Do Melburnians really wear a lot of black?

MELBURNIANS WEAR AN awful lot of black – or at least that’s the stereotype. No matter the weather, residents of our city are known for looking as if we’re in mourning or trying to make our high school goth phase last into adulthood. But do Melburnians actually wear more black than people in other Australian cities? Yes, says fashion commentator and editor at Voxfrock, Janice Breen Burns. Our love for all things 50 shades of black, she says, comes down to three things: our climate, our city and the early 1990s recession. “After the bling decade of the ‘80s – the big shoulder pads, lots of jewellery, big heels, big hair decade – the world was plunged into a deep recession,” she says. “Fashion around the world responded [with] this very sombre, draped, layered look, which favoured a lot of black, very little adornments – it was almost monkish.” Working as a fashion reporter during the ‘90s, Breen Burns saw first hand how women in Melbourne took to the dark trend. “They just adored it. It’s slimming, it’s flattering, it can be non-conformist, it can be conformist.” But unlike cities with comparable fashion scenes (such as London and Paris), Melbourne never lost its love for black. Black fit our own perceptions of who we were. “We saw ourselves as the city of gardens and galleries where Sydney was more about boobs and beaches.” Our city of 1990s Winona Ryder look-alikes might be under threat, however, with a new generation of style icons. “We’ve got younger generations coming through who are more slavish about global trends.” Melbourne’s days of all-black attire aren’t over yet though – stroll through the CBD at peak hour and you’ll agree, black is still the new black.