Thus black, apparently the strictest and most immovable of colours, reveals itself to be infinitely adaptable: 'the purest colour', according to designer Ann Demeulemeester, 'the most poetic, but at the same time the strongest. It's the colour of poets and writers and of rebels.' (I guess it was something like that which my mother had in mind when she chose a black wedding dress in 1960; a runaway bride on the cusp of a new decade.)
'Black is the supreme colour, synthesis and sum of all colours,' declare Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who sent out black-clad models on a patent-black cat-walk this season. 'For us, it represents absolute elegance and Mediterranean beauty: black is the colour worn by southern women when they go to church, black are the lace bras that peek out of low necklines and black are the stockings that wrap around your legs, outlining rather than hiding them.'
Katie Grand, however, has an altogether different take on this season's black, which she sees as exemplified by the collections from Marc Jacobs, Giles Deacon and Miuccia Prada: 'Dark and Gothic and slightly macabre or morbid. There are times when a sexy black dress looks really great - say, an Azzedine Alaia dress in 1988, or, in the early Nineties, the Gianni Versace collections, when it was about power-dressing and big shoulders - but now black isn't very sexy, it's that Tim Burton girl - Christina Ricci - looking weird and Gothic.'
For all that, she also freely admits to the economic imperative, again, which has little to do with subversion, or poetry for that matter. 'Black is a very commercially successful colour to use, as you'll always have stores that want to order black. Black is very convenient - people look thinner in black, and you don't have to think about it, it's like putting on a pair of jeans, it's something that you're used to and you know it works ... I don't know how much people want to worry about their appearance, at this particular time - everyone thinks that there are much bigger things that they should be worrying about.' Or, to frame a similar idea in another form, we might turn to the gospel according to Miuccia Prada. 'We are talking about minimalism again, [but] it cannot be depressing,' reveals the oracle. 'Last year we used fashion to escape from our problems. Now, we need to show ourselves to be more substantial.'
So, just when you think you've got black pinned down as being the colour of exclusivity, it doubles back on itself. Black, after all, hides the stains; it is sufficiently practical to be worn by maids and waitresses; is the colour of lowly service, as well as of the Victorian bourgeoisie, and of high fashion. 'Black says two different things at the same time,' says Elizabeth Wilson, professor at the London College of Fashion. 'On the one hand, it's a uniform, but on the other, everybody's different in it.'
It's also not necessarily as easy to wear as it's made out to be. 'Black is the hardest colour in the world to get right - except for grey,' said Diana Vreeland, who preferred her own shade of red. But get it right and you've got the makings of iconography; Jackie O in mourning, or Marilyn Monroe in Bert Stern's famous final photographs before her death (a blonde angel caught in a shadowy place); the Duchess of Windsor, exiled with her duke in pre-war Paris, or Edie Sedgwick, the Sixties pin-up for the beautiful and damned. No wonder, then, that Winona Ryder chose demure black to appear in court on shop-lifting charges; or that Elizabeth Hurley picked black Versace for her first big public outing with Hugh Grant, a show-stopping safety-pinned creation thereafter referred to as 'that dress', the one that made her famous not for what she had done, but for what she had worn.
Look at it this way, and black becomes anything other than neutral; less to do with the absence of light, than with a sense of presence. Which is very odd, when we have been taught to associate it with suppression - with blacking out, losing consciousness, with censorship, repression and concealment.
So, it's all up to you. Gap or Comme des Garcons; widow's weeds or working girl; princess or pauper; vampire or victim; extinguishing or liberating? Look closely, and black contains a rainbow of variations, but remember, finally, the choice is yours ...
· My Mother's Wedding Dress by Justine Picardie is published by Picador at £12.99
Bettine McCabe, 20, is a model and student. She is studying fashion promotion at Central Saint Martins and is currently in the Tommy Hilfiger ad campaign
'I only have three non-black items in my wardrobe. If I buy a vintage piece that I love the shape of, I will take it apart and remake it in black, that's how much I love black. I spray-painted a blue dress just to get it black. The only colour I would consider mixing with black is gold. Metallics work quite well with it. It bugs me when I see people mixing black with colour, it's sacrilege to me. I get quite offended by it!'
Daisy Lowe, 16 is a student and model, about to start her A levels. She appears in the current issue of L'Uomo Vogue and next month's Vogue. She was also in Agent Provocateur's recent ad campaign
'I love this dress, it's quite rock'n'roll and I love the boots. I'd definitely wear them, but maybe only when I was clubbing. My wardrobe has only about a quarter black, but all my underwear is black, as it goes with everything. Black makes me feel much slimmer and classy, too.'
Pearl Lowe, 35, is a singer and is six months pregnant with her fourth child. Her album, Aches and Pains, is due to be released after she has her baby. She has just finished filming Rock Women for Sky, and is working on a new project with Channel 4
'I do own a lot of black, most of it vintage. It looks great when you're pale; it looks great when you have a tan; it's slimming ... It can be anything you want it to be. It makes me feel classy and sophisticated. I'm a Goth at heart.'
Michele Paradise, 40 is a style coach and works with models, brides-to-be and red-carpet regulars
'There is a safe feeling you get with black. It gives you a confidence that other colours don't. I think the Rochas outfit is wonderful. It feels very Victorian, but with an edge. It accentuates the bottom and distracts from the bust, which is unusual in today's fashion, which seems to flaunt both. The hat finishes it off perfectly. My favourite black outfit of all time was an Anthony Price dress that I wore in a Philip Treacy show. It had a built-up bust and hips, and gave me a Marilyn Monroe figure. I felt so sexy and so fabulous. That's what black can do.'
Ninivah Kohmo, 49, is a fashion designer and lives in London. She has been designing her own label for 28 years. Her signature is animal print and black
'Black to me is a uniform: 90 per cent of what I wear and own is black. It goes with everything, is easy to put together and you can go crazy with colourful shoes and accessories. I often wear black with my Manolos. I might have the same style of garment in several fabrics, such as devore and silk, but always black and maybe with a touch of animal print. As long as there's a bit of leopard incorporated, then I'm quite happy.' Daphne Selfe, 77, is a Fifties store model who was rediscovered after modelling for the Red or Dead show at London Fashion Week. From there, she was shot by Nick Knight for Vogue and signed to Models 1. She was one of the three models featured in the Channel 4 documentary, This Model Life
'I do wear a lot of black, but I refuse to wear it in the summer. I feel very smart in black, it's right for every occasion. If you don't know what to wear, then wear black. I love the outfit I am wearing in this portrait. I feel very elegant, it shows off the fact that I still have a waist and it makes me feel thin. It's a supportive dress, but I can still kick my legs. I hate to feel imprisoned in clothing.'