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Consider us menswear iconoclasts, but the black suit is a serial sartorial sin that needs a serious rethink.
The black suit is a bit of a menswear deity, evoking images of Rat Pack suave and Reservoir Dogs squad goals (as seen in the image below), but in the harsh light of day, literally, the black suit isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Consider me a menswear iconoclast, but the black suit is a serial sartorial sin that needs a serious rethink. Funerals and evening events are about the only times you should ever consider donning the black and it’s absolutely, utterly, never appropriate for the office 9-5 or, worse, a job interview.
In the natural light, your black fibres just aren’t looking their best. The suit is in danger of appearing cheap,
shiny and highly unflattering. Pile a white shirt on top of that and the unwelcomely stark contrast really isn’t doing you any favours, unless you’re shooting for the undertaker look, or, are in actual fact, an undertaker. In which case, wear away.
Navy or charcoal grey are perpetually better options for making the right impression when you suit up. Both are not only far more protean when it comes to picking out shirts and shoes to marry them with, but don’t go a murky off-green colour when exposed to light that isn’t coming from a lamp in a bar. There’s a reason why that black suit looks so damn good in the changing rooms, the store is pumping the room full of artificial light to bring out its best side and empty out your wallet.
That’s not to say the old custodian of debonair is a total write off, just save it for after dark. Make it your go-to suit for after work engagements that don’t quite stretch to black tie but involve dimly lit rooms, neat whiskies and cigars. In the mean time, take off your black suit and go get yourself a piece of tailoring cut in a handsome navy or sophisticated grey.
Credit: thegentlemansjournal.com