Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette!
In today's video, we'll discuss the color black in Men's wear and why it's so overrated.
We'll discuss suits, t-shirts, accessories, when you should wear black, when you shouldn't
wear black, why it's so popular, and anything else you want to know about this omnipresent color.
First of all, we have to understand why is black so popular and why so many people wear
it.
First of all, black is a very practical color.
It's very resistant to stains in a sense that often times, you can't see the stain when
you stain it.
Sometimes people also claim, black makes you look slimmer. Although, there doesn't seem to
be any scientific purpose for that.
Now, if you just think about it, if a dark color makes you look slimmer, let's say a
charcoal color would serve the exact same purpose yet charcoal is not as popular as
black.
Black is widely available and unlike other colors, it's a very simple shade that is very
consistent.
For that reason, people sometimes think they can combine different items in black.
They're not made from the same fabric, however, the weave is different, the materials are
different, and when the light comes onto the black color, and reflects into your eye,
it's reflected differently and so black can look hugely different, even though both look black
individually, once they're worn right next to each other.
For that reason, I find black to be supremely boring because it's just one simple shade
and in my opinion, it's a color for people who are a bit insecure about their outfit
and what they wanna express.
Let me say, Black has its purpose.
It has its time and its place but today we just see it a lot, especially in regular day
wear and that's simply historically not quite appropriate.
So when should you wear black?
First of all, it's a fantastic color for evening wear.
That means a Tuxedo, a black tie event, a dinner jacket maybe in black velvet or even
very formal white tie.
It is also great for formal daywear such as a morning coat.
I wear it with a stroller suit and peaked lapels as a jacket.
Then I also use black in trousers however not as a solid but as a cashmere stripe pair of trousers
which means there is gray and black mixed together.
Overall, it's always good to wear black when you mix it with something else.
So the overall appearance is not black but maybe gray.
For example, look at the tie I'm wearing here.
It incorporates black but since it has another silver thread, it even works well with this
navy suit.
Normally black and navy clash but not if you mix it in a way that it looks more great in
black.
The same is true for any other tie that combines these colors in any way, shape or form.
So do wear black when it's mixed.
That's true for accessories, that's true for, let's say a Houndstooth suit or a Glen Check
Suit.
But black in its own way, when it's all black is better suited to evening wear and formal
day wear.
Black is also great for priests and for funerals.
That being said, you can show up in a funeral in a very dark suit such as a charcoal suit
or maybe a navy suit and to learn more about funeral etiquette, please check out our in-depth
guide and video here.
If you go back around 20 years, you see lots of black and white pictures and drawings and
sometimes it seems that they're all wearing black but in fact, there were mostly wearing
dark shades of charcoal and not the uniform solid black that we're so accustomed to today.
Luckily, you have plenty of other options today other than black.
As I mentioned, charcoal, gray, mid-gray, you can have patterns that incorporate black
and white or black and gray and of course you have brighter colors, you have browns,
you have greens.
All of these come in different shades so you have an even greater range of colors that
can highlight your uniqueness and your individuality.
So why is black bad if so many people wear it?
Well, if you go 600 yeas back, a lot of people thought that the Earth was flat and not round
and it was a common assumption.
So just because a lot of people wear black today, doesn't mean it's the way they look
best or it should be.
One of the big drawbacks of black is that it ages extremely poorly.
If you have a black t-shirt for example, and you wash it five times, it gets that gray
fuzz and it's washed-out and it looks very aged, very prematurely.
Basically, the color fades and you can also see deodorant stains which are lighter in
color so a black t-shirt looks old much more quickly than a gray t-shirt or a white t-shirt.
Black is also not ideal because it absorbs a lot of energy of light so you easily overheat,
especially during the summer.
Black is also not so easily combined with other shades of gray and especially not with navy.
If you have a black jacket and navy pants, it just looks terrible.
It's too close in color but not quite the same and therefore it's just off.
The same is true when you wear a black jacket and black pair of pants made of a different
material, it just looks wrong.
On the other hand, if you had a charcoal suit, you can easily combine it with a navy tie
because it works together much better.
It gives you a greater range of combination and it's similarly dark.
So charcoal is the better black.
Whenever you think about getting a black suit or a black jacket, go with charcoal and
you'll be much happier.
Now, that being said, if you have a black tie or a white tie outfit, the stark contrast
between the black and white is very pleasing, at the same time it's very formal and not very
casual.
In a very casual world today, wearing black and white during the day is just too strong
of a statement and it's much better reserved for evening wear.
Next up, let's talk about black don'ts that I see all over the place that just looks disadvantageous.
Number 1.
If you care about your clothes, don't wear black dress shirts.
I see men do it all of the time, even at the Oscars.
They have a black dress shirt with a black tie and a black jacket.
It's a monochromic look, you can't see any contrast.
It just looks horrible.
Also, black shirts look really bad with ties because generally a combination looks much
better when the tie is slightly darker than your shirt, not lighter.
There are a few exceptions when you have a like a white tie and it can work with a light
blue shirt for example.
But overall, it's much easier to put together an outfit if a tie or your bowtie is darker
than your shirt.
Now if you have black, there's no way your tie is lighter in color.
Okay, I admit it, when I started getting interested in clothing, I had a black shirt as well.
It was a hand-me-down, I got it from someone.
It had two chest pockets and honestly, it looked terrible.
It even had short sleeves but I liked it.
I wore it with a white pair of pants and a Panama hat and black rubber soled shoes.
If you wanna learn more about the style mistakes I made growing up, please check out
this video about the 5 most common style mistakes I see men make.
The 2nd black don't is to wear black daywear suits and pants or jackets.
As I said, great for evening wear, great for Tuxedos. You can even wear your pants with
a separate dinner jacket in a different color, it's all great.
But for day wear, most men assume that a black suit is the first thing they should buy because
it's the best thing since sliced bread.
Department stores are full of black suits. They are cheap, the fabrics are often times
less expensive to produce and remanufacture.
And so, it is so much easier for them to just produce a black suit because there a lot of people
who are ignorant who just end up buying them.
The only thing worse than a black suit is having just a singular black jacket because that
has a sports coat character and a sport coat is always less formal and more casual.
So wearing a black jacket with let's say a denim pair of pants is probably one of the
biggest style mistakes out there you can make.
If you live in a casual environment, throw all the black stuff, donate it and get something
in different colors especially a sports coat with a slight pattern maybe in brown, maybe
in green, maybe in blue, maybe even in gray.
The 3rd black don't is black t-shirts.
For most people, if they wear it underneath the dress shirt,
they just look bad because you can see the contours of the shirt and the color and it
just looks odd.
If you work out, you can see sweat stains more easily, also deodorant stains.
They quickly turn gray and get that fuzz that is ugly and overall, you should always get
an undershirt that's much closer to your color and skin tone.
So if you're really black or really dark, try to go with something that's either dark
gray or dark brown, they just look better and you won't see the lines even if you have
a white dress shirt on top of it.
So what about black dress shoes and black accessories? I give it to you, they're the most
popular items around because they're easy to produce and there is such a huge demand.
If you go back in history, an elegant man would never wear black dress gloves because
it would show that they lack style and taste.
Instead, they would wear gray gloves or chamois yellow gloves or red gloves or brown gloves
but never black.
For shoes, black is a great option if you work in a white collar office environment
and it's formal.
I have a few pairs of black shoes I wear them for evening wear, I wear them to funerals,
I wear them to business events, or any other event where a certain degree of formality is
required.
Otherwise, I stick to brown because there are lots more shades and if you wanna learn
more about how to wear brown shoes, please check out our in-depth guide here.
So what about black sneakers?
If you think about it, black is always more formal.
Sneakers by definition are informal.
So having a black sneaker is kind of a clash of formality levels and hence, I don't advise
to do that.
There are so many other colors in sneakers gray, blue, yellow, green, red, and even pink.
So you'll find something that you like but try to stay clear of black.
If you wanna learn what other colors are there in Men's wear that are more unique, that make
you stand out from the crowd, and look extremely handsome.
Please check out our video about how to wear green in Men's wear and one of the most underrated
colors, orange.
Basically the only time you'll see me wearing black during the day is when it's mixed up
with other colors so the overall impression is not black.
Wearing black less or less often is definitely one of those things that you'll notice will
change about you once you get more interested in dressing up and other people will notice
it too.
If you know our channel, you'll probably realize that I don't promise a lot of things but I'll
promise you if you wear less black, you'll be happier with your wardrobe altogether and
you'll get more interested and you'll get more compliments as a result.
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