At Labour Weekend I Put The Tomatoes In And The Black Away

Six colours I have worn instead of black this spring, all from one page of best sellers, and where every one of them has been.

I am 64, and at Labour Weekend Graeme put the tomatoes in, the way he has every Labour Weekend for forty years. I did the wardrobe. I counted eleven black tops, four pairs of black trousers and a black cardigan I had worn every single day of winter. Somewhere along the way I had stopped choosing clothes and started choosing whatever was safe, and in the shops it is all black, brown and grey anyway.

It had started in September, really. Anna rang from Auckland on FaceTime and Olive, who is seven, asked why Nana always wears the same top. I said it is not the same top, it is eleven different black tops. Olive said that is worse. Children are very good at maths.

So I made myself a rule for spring. One colour at a time, one piece at a time, and only things the women who shop there keep coming back for. The Mount Coastal Boutique has a page called Spring Best Sellers, thirteen tops and dresses, and that is where all six came from. By Labour Weekend there were six colours in the wardrobe, and the black went into a box under the spare bed. Not thrown out. I am not mad. Here are the six.

The Zora on the boutique's own page, in six colours. Mine is the yellow, which I would not have believed in August.

The six colours

1. Green, the Zamma topThe first one, in September. A relaxed top in 100% linen with a V neck, a single button, and sleeves you can roll to the elbow. It breathes on a muggy morning and it gets softer every wash. One honest thing: it runs a touch small through the chest, so go up one size. I did, and it is right. Worn to: the Saturday farmers market, most Saturdays since.
2. Coral, the Zamma againI am told women buy this top in pairs, and I can see why. The coral red is a colour I last wore in about 1994, and it is lovely with grey hair. Same top, same size up, $68.95. Worn to: lunch with the girls on the Strand. Two of them asked for the link before the coffee came.
3. Turquoise, the Tansy dressA loose summer dress with a V neck and short sleeves that swings when you walk. The turquoise is the colour of the water on a good day at the beach. $84.95, S to 3XL. Worn to: opening day at the bowls club in October, under a sun hat.
4. Yellow, the Zora midiA midi with short sleeves and a small dot print, tiered so it moves. It comes in six colours, a warm brown, a red, a clear yellow, a green, a blue and a black, and I bought the yellow, which still surprises me. $86.95, S to 3XL. Worn to: Olive's school gala in Auckland. Olive approved.
5. Lilac flowers, the Joanne tunicA soft, floaty tunic with a V neck and little buttons, khaki with lilac flowers all over it. It is long enough to wear over white trousers without a second thought. $88.95. Worn to: church, with white trousers and the good sandals.
6. Cobalt, the Tansy in blueI went back for the Tansy a second time, in a cobalt blue with small white dots, which is the nearest thing to navy I own now and a good deal more cheerful. Worn to: Graeme's birthday dinner in town. He noticed, which is rarer than you would think.

Side by side, honestly

The winter wardrobe	This spring
Eleven black tops	Six colours, one at a time
Chosen because it was safe	Chosen because I liked it
The same cardigan every day of winter	Two tops, a tunic, two dresses and a midi
Olive asking why Nana wears the same top	Olive approving the yellow

The Zamma, the first one I bought. Seven colours on the page. I have the green and the coral.

The rest of the page

There are thirteen pieces on Spring Best Sellers and I own four of them, so I will not pretend to know the rest. The Astra is the colourful blouse my neighbour has in two colours. The Sapphire is a blue dress my sister wore to a wedding. The Kwani has pockets, and the women at bowls talk about the pockets more than the colour. If you want black, it is there on most of them. I just did not want it this spring.

About the price

The thirteen run from $68.95 to $99.95 at the moment. I did the sums, because Graeme would ask. A linen top in a shop in town is more than double the Zamma, and a midi I looked at in the same street was $159. Delivery is free with NZ Post, and if you take two things the stack discount comes off in the cart, 15% for two and up to 30% when you take more. That is how the second Zamma happened.

The honest bit

Delivery is usually seven to ten working days with NZ Post tracking. Mine took between eight and ten. The Zamma runs small, so go up one. If something is wrong, you have thirty days to change your mind, and if you write before it is sent, Susan will swap the size or the colour, no fuss.

What I would tell you if we were friends

Keep one black thing. I kept the cardigan. Then pick the colour you have not worn for ten years and start there, one piece at a time.

The black is in a box under the spare bed. Graeme's tomatoes are coming along nicely. I have not missed it once.

— Wendy