everything is elegant. I think it’s super classy although my mother always insists I need something to break the black lest I look like a grieving widow.

There are a couple of things to remember if you’re going to go for the black on black look though. Vary the fabrics and textures. Nothing looks dowdier than an all-black outfit that is all cotton. On the fabric note, make sure the fabric selection is season appropriate. A black wool dress will look fabulous in winter but out of place during summer. Silk and linen make it easier to pull off the all-black look during the warmer months.

When putting together an all-black ensemble, fit becomes even more important. Take advantage of the fact that black is slimming and have the clothes more fitted and flattering, rather than shapeless and drab.

Accessories are a thing for me if I’m going to do black on black. Black is such a graceful colour which allows your accessories to pop and your face to glow. It’s always a good idea to add interest with accessories. Bold, colourful jewellery becomes the statement piece of your outfit. For me, coloured stiletto heels are the go-to shoe with any all black outfit. It’s also key to make your outfit more dressy or casual with the simple change of lipstick colour. A little black dress can go from day with a light pink lip stain to night with a bold, deep red lip seamlessly.

Once you invest in good blacks, you’ll realise you won’t have to spend much whenever you have an important event to attend. Just play around with your accessories and you’re good to go.

Until next week, flaunt your pattern and style and don’t forget to catch up with me on Twitter handle @Yolisswa, visit my blog, www.stayera247.blogspot.com or like my Facebook page Pattern & Style.