It's supposed to be in colour

So far this week has not been wildly adventurous. Yesterday I wore a black dress and today I wore a black dress. Tonight I was packing my gym bag and wondering idly what I might wear tomorrow. "A black dress," I decided.

So here's how I wore today's black dress...

..a Veronica Maine crepe dress with a cotton knit cardi and two pendants. The big pendant is a locket. The small pendant...
...is a heart. An anatomically accurate heart. I bought it from a very clever silversmith who has a fascinating store in the Flinders Street Arcade in Melbourne. My heart was originally strung on a very thin thread of silver chain and packed in a silver test tube. I could have also bought a liver or a brain pendant. I liked all three pieces very much, and I liked the silversmith's explanation of her pieces: "They're essentials," she told me. "You can't live without any one of them."

And here's my gym bag. It is one of my favourite things in the world:

It's from Comptoir des Cotonniers , a French fashion chain that specialises in clothing for smart adult women and their teenage daughters. I would not have thought that such a range would be possible but it is and it is great. This bag - which can hold my gym gear, papers, shoes, lunch box and an armadillo should I need to carry one - was part of a range of clothing from there Spring range about two years ago. I'm still kicking myself for not buying the matching skirt. (I did, however, buy a black dress. Well, it was Paris. I think it might be unlawful not to buy black dresses when you visit Paris. )

My bag hangs around while I plough through these.

I think these files are one of the reasons plain black dresses are currently so appealing. Maybe the work will be less onerous if I throw caution and black dresses to the wind and wear this,
an extremely cheerful frock I bought at a sale on Saturday. It is by a local label called Musee. I love the fabric - a light soft rayon - and I love the cheerful print.

What do you think? An absence of colour for dreary files or a bunch of magenta flowers to make work seem a little more bearable? Do you have particular work dresses for particular kind of work days? Do black dresses make you feel happy or invisible?