I'm gonna buy a BLACK suit. - Page 8

 

Caveat emptor.

This rant against the black suit is nonsense. If you want a black suit get one. If you polled the forums before choosing anything, all you would own is blue and gray.
No, you probably don't want to wear a black suit to an interview or to the office, but there will be plenty of occasions to wear it in the evening. And I agree that it goes well with a white shirt on a person with dark hair and high contrast. That's a sharp look. I think you need to get a high quality cloth though.

According to Spencer Hart and Kilgour they are selling a lot of black suits, even in London.

 

That's just not true. Although navy and charcoal are recommended as good first suits because of their versatility (with good reason) there are a huge variety of colors and patterns that are liked here. Glen plaid, window pane, browns, tans, greens, they all get love in appropriate occassions.

I have a suit in oxford gray -- which is a shade between black and charcoal -- that I occasionally wear during the day. I'm over 35, have light hair and have gotten a ton of compliments on it.

Perhaps because its a matte flannel with a light gray windowpane and not pitch black, it works? IDK

Black hopsack DB something from H Lesser I think.

+1. Also interesting that a guy who claims the "rant against black suits is nonsense" says you shouldn't wear it to interviews or the office, which are the main reasons many (perhaps not OP or on SF) need suits to begin with.

If the question were " should I get a black suit for work in the day" I would say no. However, the OP is proposing to add a black suit to his already full wardrobe for the purpose of funerals, weddings and evenings.. That's a different situation. Ranting against a black suit in that context is nonsense.

Hence the parenthetical in my post that you quoted. If you mean to say that it is nonsense to rant against (strongly discourage the wearing of might be a better way to say it) black suits in 100% of cases (which is what I think you are trying to say), then I will respectfully disagree. That's part of the fun of the forum.

Your hyperbole above on SF saying you should only be wearing blue and grey to me implied a broader application of your comment than what you wrote below and that is what prompted my comment. I think this thread ended up getting beyond the OP's situation. I do think it is relevant to a general discussion on black suits to state that even their defenders admit that they are a limited use garment.

If you want a black suit, get one. Much of it comes down to how many suits you own (or can afford). If, for example, you have 15 - 20 suits, and none of them are black, you may wish to reconsider. If, though, you have 5-ish suits, and none in black, that may be perfectly reasonable.

I have plenty of suits, and 3 of them happen to be black (solid/single breasted/3 button; pinstripe/single-breasted/3 button; solid/double breasted). I regret the purchase of none of them.

Make sure the cloth has a bit of sheen ... otherwise it will look dull and drab.

Wear it in the evening hours to the more fashion forward kinds of 'establishments'.

But if it's really for funerals and weddings, consider charcoal. Funerals & weddings are a tad different from a night on the town.
Edited by RSS - 2/13/13 at 3:54pm

You are correct, sir.

Indeed, assuming finances are not an issue, the idea of not having a black suit for funerals, and certain weddings and certain evenings, is, in the minds of many, not only nonsensical, but in poor taste.

Don't get me wrong, I've been a customer of one Savile Row firm or another -- sometimes multiple simultaneously -- for more than forty years. HOWEVER, just because it's London means nothing. I see some of the worst dressed men anywhere on the streets -- and even in a few of the finer establishments -- of London
Edited by RSS - 2/13/13 at 3:54pm

I can assure you, there are many men very much in the know who consider black suits to be in poor taste no matter where. There remain those for whom the correct choice is charcoal. When I asked Anderson & Sheppard (in the early 80s) to make me a black funeral suit they refused and talked me into charcoal.

I certainly have no black suits in my wardrobe. That said, I don't see much wrong with wearing one for a night on the town. Carefully selected, they can look sharp.

Charcoal will work for a funeral. Black will work for a funeral, and has traditionally been (at least in the US) the color of choice. Any man who considers a black suit for a funeral in poor taste has left common sense (and decency) at the door. It's one thing if a man chooses not to wear black to a funeral (I have no problem with that); it's a whole different thing to consider those who do in poor taste. Indeed, it borders on laughable.

I beg to differ that black has traditionally been the suit of choice in America for funerals and weddings ... unless we are talking about the under thirty crowd. But then that hardly qualifies as tradition.

Charcoal has -- for as long as I remember -- been the correct choice for a funeral that is less than formal. The great majority of those who wear black do so simpily because they know no better. Will I think ill of them because they do it? No. And if the funeral is for a family member, I will be honored that they have elected to pay tribute to my deceased relative ... no matter what they wear.

For the most part I don't give these things much thought unless it's being discussed here on Style Forum.
Edited by RSS - 2/13/13 at 4:27pm