I’m Mariah Johnson
Editor, Blue and Black Dress
I'm the person behind every hex code, placement table, and FAQ answer on this site, and I'd rather tell you exactly what I don't know yet than dress up a guess as a fact.
At a glance
- I built and maintain the 50-shade reference this site is built around
- I write every shade profile, placement guide, and occasion roundup myself
- I mark a shade “verified” only once I’ve checked it against real garment photography, not before
My Story
This started with a return. I'd ordered what a listing called a “navy blue and black dress” for a wedding, and what arrived read as plain black under every light in my apartment. The listing photo wasn't lying exactly, it was just shot under conditions that flattered a shade the dress didn't actually hold onto once it was hanging in my own hallway.
I went looking for a resource that could tell me, before I bought anything, which blues actually stay blue next to black and which ones quietly become black the moment the lighting changes. I couldn't find one, so I started building the list myself: one shade, one return, one side-by-side photo comparison at a time.
The 50-shade taxonomy on this site started as my own shopping notes. It's grown into something other people use to shop too, which is exactly why I'm strict about marking what's actually verified against real garment photography versus what's still the starting taxonomy I began with. I'd rather this list be honest and half-finished than complete and made up.
How I Work
A few rules I hold myself to on every page I write for this site.
- I never mark a shade verified until I've actually checked its hex value against real garment photography.
- If I haven't tested a shade's flash behaviour myself yet, the page says so. It doesn't get a confident-sounding claim it hasn't earned.
- Every shopping link on this site is a live Amazon search, not a specific product I'm claiming to have worn, because implying otherwise isn't honest.
- I update a pairing table the moment I find a shade behaves differently than the page currently says, not on a fixed schedule.
What I’ve Written
A few of the pages I’d point you to first, out of everything I’ve written for this site so far.
- Blue and Black Dress Shades: 50 Blues With Hex Codes and Black Pairings
- The Nine Ways Blue and Black Are Combined on a Dress
- Which Blue Reads Best Against Warm, Cool and Neutral Skin
- Is Black Acceptable at a Wedding?
See everything I’ve written, guides, shade profiles, and category hubs.
Get in Touch
If a hex value looks wrong to you, or you’ve got a photo comparison that disagrees with something on this site, I want to hear about it. That’s exactly the kind of thing that gets a shade re-checked.