I went to meet a friend for brunch
feeling more like myself, and
stopped noticing the looks (though
there were still plenty of them) from
passers-by. The feeling carried on
for the last few days of my week. I
still felt self-conscious, especially
when I went onto Sky News to talk
about our diverse new Parliament
looking like a bemused Barbara
Cartland fan. But then something
strange happened. I realised that my
new wardrobe could also work in my
favour. People kept underestimating
me because of the colour of my
clothes, and it kept giving me a
chance to put them in their place.
There were still awkward
moments—wearing an ironic
statement T-shirt saying ‘Pretty Baby’
in a busy newsroom is definitely an
experience I’m in no hurry to repeat,
and removing a Chihuahua-sized
pink handbag from a chair for your
editor to sit down on is next-level
humiliating—but eventually, in my
last two days, I even started to feel
empowered by the fact that I could
wear bold, fun clothes, but still be a
serious professional.
There was one exception. The
day before this experiment ended,
I was sent to speak to survivors at
London’s Grenfell Tower, in the
wake of a devastating fire. I looked
down at my luminous pink outfitwith increasing apprehension. It felt
offensively cheerful in the light of
such horror and I tried, in vain, to
minimise the effect by letting down
my long hair and crossing my arms
tightly. I cringed as I approached
residents, hoping they wouldn’t be
aggrieved by my attire.
No-one batted an eyelid. I realised
how self-obsessed I had been to
assume that anyone who had just lost
everything would even notice my
outfit. I chided myself mentally for
letting my insecurities get to me, and
focused on what I was there to write
about: a community determined to
fight for justice and an atmosphere
electric with resilience. The next and
final day of my ‘pink week’, I found
myself looking forward to putting on
my rosy get-up. I finally understood
the transformative power this colour
can have, not just on mood, but on
the way people perceive you, and
the way you perceive yourself.
I walked to work in the sun,
oblivious to people’s stares and
another catcall. I only stopped when
a group of women in black suits
called out, ‘You look so cool! We lovepink! Spread the love!’
When the time came to return
to the monochrome, I felt a twinge
of sadness. It finally hit me that
even though I’d always thought of
myself as confident, I was actually so
paralysed by the thought of people
judging me that I deprived myself of
pigment in order to slip inoffensively
into the background.
I looked at the outfit I was
wearing—black trousers, grey
jumper, white shoes—and saw in it
a blandness that I’d never noticed
before. I changed into a pink version
of the same outfit (though I did
keep the black trousers; I’ll never
be a head-to-toe pink kind of girl)
and immediately felt like smiling. I
decided to make a new vow: from
now on, I’ll never be scared of colour
again. Especially pink.” nROSY CHEEK
A LOOK AT THE MOST
BAD*SS PINK WEARERS
OUT THERE RIGHT NOWDRAKE He may be scowling, but deep
down, Drizzy loves him some pink. See
that Stone Island puffa he rocked and
the Hotline Bling cover for details. What
we wouldn’t give to be that hoodie.HARRY
STYLES
A man that
can rock a full,
millennial pink
suit without a
shred of irony?
Fine with us.ZOE KRAVITZ
Pretty much
the only
woman in the
known universe
who can make
a bubblegum-
pink silk cape
with ruffles
look appealing.
KENDALL JENNER Okay,
yes, she could probably make
‘earwax yellow’ the most sought-
after shade if she wanted to,
but Kendall is a firm fan of pink.“Even though I felt
strangers judging
me on my pinkness,
Instagram was a
different story. I
got more ‘Likes’
and comments
on my clothes
than I’ve ever had
before.People
complimented my ‘fly’ look, while
friends said they’d ‘never seen me dress
so fashionably’.’’ —Radhika Sanghani“MEN VIEWED MY
ROSINESS AS A SIGN OF
AVAILABILITY.”BEHIND THE SCENES
RANVEER SINGH Probably
the only man who can pull
off a head-to-toe tropical
print and pink look with so
much swagger.report