One day as I was browsing through my closet looking for something to wear, I kept glancing and touching over black shirts, black pants, black skirts — black, black and more black. After seeing all of the black that had taken over my closet, I asked myself, “When did I purchase all of this black clothing and most importantly, why?”

Thinking back on conversations with my mom about fashion and how things have changed since the “old days,” I recall her saying that black was only considered appropriate for funerals and very formal affairs. Back then, to wear black to a wedding like we do today would cause you to be the topic of discussion at the event as well as after. She said black became somewhat of the “it” color in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and she embraced it with open arms, wearing it with gold jewelry or other bright color accessories. Nowadays, it’s nothing to walk through the children’s department of a store and see black pants, jumpers, dresses, sweaters and tops.

Has the color black become the newest and hottest color in fashion? Are customers buying black to be trendy, or could it all be based on the psychological meaning?

In the novel “Black: The History of Color,” Michael Pastoureau describes the history and meaning of the color black and how it originated in Europe, the capital of fashion. In the early Christian period, black was a representation of hell and the devil. Even until this day, some still view the color black in a negative light, but that has not stopped it from reaching upscale fashion and taking over the pages of top fashion magazines.

While the color black is now known as a color for the luxurious, sleek and wealthy, there is a deeper psychological meaning for it.

Some say yhe color black can imply authority and power or submission.

“Priests wear black to signify submission to God,” Johnson said.

However the most common reason people choose to wear black clothing is because it appears to make the person thinner. Personally, that is definitely why I wear it.