Once you go black you never go back… well that’s what I feel about my wardrobe anyway. I am the worst at breaking away from black and white, my American Apparel shiny black leggings are what 98% of my day to day outfits are built around – and I’m perfectly content with that. When said leggings finally decided to die on me earlier this month (I’ve had them for two years and have worn them about four 5ths of each year) I started to contemplate my life without them. Me and those bad boys have grown close over the past couple of years, and frankly my legs will miss them. They are a whopping £34 which is frankly ridiculous, although pretty standard for AA…but can I really justify spending that money? Friends have said that for the amount I’ll wear them it is a small price to pay – but to hand over the lump sum kills me a little inside. Damn you American Apparel, maybe if you fired your ‘Leggings Expert’ you’d be able to lower your prices.

One thing I’ve recently become obsessed with are TV test cards. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that the creepy kid and ‘Bubbles’ the clown (I googled it) test card scared me to death as a 90s child. I mean the clown doll is clearly possessed, as it’s playing noughts and crosses with the girl – and god knows what she’s staring at off camera. This aside, if you take away the gruesome twosome, the actual test card is pretty cool graphics-wise. The X in the game of noughts and crosses marks the centre of the screen (for alignment) and even though every aspect of the test card has been purposely designed, the pattern of the black and white shapes and lines teamed with block colours really appeal to me.

Jeremy Scott showed some test card inspired designs on the runway last year (above), and while they are quite literal, the idea of monochrome colour blocking teamed with black and white made me think about my own wardrobe. Maybe this test card I was so afraid of could actually inspire me to move away from the black and into the colour. I found some other test card-type designs that I like, and thought of how they would relate as outfits. If I’m honest the one I’m drawn to the most is the plain black and white one, but still.. maybe a pop of colour would do me good.

Look 1// Top&leggings:Topshop / Bag:ASOS / Heels:RiverIsland //Look2:// Top:LazyOaf / Leggings:Topshop / Boots:LaModa //Look3:// Top:UrbanOutfitters / Skirt:Topshop / Socks:ASOS / Heels:LaModa