black shirt + tie - Page 3

Will Smith seems to do it

Such a sad comment. Mens' dress code is so strict and boring. I wish we were as open minded as the ladies in this respect. This is exactly why I'm only coming around to the suit and tie world just now instead of five years ago.

Cut me some slack, at least I'm trying to embrace the sartorial world, unlike most of my peers at work 

Friend of mine genuinely got mistaken for barstaff whilst wearing a black shirt and suit (I've tried to change his ways. Alas but to no avail) is that a situation you even want to risk happening?

 

SergioFM - your day has come - go forth and be free (Post pics please).

 

Actually this threat is about black shirt and any color tie, not black shirt and black suit. In fact after doing some reading here in the forum I've been educated on the fact that your suit and shirt must be of different colors in order to have the contrast that creates the v-shape in the chest area. I accept this and I won't be wearing black suits with black shirts. Still, I don't see why wearing a gray suit would be OK with a white shirt and black tie combo and NOT OK with a black shirt and white tie combo since the contrast is maintained in both cases. 

The contrast is maintained, but switching the light and dark components is not without consequences. White shirt+black tie makes the tie like an arrow leading the observer's eye to the face (a good thing). The white tie doesn't really do the same thing, at least for me. Instead it attracts attention to the white tie/black shirt themselves (here in reference to a tie I'm using "white" as a stand in for really any light color, although some of these can be more successful than others).

I agree. I was merely stating the point that if the blazer isn't black then it should be OK for the shirt to be black if one so wishes. Personally if I was to use a gray suit and black shirt I would use a medium blue or purple tie. 

No.

For me, it's fine to wear black shirt with a dark suit as long as the tie is of a different color.

I guess I would have to see a picture, but this sounds terrible. Sounds like what a high school football player would wear to school on game day if his school colors were black and purple or black and blue.

OK, so what color tie would you suggest?

This is part of the problem. Nothing is really great with a black shirt. If I were forced to wear a medium grey suit and a black shirt and allowed to pick a tie, I'd probably go for something like this (all this presupposing that the outfit is to be worn at night...I don't even care to speculate on a black shirt worn during the day):


http://www.samhober.com/solid-fermo-fossati-satin-ties/gray-satin-silk-tie-2.html

or maybe something a tad more towards bronze, a picture of which I couldn't find. But something that provides contrast in color to the black without being too light, but at the same time doesn't have much actual color in it, which will stand out too much against the black. The contrast comes from the texture, which is satiny/sheeny (again I am presupposing the sun has gone down).

So not even this?

There is no character - the suit needs to come alive when a man wears it. Black tone on black just looks too somber.