Is Black Clothing Lacking Expression?

Through other blogs and articles, such as "The Color Black" and "Sensational Color" I have found that some do have negative views of black clothing and think that it is a lack of color, represents emptiness, secretiveness, mysteriousness and therefore the person wearing black is hiding from the world and not expressing them self. Some people seem to believe that wearing one color, especially the color black, is a lack of expression. But is this really true? All clothing can be used to represent a persons' identity; whether that representation is how they are feeling that day, what their favorite color is, if they are bold, daring, shy, sophisticated, etc. There are so many garments that can be found in black and each of those clothing items can help to represent something different even if they are all black.

"Women think of all colors except the absence of color.
 I have said that black has it all. ...
[Its] beauty is absolute. It is the perfect harmony."
-Coco Chanel

The Canadian Huffington Post published an article about the meaning of colors that people wear. They posted a chart that has different colors and state that black represents authority and timelessness. And what I find to be a great example of this comes from "The Color Black", as surprising as that is. "Affluent and success orientated women often choose black as it can give an impression of elegance, sophistication and confidence." This is where I see the author contradict the negative views given earlier. The example of 'the little black dress is mentioned; if Audrey Hepburn and Coco Chanel, in little black dresses don't exemplify elegance,                                                                                                       authority, sophistication,                                                                                                         timelessness and confidence,                                                                                               I don't know who or what does.

Business men and women represent authority, confidence and sophistication. Men and women wearing black in a work place can be intimidating at first, but they need to be taken seriously. Black suits or dresses give these men and women that look of seriousness, they represent those attributes mentioned above. This is again where I see the article "The Color Black" contradict. The author states "Black implies self-control and discipline, independence and a strong will, and giving an impression of authority and power." Then how does the color black not help people to represent some of their personality? This doesn't seem secretive to me at all; if anything that seems very obviously representative of how a business man or woman should and needs to act in a business setting.

Teenagers in all black: "Teenagers often have a psychological need to wear black during the stage of transition from the innocence of childhood to the sophistication of adulthood." ("The Color Black"). Here black is representing a difficult time or realization that this teen is no longer a child and feel lost. They may be hiding behind black clothing because they feel lost and don't know how to progress into adulthood. To me that screams expression; they may be hiding, but they are expressing that clearly through their black clothing as a very obvious symbol.

In many western cultures black is seen as the color of mourning which dates back to the Roman Empire. Still many other cultures use the color black to symbolize mourning. In many rural areas of Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Russia and Greece widows wear all black clothing, as a sign of mourning, for the rest of their lives. 
"We mourn in black" -Shakespeare

Through the all black clothing, people are still representing some of their personality traits or emotions that they are feeling (hence why people get up and ask "What do I feel like wearing today?"). Whether a business man or woman, a lost teen, a person in mourning, an elegant woman wearing a 'little black dress', all these articles of only black clothing represent and say something different about the person wearing the clothing. To me nothing about the color black represents a lack of expression, if anything it screams expression. The old Grecian woman that wakes up every day and wears black as a sign of mourning for the loss of her husband, the teenager that feels lost in transition is expressing the emotion that he/she can't say because he/she can find the right words... how do these people lack expression through their use of all black clothing? There are an unlimited number of ways to express yourself through black clothing, even if that expression is of a feeling of being lost. I agree with Coco Chanel... black has it all!

Ethical Questions:
Is it right for people to assume that others are lacking expression because they are wearing one color?

Can clothing tell you enough about a persons' personality and identity, as a whole, in order to be able to judge them right away?

Is it right for people to associate colors with certain moods or groups of people?


References:
"The Color Black" : Empower Yourself with Color Psychology :  http://www.empower-yourself-with-color-psychology.com/color-black.html
"Sensational Color" : http://www.sensationalcolor.com/color-meaning/color-meaning-symbolism-psychology/all-about-the-color-black-4382#.U0QTa_ldW0c
Huffington Post Canada : http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/09/28/clothing-colour-personality-_n_1924156.html
"Funeral Traditions: Mourning" http://thefuneralsource.org/trad04.html