I have a friend that loves black suits. Can’t get enough of them. For him, a black suit and a white shirt are the chicest things a man can wear. He is a big fan of Reservoir Dogs, so that might have influence him somewhat, but he still has a point – black and white is the combination of choice for Hollywood stars and fashion designers, everyone from Karl Lagerfeld to Simon Cowell.
Yet I hate black suits. Can’t stand them. When a graduate turns up at an interview in a black suit and a white shirt, no matter what the tie, he looks immature. The outfit looks cheap.
Black suits almost no one. (Sorry for the pun.) Most men’s complexions are washed out by it. They are not high enough contrast. Blue and grey are much kinder, with mid-grey probably being the easiest of all.
And black can look cheap. That’s why navy blue is the smartest option for a suit, and why some men wear midnight blue for evening wear. It looks blacker than black.
So why does black look great on Dolce & Gabbana? Well, for a start they and their Hollywood peers tend to be more tanned or darker skinned, so are better able to pull off the high contrast. But more importantly, those people are often photographed at glamorous occasions.
Usually in the evening, these occasions are about dark backgrounds and bright lights, velvet drapes and sparkling jewellery. They are about high contrast, and the outfits are planned to match. The women just as much as the men would look gaudy and cheap if they wore those outfits in the middle of the day.
This is the foundation behind black tie, traditional men’s evening wear. It is about monotone, contrast and variation only in texture. Subtle changes in colour are lost in those situations, so tone is kept simple and the adventure is in texture – silk and satin, velvet and patent.
Even when designers or film stars are not at an evening function, they are associated with glamour. Indeed, the very fact that you have seen them probably means they have been photographed – and long-range photography isn’t much good at picking up the subtleties of Glen check or harmonised colours.
Black suits with white shirts look cool because of their associations. And they can look good on you at an evening event – as a cocktail suit, for example. (Mohair suits similarly.) Just don’t wear them for business.
2 Guest Comments »
1.
great points on how black isn’t the most fashion-savvy color.
but business is not about fashion. part of business is creating an image that is agreeable with clients and customers. businessmen, especially those in Finance, have to look conservative. Black, by nature, is the most conservative color for a suit, and wearing a black suit in a portly cut will allow the wearer to seem naturally conservative because the wearer does not spend money on expensive suits, nor does he spend too much time thinking about his appearance or keeping up with fashion trends.
the image of being conservative is valuable for business people because the business world is not entirely ready for the fashionable guy because, admittedly, a stylish navy suit, especially a nice herringbone suit can be distracting because of the patterns in the fabric.
black is an extremely neutral color that really drowns out a lot of style from the fabric of suits.
i personally hate the corporate looks of the Finance world, but the situation is what it is and changing the status quo will take a few more decades at the least.
Comment by Danny Wong — August 4, 2009 #
2.
Dear Danny,
You may have misunderstood me. I believe black is a far more fashion-driven colour than blue or grey. It is worn by fashion designers, fashionistas and by few other people well. Plain blue and grey are far more conservative colours and more business-like colours. A well-cut navy suit, white shirt and grey tie is the least conspicuous thing a man can wear.
Simon
Comment by Simon Crompton — August 5, 2009 #
I’m a huge fan of your blog. I have one question and I’m pretty sure it’s never been addressed by you. I usually buy my dress shirts off the rack. The problem is I am very thin and the shirts tend to look ridiculous on me, especially around the waist area. I have read that some men get darts put into their dress shirts in order to slim them down. But I’ve also read that this ruins the line of the shirt. Do you have any advice for me in this area? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Amen! I can’t stand black suits too, and feel sorry for the fashion victims that own and wear them.
If you’re stuck with one (or, heavens forfend, more), you can always wear them when you go out at night. Paired with a white shirt, it is the modern semi-equivalent of black tie.
Dear Alex,
Thanks for you kind words.
I have put darts in my shirts previously and it works well for me. Try it on an old shirt first though. It won’t ruin the line as long as you taper in and out at the ends of the darts and don’t make the width of the dart too extreme.
I explained the process for this here:
http://permanentstyle.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-to-put-darts-in-your-shirts.html
Simon
I believe that depends on the fabric that the suit is made off, there’s no way that a black suit looks cheap if the fabric is excelent.
However, I concur with you when you say that black suits are night suits.
ps. I really like to see a tall skinny guy in a black suit…
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Simon,
I generally tend to agree with your points, a great article really. I believe the reason black has taken off for suits, in particular in the world of finance, is the star quality attached to it. In the big bonus driven world of finance you need to be a star to get paid very well. Thus, it is critical to cultivate the image of being a star in everything associated to you; be that job performance, image (clothes), personality, etc. When big bonuses are to be had the last thing one wants to do is blend in.
Comment by Terry — August 5, 2009 #
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Hi Simon,
Thanks for the response. Black certainly is more popular option, but I would argue that a navy suit, white shirt and grey tie in many offices (especially Finance) is a conspicuous outfit because most others will be wearing black suits.
Terry,
Great observation on the star quality of black. Simon’s comment that white shirt on black suit is “cool because of their associations” is certainly true.
Comment by Danny Wong — August 5, 2009 #
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Simon,
Excellent. Every word.
Paul
Comment by Paul Hardy — August 6, 2009 #
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I’ve always thought the black/white combination made one look like a waiter. Best not to wear when going out lest someone ask you for a glass of water.
Comment by Tim — August 6, 2009 #
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well , Wear anything which you can carry with confidence ..
men has only three colour black ,blue or gray..
Comment by rk — August 8, 2009 #
Thank you so much for this informative post. It answered all my questions about black and white conundrum. Another place you would see a lot of people where black and white is a place where the art curators meet. Dark glasses, dark shoes, black dress, black suits, black shoes and more black and black – one might as well go and look at Malevich’s black square. Isn’t it odd that people like curators or fashion designers who should appreciate more colours – but everytime I’ve been to exhibition previews and fashion shows, everyone wears black and white! They said black and white make them look Parisians – very lazy Parisians in that case who don’t want to make any effort in clothes.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Every professional man should read this article.
I disagree with you. Is true black is not high in contrast but is a non-color so should normally be this way. And if you want a business outfit you don’t wear a white shirt. There are a lot of yellow/blue 0 shirt/tie combinations to go with or pale pink shirt/grey tie, etc..
As for the cheap effect.. obviously you should always buy the best quality one and never go under 500 pounds, by the way you should aim to get a 1500+ one. Otherwise you will end up with what you mentioned: a cheap look like a plastic 50 pound River Island trash.
Thanks Alexandru. Black suits will always great greater contrast with the shirt or tie they are worn with, because they are so dark.
I’ve also seen bespoke black that was a lot more expensive than that, but it never looked good. My only exception would be a classic ‘stroller’ but then the effect is reduced because it is only a jacket
Good evening Simon,
Thanks for the good work.I want to know if coffee brown suits can be worn to work and with what colour of shoes?
Wole from Lagos nigeria
Wearing to work very much depends on the work environment. Try black shoes first (best on darker browns) and then very dark brown shoes
Thank you Simon..
Simon, I have a bit of an unusual question. I’m a classical musician, and if you’ve ever been to concerts in your life (I’m sure you have) you know that the dress code is usually black suits, although some players in recent years have taken to showing up wearing jeans or garish colors. Musicians have always dressed rather poorly anyway, wearing black suits just because that’s what you do, no matter how ill-fitting your suit is. It used to be tailcoats, though, and white piqué bow ties (so I guess it was a white tie affair then? Or is that black tie?) Anyhow my question is, what should a young musician do if he’s to dress well on the stage? I’m of course talking about a solo player, not a member of an ensemble. Isn’t there a way to avoid black suits? How would you tackle it? Thanks, David.
Hi David. Two friends are classical musicians and we have actually discussed this. Unfortunately it seems like you are largely at the mercy of the dress code. I wouldn’t suggest wearing anything else if everyone else is wearing black. It’s also hard to make a case for investing in something really good, given how much hard wear it will get and often sweat!
Hi Simon,
I thought so. However the dress code is not really set in stone. I mean, besides the blue jeans example, I’ve seen people sporting mid-gray suits or just black turtlenecks. Do you think a dark navy suit would be out of place? Or a charcoal one?
Cheers!
Given the black dominance, charcoal would be a nice option, yes.
May I ask what conclusions you arrived at with your two musician friends?
They didn’t have any choice over style of clothes, only quality, and we decided it wasn’t really worth spending much more, given how heavily it is used and how large a proportion of their income it would be to invest in something better
Thanks, Simon, much appreciated.
Hi Simon. I purchased a black mtm suit for a friend’s wedding and other than a black tie event, wedding, or funeral I am having trouble finding a good use for black. Do you have any suggestions on how I can use black in a work setting? Perhaps using the jacket to pair with gray trousers and vice versa? Or wearing certain shirt, tie, square combos! I hope you can provide some insight. Thanks.
Hi Rol,
It’s a hard one – black is not a great menswear colour. Your best bet will be as separates, as you say, with mid-grey trousers, a blue shirt and dark tie – or perhaps no tie at all. The trousers would be harder, but I’d go for the same colours – perhaps also try olive, which can be good with black
Simon, perhaps you should update your comments on the black suit so people won’t go out and spend money on a garment that makes them look like a limo driver. I too have a black suit that I struggle finding a use for and it just hangs there looking almost forlorn. Of course Tom Ford is a big advocate of the black suit, but I don’t think he makes a very good case frankly.
I agree that black suits can look cheap however if done right, they can look very suave and serious in a business setting. I own a black suit that is more of a matte black so it is a bit closer to charcoal but I have always been able to make it work even with contrast collars and such. Furthermore, black suits can have the potential to look very sleek and retro. I don’t believe that black is the worst suit colour but I do think that it is the most misunderstood suit colour in both analysis and execution.
Thanks Blake. If you ever have any examples I’d be interested to see. I don’t think black always looks terrible, but I’ve yet to see an example where charcoal or dark navy wouldn’t have looked better.
Simon,
Would you recommend a charcoal suit over a black one even for a funeral?
Sadly I have a funeral to go to, and I really want to show my utmost respect. I don’t want to wear my old black suit that I wore for sixth form. My darkest suits are navy and grey (darker than mid-grey). Neither seem quite appropriate. I could buy a RTW charcoal suit from Gieves and Hawkes or somewhere like that and have it altered in time, but should it really be black?
I really don’t want to buy another black suit. However, I’d take your opinion seriously whatever it is.
I can understand why you might not wish to cover this on Permanent Style.
Regards,
Josh
Hi Josh,
No, I’m happy to talk about it.
I would have said that, yes, a charcoal suit with a white shirt and black tie would be very respectful. If I knew nothing about a funeral and the hosts, I would happily wear that.
The only caveat is that this is an event organised by somebody with probably an idea as to how formal the event should be. And society is no longer uniform enough to know that everyone will have the same ideas. So ideally, if you’re unsure, I’d ask someone close to the organisers if they’ve said anything specific.
S
It’s my family. They will just expect me to wear a suit, so it’s more about my relationship with the deceased and what they might want. They were of an older generation and once counselled me ‘black or grey for a funeral’, but I wasn’t sure charcoal was really ok.
Your thoughts have assured me – thanks a lot. I’ll be happier purchasing a charcoal suit knowing that it will be both perfectly appropriate and will also get more use.
You’re absolutely right about conventions. The fact I haven’t had to think too much about funeral attire before is because I’ve been to more funerals where the hosts have specified ‘no black’ or ‘wear something colourful’.
But yes, I’ll also go with white shirt, black tie and black toe-cap Oxfords.
I suppose your thoughts about whether to dress for oneself or for others are relevant here, as well as your advice on dressing for weddings: ‘It’s not about you’.
Exactly, it’s similar as an occasion in many ways I guess.
Pleased I could help Josh