Out of the black and into... the smoke. No yellow?

Ok, so it's Autumn, Winter for as much as the temperature is worth. It's suddenly, for do you remember Summer? I do. I think. But yes it's suddenly very cold and very dark regardless of the hour going back. But London? A sea of black on the commute, really?? I for one wear a lot of black, it's neat, cool, i like to think edgy and mostly outfits back with everything i have easy. Not to mention the way i wear my make-up quite heavy on the eyes. But even i am fearing the Winter blues, or blacks, in the London fashion stakes. Particularly on our commute folks.

I'm always incredibly defensive of the city commute to work, we are not a zombie nation as many outsiders like to claim, we do suffer from an immense lack of sleep yes, agreed. I am always amazed when i get the 6.03 am train to Cannon Street just how many people are on their way to work, or most probably pretty much there. My alarm goes off at 5/5.30am and I'm pretty sure I'm never asleep before 12.30am, regardless of how early i go to bed. So four and a half/five hours sleep it is then. Great. I'd prefer this to be slightly more than the national average, unlike calorie intake. But still we're up, raring to go... well with time, and caffeine. But not a lifeless Zombie or a black hole thank you very much critics.

So why the black? Black coats, gloves, scarfs, bags, shoes and yet more bags. It is practical yes, and smart. But i did have a little daydream this evening on my way home that what if people looked like,wore, reflected say,  the colours of the vibrancy of their minds at that exact and current state. What a different, more animated and in turn truer London scene it would actually be. Tick... ticking away brains, might mean lime green, bright blue for motivation, red for a pulse or adrenalin rush, the brightest yellow for a bright spark of an idea, orange for remembering something from the night before, or purple for potential etc... Surely that reflects the inner Londoners. It is a silent and very politely English and uneventful scene i grant you, but think of the commute more as a silent disco where the sheer volume of the music being blasted through the eardrums of the music masses with individual tastes and styles and the tapping of the fingers or the foot that indicates something building momentum within, would make even you dance like no-one was watching or like the melody and precussions were vibrating through the veins of everyone else around you aswell. Or those brains woken up from some particularly inspiring or thought provoking; either way, newspaper feature that sparks a definite, conscious response. A conversation for later perhaps. Or books that enthrall and captivate and render the commuter unaware even of if a white elephant stood right before them on the tube.

If you look, and look a little closer the commute is a hub of activity and potential, we haven't achieved much so far, we certainly haven't conquered the world yet today, by 8am no. But that many people with ideas, buzzing away, contemplating, planning and interacting; if they'd only wish too in one place that early in a morning could be something. If only personified in equivalently busy active outfits of an equally vibrant palette.

If you could view the inner pulse of the city through the whole colour spectrum with energy sensitive and ehancing glasses,  i believe you really would be blinded by the sheer height and intensity of pigment visible before you.

So, although i admit i also saw a bit of grey, khaki, camel yes on trend thank you AW10 you were correct, a bit of navy, thank you Barbour for the quilted jacket refined but determined explosion. Do replace this relentless black with your true colours (in the words of Cindy Lauper... i shan't sing). Even if it just a red scarf London and be yourself.