Why are you wearing black? Students questioned

Walking around the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) campus, you detect certain patterns in the style of Danish clothing.

No. You are not trapped in an old black and white movie. Neither are you suddenly seeing the world through the eyes of a dog.

Danes wear a lot of black, as one commenter from Singapore previously reported on the University Post. At the main campus for the Faculty of Humanities, Danish students were kind enough to shed some more light on this question.

Danish students’ defence

Hannah: ”I wear black too often, even my friends tell me I wear it too much. I really like the color: it is simple, classic, it goes with everything and it feels like me. I don’t know why we wear it so much, maybe we are too boring.”

Hannah: Maybe we are too boring. Photo: Yifan Liu

Emily: ”I wear black five times a week. It makes me look thin and it is very easy to combine. It is not something I think about much, but I think we like it so much because it is an easy colour and it doesn’t make you stand out from the rest.”

Emily: It doesn’t make you stand our from the rest. Photo: Yifan Liu

Sophie: ”I wear black almost everyday and I wear it because I like it and it makes me feel comfortable. I don’t really know why we wear it so much, but maybe it is because we don’t like to stand out. In London for example they wear a lot of bright colors. Here people just try to blend in, they just follow the fashion.”

Sophie: Here people just try to blend in, they just follow the fashion. Photo: Yifan Liu

Oskar: ”I don’t put too much thought into it. I wear black every week a couple of times because it is easy and it doesn’t get messy, stains are very difficult to see in dark clothes. I have no clue why we wear it so much; I think it is because it is a neutral and easy color, even though it is pretty sad.”

Oskar: Stains are difficult to see on dark clothes. Photo: Yifan Liu

It all seems very egalitarian, in which the most important thing is a minimal and simplistic style. Black is a practical colour that helps Danes blend in with each other. And it is classy and fashionable. As Christian Dior once said:

“‘You can wear black at any time. You can wear it at any age. You may wear it for almost any occasion.”

But international students wonder

Such observations require comment from non-Danish students.

English student Jack: Can you imagine everyone wearing red? It would be like McDonald’s all over the place: everybody would be either hungry or angry.

Isa, a rhetoric student from Germany has a slightly different interpretation: ”It is not common in Germany to wear that much black. In my home university people wear more colorful things. Here, it is easy to notice the tourists: they are the ones not wearing black. I think it is because of the depressing weather they have here, but black also makes them appear fashionable. Everyone dresses so nicely here,” she says.

Læs mere:

Comment: Black is the new black

Jack, is a student of quantum physics student from England.

“Wearing black helps you not to stand out and get on with your day. You are not affected or aggravated seeing everyone dressed in black; that is the whole point of wearing this colour. Can you imagine everyone wearing red? It would be like McDonald’s all over the place: everybody would be either hungry or angry.”

Hannah, biology student from Northern Ireland, is more charitable about the Danish all-in-black style.

”I think it is because of their minimalistic and simplistic style that you can see in the architecture and general way of life. A simple lifestyle, but still stylish.”

universitypost@adm.ku.dk

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