I'm the PP who originally posted about not being allowed to wear black as a child. I just asked my mom about it and she said it actually stemmed from how my grandmother (dad's mom) viewed the color - as sad and somber, meant for funerals and mourning. She believed that kids should wear bright and fun colors and my mom agreed with her so she kept black out of our wardrobes.

Again, we are a non-religious family, so religion has nothing to do with it. Definitely no pearl-clutchers, either. And we were raised in Naples, FL and Potomac, MD for those asking where I grew up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:pp here, and my kids didn't own any black clothes until they went to a funeral last year. Primary reason is that it clashes with their shoes which tend to be navy or pastels.

Ok, this makes sense as a reason, and so does lack of availability of black clothes in places/season's where that's true. Though I had no problem buying black clothes for my kids when they were little or in elementary school. It's a color that flatters their skin tone, so we gravitated toward it and never had to work to find it.

But why would it ever be considered inappropriate for a child to wear black tops or bottoms? That's the part I'm still confused by.

I don't consider it inappropriate, but I don't buy anything black for my 6-year-old. I am not a fan of children dressing like little adults. Black is a more sophisticated color.

No. No, it's not. A color can't be inherently more or less sophisticated. That's a meaning YOU assign to it.

Like, I got married in red. Does that mean I'm a geisha, or possibly just that I'm Japanese-American? Gee. I wonder.

My kids' wardrobes are half cheap black stuff from Old Navy and Uniqlo. It's washable; it basically matches other pieces when we're in a hurry in the morning. It's not sophisticated. It's just practical.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:pp here, and my kids didn't own any black clothes until they went to a funeral last year. Primary reason is that it clashes with their shoes which tend to be navy or pastels.

Ok, this makes sense as a reason, and so does lack of availability of black clothes in places/season's where that's true. Though I had no problem buying black clothes for my kids when they were little or in elementary school. It's a color that flatters their skin tone, so we gravitated toward it and never had to work to find it.

But why would it ever be considered inappropriate for a child to wear black tops or bottoms? That's the part I'm still confused by.

I don't consider it inappropriate, but I don't buy anything black for my 6-year-old. I am not a fan of children dressing like little adults. Black is a more sophisticated color.

Oh, good lord. Plenty of kids wear black. Plenty of kids' clothing is available in black. It doesn't show stains, after all; it's just a color and doesn't mean witchy or gothy or whatever Christians get their pearls in a knot about. Colors have culturally assigned meanings. We do know that, here in the overeducated status-crazy DC area, right?

That said, kids' invites that include special parameters ("Please make sure to wear your unicorn horns!") are guaranteed to annoy guests and are best avoided (better: "We're having a Star Wars party! Larlo/a can wear black or a mask from Halloween if s/he wants to!" is OK).

L

Why not just invite the kids to wear Star Wars gear, or wear black.

Not forced or rxclmmended. Just an idea at the end. "Feel free to wear Star Wars gear."

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:pp here, and my kids didn't own any black clothes until they went to a funeral last year. Primary reason is that it clashes with their shoes which tend to be navy or pastels.

Ok, this makes sense as a reason, and so does lack of availability of black clothes in places/season's where that's true. Though I had no problem buying black clothes for my kids when they were little or in elementary school. It's a color that flatters their skin tone, so we gravitated toward it and never had to work to find it.

But why would it ever be considered inappropriate for a child to wear black tops or bottoms? That's the part I'm still confused by.

Why does that make sense? Who spends a lot of time matching their KIDS's clothes to shoes? They are kids! And navy shoes? Huh? Are they uniform shoes? And black goes with pretty much everything, especially if you are a KID.

Sorry. This is just overall a weird rule or hangup. It is not defensible outside of personal preference. Which is fine, personal preference is fine. But it is weird.

Anonymous wrote:pp here, and my kids didn't own any black clothes until they went to a funeral last year. Primary reason is that it clashes with their shoes which tend to be navy or pastels.

Ok, this makes sense as a reason, and so does lack of availability of black clothes in places/season's where that's true. Though I had no problem buying black clothes for my kids when they were little or in elementary school. It's a color that flatters their skin tone, so we gravitated toward it and never had to work to find it.

But why would it ever be considered inappropriate for a child to wear black tops or bottoms? That's the part I'm still confused by.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Under no circumstance was I allowed to wear black as a child. As a result, I also owned nothing black. Please don't make this a requirement for attending to your son's birthday.

That's amazing, where did you grow up? Very rural or religious area?

I'm not that poster but also didn't wear black as a kid and don't buy it for my kids. I'm from the DC area and not religious. I just think black is a weird color for kids to wear. I think my moms view is that it wasn't an appropriate color for kids except maybe a recital dress.

NP here. Why are black clothes on kids considered weird or inappropriate? I'm not criticizing, just curious as I've seen posters on other threads mention this before. I looked through the prior pages and didn't see any explanation. I would love it if someone would share precisely what the thinking is on the ban on black.

It's just not a common color for kids. Go on old navy or gap's websites under the kids section - how many black tops and bottoms do you see? Just glancing under Gap's boys section, there's not one solid black shirt, sweater or t shirt (plenty of Star Wars shirts though). So you would have to actively seek out these items.

Gap did not have a lot of black boys' tops, but several different styles of pants came in black: http://www.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=6187#pageId=0&department=16
Old navy has several black tees and polos: http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=36097&sop=true

I saw several black tops for girls at Gap (including a Star Wars themed one!), including some with no prints: http://www.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=14417#pageId=0&department=48 Lots of black pants and leggings too: http://www.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=6274#pageId=0&department=48

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Under no circumstance was I allowed to wear black as a child. As a result, I also owned nothing black. Please don't make this a requirement for attending to your son's birthday.

+1. A lot of people don't buy black clothes for their kids. My DS doesn't have anything black.

Same with my two kids. That said, they have loads of navy, so they could wear that.

pp here, and my kids didn't own any black clothes until they went to a funeral last year. Primary reason is that it clashes with their shoes which tend to be navy or pastels.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Under no circumstance was I allowed to wear black as a child. As a result, I also owned nothing black. Please don't make this a requirement for attending to your son's birthday.

That's amazing, where did you grow up? Very rural or religious area?

I'm not that poster but also didn't wear black as a kid and don't buy it for my kids. I'm from the DC area and not religious. I just think black is a weird color for kids to wear. I think my moms view is that it wasn't an appropriate color for kids except maybe a recital dress.

NP here. Why are black clothes on kids considered weird or inappropriate? I'm not criticizing, just curious as I've seen posters on other threads mention this before. I looked through the prior pages and didn't see any explanation. I would love it if someone would share precisely what the thinking is on the ban on black.

It's just not a common color for kids. Go on old navy or gap's websites under the kids section - how many black tops and bottoms do you see? Just glancing under Gap's boys section, there's not one solid black shirt, sweater or t shirt (plenty of Star Wars shirts though). So you would have to actively seek out these items.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Under no circumstance was I allowed to wear black as a child. As a result, I also owned nothing black. Please don't make this a requirement for attending to your son's birthday.

That's amazing, where did you grow up? Very rural or religious area?

I'm not that poster but also didn't wear black as a kid and don't buy it for my kids. I'm from the DC area and not religious. I just think black is a weird color for kids to wear. I think my moms view is that it wasn't an appropriate color for kids except maybe a recital dress.

NP here. Why are black clothes on kids considered weird or inappropriate? I'm not criticizing, just curious as I've seen posters on other threads mention this before. I looked through the prior pages and didn't see any explanation. I would love it if someone would share precisely what the thinking is on the ban on black.

Anonymous wrote:A blurb on the invitation to wear black or star wars is really no big deal. I don't understand the fuss. You just put together what you have, attend the party, and have fun!

It's just an annoying request. Id be annoyed by that. If she wants a theme she can buy some Star Wars tshirts or black shirts and hand them out at the party.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Under no circumstance was I allowed to wear black as a child. As a result, I also owned nothing black. Please don't make this a requirement for attending to your son's birthday.

That's amazing, where did you grow up? Very rural or religious area?

I'm not that poster but also didn't wear black as a kid and don't buy it for my kids. I'm from the DC area and not religious. I just think black is a weird color for kids to wear. I think my moms view is that it wasn't an appropriate color for kids except maybe a recital dress.

Anonymous wrote:Under no circumstance was I allowed to wear black as a child. As a result, I also owned nothing black. Please don't make this a requirement for attending to your son's birthday.

+1. A lot of people don't buy black clothes for their kids. My DS doesn't have anything black.