noir et blanc

Black and White. Two colors that can easily stand on their own but when styled together create a timeless classic combination that instantly brings fashion images to my mind. Like the Parisian designs of Chanel, the ultra femme style of Carolina Herrera or George Clooney’s recent polka dotted fashion editorial in W Magazine and ultimately the self proclaimed uniform of Janelle Monáe.

I love Monae’s music and her style is all kinds of fierce even with what might seem to be a limiting color palette choosing to wear only black and white. When accepting an award at the 2012 Black Girls Rock Awards, Monáe explains her B&W wardrobe choice in a beautiful and touching way.

“When I started my musical career I was a maid, I used to clean houses. My parents—my mother was a proud janitor, my step-father who raised me like his very own worked at the post office and my father was a trash man. They all wore uniforms. And that’s why I stand here today in my black and white and I wear my uniform to honor them…”

“…You could time travel, you could go all over the world, it won’t ever go out of style. It’s just a part of a “brand” that I created, even if nobody was watching. I know what I like; if you go to my closet, I have at least four of everything. Once you find what you like, it’s like it worked yesterday, it works today, it’ll work tomorrow.” Janelle Monáe (Vanity Fair)

George Clooney on the cover of W Magazine’s Art Issue

Designer Carolina Herrera

Chanel in Noir et Blanc

I felt inspired to create my own black and white look ever since I went to Monae’s concert last month. When I saw this dress on ASOS and fell in love with it’s classic simplicity.