Like living in a black-and-white film

These days, even in the summer, when I am out and about, walking through the streets, I sometimes think that I must have some sort of eye defect, because I seem to be living in a monochrome world: everyone is dressed in black. From head to toe. Even small children. (No kidding!) Even at the height of the summer.

And I wonder to myself what is wrong with wearing, say, a splash of blue, orange, red or green? Personally, I would rather die than wear a black anorak. All mine are red, because when the days are gloomy, you don't want to pile gloom upon gloom and just wear the most dismal colour around. You want something a bit uplifting, a dash of something bright and cheerful. At least, I do. 

Some people tell me that black doesn't show up the dirt, but there are plenty of things that will show up on a black anorak, such as bird poo and ice-cream, to mention but two.

It was similar in the City of London, when I used to pass through it on my way to work: everyone was wearing sombre suits, but at least there was some colour variation - not just black, but dark grey, medium to light grey and navy blue. All pepped up with white shirts or blouses and, for the men, a tie. But even then, I did think they looked like a bunch of crows.

These days, though, people seem to clad themselves in black in some sort of attempt to be self-effacing, to disappear into the background, to not be seen. I presume this from the fact that not only do they wear black, but they wear the most shapeless clothes around, baggy to the extreme. Like some human Shar-Pei,  a dog famed for having more skin than is necessary for its actual frame.

I miss the days when people dressed with some style and panache. With colour and an eye for what went well together. Nowadays, I walk along the streets with dark-clothed, shapelessly clad people that put me in mind of slugs and I think that I'm in some parallel universe, one that is a black-and-white movie from the time when Technicolour film had not been invented.

If there is one thing that the film The Wizard of Oz, a movie that is always shown on UK TV at Christmas time, and whose middle section is in glorious Technicolour, should have taught us over the years, it is that colour is something fantastic, joyous and uplifting. How sad that people have turned their backs on bright and joyful colours.