Are you now, or have you ever been, a PIB?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

“PIB”, of course, being Person Io Black.

I am, and I have been for about five years now–about the only things in my wardrobe that aren’t black are socks (all white), assorted boxers, and the clothes I work out in. Everything else is either pure black or printed on black (t-shirts, etc.)

I feel I have a pretty good reason for it–I’m colorblind, and dressing in this manner saves me the trouble of wondering if I match (when I was ten, I almost left the house in a purple shirt and green pants, thinking they were blue and brown–thankfully, Mom stopped me). But beyond that, I like it, and it has, at this point, become a trademark.

Not to say this hasn’t been without its pitfalls–the first few weeks at a new job require my co-workers to do a little adjusting, and I shudder to mention the aftermath (hell, call it what it was–taunting) I endured after the events of 4/20/99 (Littleton, CO). But I’ve stuck with it.

A final story: on my most recent job, a supervisor told me I was causing worry among the higher-ups with my wardrobe. It was intimated to me that I might want to consider injecting some color, and this supervisor/friend even took me on a shopping trip where I bought a royal blue shirt and khakis, which worked their way into my rotation.

Two weeks later, they fired me anyway.

Unsuprisingly, the blue shirt and khakis found themselves in the next package on the way to the resale shop. :slight_smile:

So, anybody else have a PIB story?

2

I do believe that the only time I’ve had trouble about wearing all black was when I wore a black skirt, a pretty little black top and my then boyfriend’s big black leather jacket. However, it wasn’t because of the black, though I liked the look, it was more because it looked like I was wearing anything under the jacket.

Kitty

3

I’ve got a great PIB story!!!
I was on my way to sub at a high school one morning. Little did I know there was a bomb threat called in that morning. Now, bomb threats are called or faxed in all the time. Usually these threats are nonspecific, like “There is a bomb in one of the schools…” Since there are well over a hundred something schools here, there is little they can do about such a threat, so little is what they do.
But this day was different. The fax specifically targeted this high school and was rather detailed from what I hear.
The entire bomb squad, k9 units and additional police officers and school security personnel were on campus. I pulled into the teacher’s parking lot where I was instructed to park there but walk around to the front of the building to enter.
So I walk around to the main entrance, not really thinking about the fact that I am wearing black BDU pants, black hiking boots, a navy blue t-shirt, and a black duster (scary western trench coat).This looked great with my black flattop and black sun glasses I had on…
Anyway, as soon as I opened the door, a couple jaws dropped and I was immediately surround by dogs and cops and bomb people… he he he! The principal was there too, so he was able to quickly say “he’s a teacher!” But I still laugh everytime I tell the story.

4

Great Story, Bear. Anyone else?

(OK, so this is pretty much just a bump. I’m just very keen to find out.)

5

I am a tall, pale, blonde, blue eyed girl. My high school SO was about as goth as they come. Very PIB. (And really pretty…)

He would beg me to let him and his buds dress me up, just to see. I told him that there was no way I could do goth, I’m too sparkly. Eventually I let him, for the first day of finals. Did everything but dye my hair. I took my final (Calc) and as I was leaving the teacher commented that
I was “elegant” that day. Sigh, no goth scaryness for Kathryn.

The Black look just doesn’t work so well on me, unless I’m doing something formal. So I’ll stick with my jeans, Tigger shirts, and hoodie.

6

After I went to New York last fall, I was bitten by the “all black” bug. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but very true. I’m red-headed anyway, so black is one of the few colors that always works on me.

7

Not all of my clothes are black, and I have been branching out a little more lately (blue, frostbitten purple, crimson, etc.) But I do have a lovely long black wool trenchcoat (whose lining is completely shredded now and which is at momma’s for repair), a nice leather collar (which I can’t wear to events anymore since I discovered it means “slave who already has a master,” which was sort of defeating the purpose), some nail polish, and some makeup.

Hamish, on the other hand… well, I’ll let him tell you about it.

8

I’ll do the all black thing more as elegance, rather than goth. Like this great black formfitting top I have with trumpet sleeves and a little keyhole neck with two little beaded tassels. With a pair of black flares. Tres chic.

And of course, my long black skirt with the above top, or a black tank top-which then looks like an evening gown.

But my best colors are red, black and purple and a little bit of blue.

9

I just wanted to say that my wardrobe has been entirely black for some years now, for the simple and probably obvious reason that I am a Goth.

I’ve always had a twisted sense of beauty, and that’s what drew me to Goth, both the music and the clothing. The first time I saw a man dressed in Goth I was stunned.

It’s sometimes amazing how much people think they can know about you by your clothing. In the aftermath of the Columbine killings, I had three people stop and ask me if I was in the mafia or part of a cult.

     -- Hamish
10

My wardrobe was almost all black for a while, mostly because I like it, and also because it makes matching easy. I was into the goth stuff for a while too (still interested, I just don’t do much anymore).

Lately I’ve added a little color. Blues and greys.

11

Been there, done that, went through a whole PIB phase.

Can’t say I didn’t enjoy it, and sometimes I fall back there. But one day I just found myself drawn to colour, glorious colour. And I never looked back. Still like black, wear black, but not all the time.

12

I went through a phase when I was a teenager where my whole wardrobe was black. It lasted a couple of years.

I still wear a lot of black, since it looks good on me, but I do have others things in my closet now.

13

I only wore black for years. Just recently I got a couple of dark-army-green pants though.

Ain’t I colourful? :wink:

Oh, and I’m not a goth or anything, just dress black. Not that there’s anything wrong with that of course… :wink:

  • G. Raven
14

I’m a very black and blue dresser. (the only variants would be a grey coat, a cream throwover coat, and a Orange teeshirt, and a purpe teeshirt.)

Everything is blue or black. has been for about 2 years.

15

I went to college in Greenwich Village in the late 80s. I think being a PIB was required for admission.

It’s a hard habit to break. I would never describe myself that way now, but I still tend to “grab the black one” off the rack when I am shopping and in a hurry and don’t feel like figuring out what top might match which bottom. In New York, it’s not very unusual to see eight of ten people in a business meeting sporting the PIB look. The other two people are wearing navy or gray.

16

In college, for a while, I wore nothing but black. Why? Search me. I was in a black period. I was doing a lot of drugs and not much else.

I was amused when my roommate’s goth girlfriend referred to me as his nihilistic friend. It takes some doing to get a goth to refer to you as nihilistic.

Years later, I got a good laugh at the German nihilists in The Big Lebowski and remembered what a dipshit I was in college.

17

I wear mostly black, and have for a long as I can remember. It’s not to make a statement or anything, I guess, it’s just a habit.

Habit. Heh heh.

18

I use to wear all black or dark colors until Mr. Lyllyan insisted I wear other colors. I wore black mainly because I have no fashion sense whatsoever. So, I branched out into bright brights, and what does he get me for Christmas? A long black leather coat, black sweater and black leather pants. I’m going for the whole “Matrix” look.

19

i am rather pale with redish hair. i work in an office where a lot of the people are very trendy and love colour. i once wore a black turtleneck, black jeans, black socks, and black shoes to work. one of the designers said to me: “what are you, a mime?” i haven’t worn all black since. i did get some help from them so i could wear my black, grey, blue, and green wardrobe without too much comment.

20

I wore all black for close to two years. I’m over that now and the only piece of clothing I have that is mostly black is my Ozzfest '99 shirt.