Johnny cash all black suit

Just as uniforms tell us something about the person we see – police offers, military, clergy, doctors – clothing might not make the man, but they give us an instant, identifiable impression.

So it was with Johnny Cash and his black clothing. They became one and the same, to the point that he was regularly referred to as The Man in Black, especially after his 1971 recording of "Man in Black," included on his album "The Man in Black." The song describes the symbolism of the sartorial color scheme: "I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down, livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town, I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime, but is there because he's a victim of the times."

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Besides the symbolism, there was a practical side as well.

Cash's drummer, "Fluke" Holland, told Mojo magazine in 2012, "Back then when we'd leave on tour, the longer you could wear the clothes you had on, the better it was. So if you had on black, it wouldn't show dirt as quickly as anything else."