The first g-string tab of animal skin covered an important male threat organ and decreased the sexual invitation of females in a changing society which demanded a refinement in the coarser signals. From that point on, adornment began its complex course. Yet our body signal alterations still focus on the old vertebrate themes of color, texture, contour, and size. Generally males are darker than females and adults darker than young. One theme which disrupts this pattern is the replacement of black by red - as on the hamadryas baboon face.
Many primates use black skin as a clue to stature.
Our feelings about color are carried through to our tastes in clothes. Black is concealed, defensive but dominant, mourning dress B Black Panthers' and Hell's Angels' dress - tuxedos, slinky evening gowns, and mink stoles. White is wedding dress, diapers, soft underwear, formal gloves, and bulging blouses. Black nighties are suggestively aggressive, white is naively virgin, as the currents between sex and status intermingle. Contours are important clues to status, especially weapons and areas that wield the weaponry.