Copyright by Gina Novelle 05-13-2010

Why am I making this statement? As I was glancing through two business magazines this morning, I noticed a trend gone horribly wrong. Every woman in each of the business photos were all wearing black. As I reached for my little black computer to write this protest, I accidentally caught a peek of my own closet where a child left the door open while searching for black shoes to borrow. Oh my, all I see is black, with a dotting of white, and maybe a tiny bit of red. White of course is for the white blouses one wears with black. Red was introduced two years ago to show my college spirit at the institution where I teach computer classes.

So how did this happen? Somewhere in my business life, black was introduced to women so they could gain supremacy in business. However, all my clothing acquired black dominance. My children had mentioned it a few times, that I must really like black, but since "goth" was in; they didn't complain. I need to make a stand and de-black my closet. Women, if it is black - take it back!

It happened without notice, or consciousness. Now that I am aware, I have learned that all the cute clothes are in, you guessed it, black! Okay, it is time to rally the world of businesswomen to stand up and demand we are diverse in business talent and clothing color. Oh, I can hear it now. Gina, black goes with everything. Gina, black makes me look thinner. Gina, black is power. I say black is diluted power because every women in business is now wearing black.

Let us look at the other power colors. While de-blacking my closet, I came upon a dark royal purple. Then I discovered a rich wine burgundy. I continued past all the black pin striped articles, black skirts, and that gorgeous black pant suit with the cream-colored collar. That's right I went directly for the dark teal blouse. Then I shopped for hours for any article of clothing that would remotely blend with the stunning dark teal blouse. I finally found it! Yes, that gorgeous black pant suit I passed up earlier. De-blacking my closet may be harder than I thought. Nevertheless, I am determined to stand above the rest, or at least standout in my next business photo.