black shirt + tie

It certainly is possible, but that doesn't mean you should do it.

Black shirt + pastel/silver tie = high school semi-formal douche uniform

I dislike black shirts in general.

Not a good idea. At best, you'll get a "gangster" vibe. At worst, it'll just look bad.

As a general rule, the only time your shirt could acceptably be darker than your slacks/jacket is in summer, when you might pair seersucker or cream linen with a light blue shirt. in my opinion, anyway.

it is only acceptable if you sell cellular telephones at the mall kiosk.

First 2 posts in this thread are

This. Unless you're Al Capone or a magician, a black shirt won't generally work with a tie. Without a tie is different (the classic Horatio Crane, of course).

Labelking can do it, but he also wears pimp coats and mao suits. I'd avoid wearing black shirts unless it was casual. In fact, even without that tie (which looks horrible), the kid up at the top wouldn't look good with that black shirt. It makes him look pastey. If you feel the need to wear a black shirt with pinstripes, try it under a lighter color sportcoat without a tie.

If you're in LA I think it's required. Otherwise pass.

The only time this look can work is when you're wearing all black, and to pull it off, you have to have absolutely impeccable fit and the perfect combination of textures... this is Jedi-level stuff. Otherwise you look like a waiter in a trendy upscale restaurant. The only time I wear a black dress shirt is when I have to wear all black, and in that case, I skip the tie.

No:


Yes:

Not just texture. Black doesn't exist. So really, you're matching subtly different shades of dark grey. Next time you see a picture of someone doing this that looks like crap, take the picture into photoshop and set the luminosity to 50 and see what turns up. You're going to see the shapes of the figures in subtly warmer and cooler shades of mid-grey. Color temperature is, in my opinion the most important part of matching blacks.

Little looks worse than the black shirt, black suit, red/electric green/turquoise tie IMO.

yeah it says hitman but the guy's wearing a light shirt .....

Are you a member of the Squadristi? If so I think a black shirt and tie would look great.