Actually, you have things backwards.
It was the Pilgrims who wore black and white.
The Puritans dressed in colorful clothes and were criticized by the Pilgrims for doing so.
The Pilgrims were more "puritanical" than those "awful" Puritans.
I bet you did not know that one man was excommunicated from his Boston congregation because he refused to have sex with his wife... (It is a myth that the Puritans did not like sex...they enjoyed it as much as any modern person, but only within marriage. However, it was believed that sex within marriage should be for pleasure, not just procreation).
Oh yeah, those Puritans were real dour people.
I didn't go into conjugal rights and pleasures,but hinted at all you said.Yes,I know about what the Puritans were like.Please reread my earlier post. Thank you.
Oh,now I see...you replied to me and it should have been to another poster.That's okay,that sort of thing happens all the time.
So sorry to correct you, but I grew up in New England where Pilgrim lore is much a part of school history. From a quick search on Ask Jeeves:
Women; Women's hair was always worn up and pulled tightly back, and worn under a coif (bonnet) or hat.
Common colors include red, earthy greens, browns, blues, violets, and grays. Contrary to popular myth, black and white clothing was clearly not the most common colors worn. An examination of the probate inventories of many early Plymouth women reveal a large variety of colors. Mary Ring, a long-time member of the Pilgrim's church in Leyden, and married to one of the more prominent members of the church, had her estate inventory taken in 1631. She had in her possession at that time: one waistcoat "of mingled color", two violet waistcoats, three blue aprons, two white aprons, one black apron, a red petticoat, a violet petticoat, white stockings, blue stockings, and also had some red cloth, grey cloth, and blue cloth ready for sewing. Desire (Gorham) Howland, daughter of Mayflower passenger John Howland, had a green apron, red stockings, white apron, and black cloak in her estate inventory.
Men: Whites, beiges, blacks, earthy greens, and browns were the predominant colors in men's clothing. Contrary to popular stereotype, buckles were not worn on hats, shoes, belts, or anywhere else, nor was black the predominant color except for on Sunday or formal occasions. From the probate inventories of Plymouth Colony, we learn that Governor William Bradford had a green gown, violet cloak, lead colored suit with silver buttons, and a red waistcoat. Elder William Brewster had green drawers, a red cap, a violet coat, and a blue suit. And Mayflower passenger John Howland had a red waistcoat listed in his inventory.
SOURCES:
The Thanksgiving Primer, by the Plimoth Plantation Museum, 1991.
A Little Commonwealth, by John Demos, 1970. (Available in the Mayflower Web Page bookstore).
Estate Inventories of the Pilgrims, reprinted in various issues of the Mayflower Descendant as well as in Charles Simmons, Plymouth Colony Records: Wills and Inventories, 1633-1669, Picton Press, 1996.