The Monochrome EditWith Brenda Hashtag

From casual to elegant, the monochrome style is a timeless look that proves that sometimes all you need is one colour to create a great outfit. Learn how to finesse the look in this edition of GUEST EDIT featuring monochrome expert Brenda Hashtag.

By Ruhi Parmar Amin

28 January 2024 · 3 min read

If there’s one person whose fashion commentary is worth paying attention to, it’s Brenda Hashtag’s. The writer, consultant and content creator has built a name for herself in the fashion world, attending pretty much every runway show, giving trend tips and sartorial tricks to her ever-growing fan base — and becoming besties with Rick Owens. One thing you’ll notice about Brenda through her online social presence is that almost every fit is monochrome. Describing her style in three words, “black and white”, sums up why she is the perfect person to go to when it comes to nailing monochrome style in this Zalando GUEST EDIT.

“I think everything in my life is a 360 approach, I try to apply my sense of style to everything around me, whether that’s how I style my living room, the suitcase I carry, the music I listen to, it’s important to me that everything goes hand in hand,” she says. “Cohesiveness is important to me. A huge part of my personal brand is recognisability which resulted from consistency. I have self-diagnosed visual OCD, I don’t like patterns or things being messy, and monochrome kind of felt like a cure.”

For Brenda, growing up in the countryside meant “everyone just wore whatever,” but it was visits to her dad in the city that kickstarted her curiosity about brands, which is where her monochrome affinity stems from. “We have so much choice and I think this can be limiting. As consumers in an overly saturated market we need some kind of filtering system. For me, monochrome is my filter.” As someone who is constantly doing a lot, time wasting is not on the cards for Brenda, and black and white clothing makes her life a lot easier when it comes to styling her fits. “Getting dressed in the morning should be fun, it shouldn’t be a struggle of trying to find out what goes together. I’ve eliminated almost all choices and it gives me freedom to think about all other things besides getting ready. I have so much more time for my own ideas.”

“I have visual OCD. I don’t like patterns and monochrome felt like a cure.”

- Brenda Hashtag

You might think monochrome style means you need a million white tops and hundreds of black trousers, but Brenda begs to differ. “The most important part of any outfit for me are shoes and outerwear. You start with those and then figure out the rest — also no one notices outfit repeats (I am a serious outfit repeater), if you rotate with your shoes and outerwear — I wear boots even on the hottest day of summer! Since I don’t play around with colours, I’m really into different textures and materials. I love silk, I love leather, and cuts can also make something interesting.

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BITE StudiosLONGSLEEVE - Long sleeved top - true white
€108.00
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“Your clothes should never outshine your personality”

- Brenda Hashtag

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Showing personality through monochrome dressing is important to Brenda, but it isn’t the end goal. “Outfits are a good conversation starter, but you have to keep conversation going by yourself. I would rather be a positive surprise with a semi-boring outfit than someone with a really exciting outfit who has nothing to say. I don’t believe in style advice because style is so personal. Fashion should elevate you and add to your life in a positive way. Style is the way you treat yourself, the way you speak, the way you think about the world. Style is so many things and fashion comes last. Helmut Lang once said, ‘you cannot put together a personality with clothes. It only reaches up to the neck. And then it ends’. That’s my favourite piece of advice.”