In the black

A blistering hot summer's day in Melbourne creates a dilemma for the women of this great city. What should you wear when it's too hot to stand in the sun?

Most of we Melbourne women have our wardrobes filled with black clothes. As a city, we've cornered the market on black dye. It suits our climate (four proper seasons), our style and our approach to life. We don't see black as gloomy - it's smart, low-key and it goes with everything. (Take that, Trinny and Susannah.)

So the answer to the dilemma of what to wear on a blistering hot Melbourne day is black. It's 36 degrees celcius in the city, and every second woman I saw today seemed to be wearing head-to-toe black. Sundresses, cotton blouses, camisoles, pants, short skirts, shift dresses, shorts, t-shirts, full skirts. Everyone looked remarkably cool (as cool as you can be when your foundation is sliding off your face).

You can't get away with it in Brisbane, Perth or Sin-city, but - strangely - you can here.

So from now on, I'm not going to fight it. I'm not going to worry that I shouldn't dress entirely in black just because it's hotter than Hades outside. I'm just going to take out the coolest* black clothes I have, and wear them with aplomb. Like I did today.

*Coolest as in least-hot, not as in hip.