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Wearing black w grey hair

Anonymous

I've noticed that once people have grey hair, they don't wear a lot of black, at least in summer. I was wondering if it's more generational or flattery.

It seems like gen X and younger wear more black in general than prior generations. My grandmas didn't wear black at all that I remember. My grandma from Brazil used to, but was told it was the color of mourning and she stopped. Or maybe it was considered just an evening color in the past?

My mom used to wear more black than she does now, but it still suits her. She doesn't wear grey either, usually blues and purples.

I assume I'll still wear black after going grey. Can't picture switching to grey or blue with my warm coloring.

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34 replies

Latest reply was from

JAileen

Veteran

I never wore much black. When I had brown hair it looked bad, and now that I have nearly white hair, I look like a ghost. I have a friend who looks like Joan Baez and has short spiky silvery hair. Black looks incredible on her. I envy her - life would be so easy - everything comes in black. If you look good in black now, I think you’ll look good in it even when you go grey.

rachylou

Veteran

Hmm. That’s interesting. Maybe it depends on how fashionable they are? I feel like I see many with grey hair in black. But my neighbourhood is not exactly a place for fashion sightseeing. It’s all folks walking their dogs for a morning coffee… black puffer jackets and jeans…

Lana

(website)

Veteran

I used to wear black often when I had dark hair, but now with silver hair it overwhelms me. Charcoal is the darkest I can go and I do wear it but just that small lighter tint makes a difference even though still not ideal. I will add a bright or light color to it to help bring it alive. Imagine the black outfit on the left without the magenta — it would be pretty blah. I love dark colors so will continue to wear them but add what it takes to look good on me.

The right hand pic in the pink skirt looks so much more harmonious with my own coloring now IMHO. Pics 2 and 3 show the difference between just charcoal and charcoal with a light scarf and bag. There’s also a medium gray in the scarf to help bridge that high contrast.

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Anonymous

Could be my area too! It's all waterfront towns, very touristy, and hot 6 months of the year.
The all dark works Lana, but yep the addition of light works better!

cat2

Veteran

I am still wearing all my black, and have added warm grey to the mix. Both look fine; my skin tone is still warm and my grey is a mix of pewter and silver.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

I don’t wear a lot of black, but wear it more than grey. Black never matched my hair color. That won’t change, even as I get more grey, and I expect I’ll keep wearing it

Sal

Veteran

My grandmothers didn’t wear much black- it was a funeral or mourning colour. I wonder if their parents did though but the photos are black and white so it’s hard to tell.

My Mum rarely wore black - only in patterns. But she was a light red head with light blue eyes - black didn’t suit her she suited soft autumn colours. Mum wouldn’t let me wear black as a teenager - she said it was an older colour.

I don’t know if it’s Angie’s influence or my eye but I am going off black on me. I still wear it - for gear it is brilliant, and I like my current pieces. But I am trying to choose other colours for new additions.

I do see black as an urban colour - Wellington, Melbourne, London are cities I know that embrace black.

Joy

Veteran

Since my hair has turned from dark brown to silver, I wear black for the first time and feel like a blond. Some very black blacks like black velvet is not good. Faded black or sheer or lace where some skin shows through is better. Find your best black and wear it while you can. Once you get wrinkles you will want a softer color. I still mix dark neutrals like black and brown because my eyes are brown. Charcoal gray and navy are other dark neutrals to try. I am wearing more light neutrals like pale grey or tan than I ever did before as they are more flattering than ever before.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Not in Seattle! People generally wear a lot of black, and have greying hair too.

Hubs Greg who will be 54 has the most spectacular silver grey hair! He wears black with the best of them. He wears thick black round specs with panache. His thick brows help to my eye.

He also wears dark grey and dark blue with the best of them. Matches is bright blue eyes. He has equal quantities of black and dark blue in his wardrobe. A lot of grey too - but not as much. Wears these dark neutrals year round. His happy colours

Runcarla

Veteran

Black suited me very well when my hair was vibrant copper penny red. My version of ‘grey hair’ is a mix of white and red that reads as sandy blonde. Greys and silver don’t ‘bookend’ my hair as well as warm beiges and gold but black still works. Dark/navy blue and black are my dark neutrals. White is my light neutral. I suspect I’ll always use black to ground my wardrobe.

DH’s wardrobe is almost all light and medium grey, and no black! His hair is silver grey and white, and his eyes are blue!

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

Our skin gets thinner and more pale, our hair usually gets lighter, our eyes dull....our contrast may be very different in older age than it was when we were young so it makes sense that a harsh color like black may be put aside.

Sal

Veteran

I see I went off track earlier (sorry Suntiger).

I think with grey hair it can go lots of ways - for those that black suits it can look even better.... and for some it starts to look worse.

My skin tone is becoming a bit more uneven and black accentuates that...so I suspect I won't be one that looks wonderful in black. I suspect you will...

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I still have enough dark brown/near black in my hair and dark eyebrows to wear black, but I like it less and less against my face, especially compared to dark blue. I do still wear it especially with jeans, trousers and shoes.

Anonymous

Interesting thoughts! I thought it may be an urban/rural thing too.
Since my skin color is medium, my contrast level will actually go up when my hair goes grey. I'm getting a small taste of it now, cause my ends have faded to blonde from all the swimming :/
I have gravitated more to light neutrals in the last couple years, but more in theory than practice!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Seems to me that in this regard, suburbs align with rural areas more than with cities.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Hmm, I don’t really see this, but can understand. I still wear plenty of black with my changing hair, but there’s still a good bit of dark brown in it, and my eyebrows are still dark. I like black to ground an outfit; it’s still my preferred neutral. I do however think grey looks better on me now than it used to.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Hmm. I haven't noticed this pattern. I see lots of grey haired women wearing black.

I wore black surprisingly well for a low-ish contrast fair skinned person with blonde hair -- but navy or charcoal were always better on me so I gravitated to them more. Black was more of an evening colour for me then.

Now that my hair is silver, I still wear more navy or charcoal (as well as lighter greys and whites) and typically I don't look at black items at all -- but I still do have a few black things in my closet, especially in summer. Like Lana, I will typically combine with white or silver to "lighten" the overall effect because I'm still a fair, low-ish contrast person, and unlike her, I don't have the dramatic dark specs to tie into any darker elements of an outfit. Adding bursts of light is particularly important.

What I do wear a lot more of than I did as a blonde are black and white patterned items. A black and white gingham looks smashing on me now, to my eye. As do black and white abstract or floral patterns. I actually seek out patterns with black or navy or charcoal and white.

Star

Veteran

I think I still look good in black even though my hair is now silver instead of dark brunette. I prefer to not wear it in the day when it is sunny and bright in summer as it just feels too heavy generally, not really because of ,how it looks on me. I am still in the process of figuring out which colors work/don't work with my new silver hair, as a cool-toned, blue-eyed person. The theory is not exact in practice. For example rust is not supposed to look good, yet if it is a deep rust it does. I thought lighter colors were going to work for me, but it seems they have to be in a solid format to work. With regard to your question, Christian Orthodox widows in my area definitely wear lots of black. So does everybody else (except me) in mid-winter. For a small coastal town the people dress like they are in NY or London color-wise.

The Cat

Veteran

Here in Scandinavia, LOTS of grey-haired people--including me--wear black year round. However, in recent years, I have chosen not to wear solid black very near my face.

MsMaven

Veteran

I wear black now that my hair is natural--a variety of mixed gray shades. Never liked to wear all black and except for a midi black dress, wouldn't wear all black now.

Looking back--I don't remember my Mom, grandmothers, great-aunts wearing much black.

I have a nice black blazer from BR that I bought several years ago. It's a shorter length and I've decided I'd like one at a longer length now. Haven't really started looking yet.

I do find I don't like to wear navy now. Dark denim blue is okay. Why navy and not black? Still can't explain it even to myself.

Helena

Veteran

I love black with gray hair, and when hair is very silver it's even better! I don't see why you would have to give it up ... I think the contrast of the gray could be enhancing.

My mom never wore black ... It just wasn't a thing for her or any of her sisters. She was the queen of navy. But I will never give black up (maybe that's my Gen X showing )

Jenni NZ

Veteran

I like black on me with my grey hair. I think the darker part of my hair has gone more “black” where it used to be more of a rich brown, so I think it suits me more than before.
I still wear lots of it and see plenty of other women my age (early 60s) wearing it too, I am a late Boomer. But it is our national colour…

Bijou

Veteran

I love black and don't think that as my hair becomes grey that I will stop wearing it. I'm Gen X, black has been part of my identity for many years and a favourite neutral.

anchie

Veteran

I have completely phased out all black from my wardrobe. It looked very flat and harsh on me, and I did not enjoy it anymore. But just yesterday I saw a woman about my age with completely white hair, she had big bold black glasses, relaxed black linen midi dress and some strappy black flats. She looked so sophisticated, cool, modern and chic. I wanted to be like her.

Anonymous

I expect I'll still want to wear a lot of black. I don't resonate with a lot of Gen X (though I technically am) but wearing black is one thing I do!

Zaeobi

(website)

Veteran

Black technically isn't my *best* colour but I do still wear it - I've just relegated it a capsule wardrobe for the UK, to be worn with red &/ or yellow, but otherwise have banished from my closet. But you knew that anyway, as a fellow Deep Autumn

I suspect when I go 'grey' it will indeed be more grey rather than stark white (based on genetics). As such, I'm not sure that pure black will suit me then (salt & pepper with yellow undertones) but I'd like to be pleasantly surprised otherwise

That's funny about black being the colour of mourning - my mother used to tell me not to wear it because it's a 'grown-up' colour (gave my sister a lot of grief for it too). But in our culture, older women start to wear more beige & pale tones - so I guess black is 'grownup' but not *too* 'grown-up' White is actually our funeral colour (for the body).

anchie

Veteran

Interesting about mourning. I remember my grandma wore only black for a full year when my grandpa died (that was 1976). It was a big endeavor to get her black wardrobe for the whole year since she didn’t have anything black before. And when the year was over she never wore black again. Some widows from her generation continued to wear black for the rest of their life. But that was more common in villages than in the city.
My mom wore black for 40 days when her parents died about 2 decades later. I am not sure what is currently expected since I don’t live in my country.

Anonymous

I do wear a lot of black, Zaeobi, but definitely prefer it with rust, olive, mustard, burgundy, gold, and brown on me! To me, all black is more of mourning, but combined with other colors it's not. Though when I went to my friend's funeral a couple months ago, I wore an olive green jacket and the rest of the outfit was black.

April

Veteran

Thank you, Greg, for being one of the few people in the world with an even less color-varied wardrobe than mine.

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