Green suits...

[acole]

I have a few casual button-down shirts in dark colors (just your basic RTW Nordstrom). My favorite one--the best for my coloration IMO--is a forest green, about as dark as your typical dark navy suiting.  This got me thinking, and I realized that outside of the relatively esoteric velvet smoking jacket, I've not run into many dark green suits.  (I am not talking about olive, here--I realize that olive suits and jackets are quite common).

So, how many here have one of these?  In what context would you wear (or avoid wearing) it?

 

[Kai]

I don't own (nor do I see myself buying) a dark green suit. Just a bit too far out for me.

I do own a light olive suit, which I wear in the Summer time.
I like it, and it coordinates with a surprising number of shirts/ties and conservative enough that I can wear it to business meetings.

The only dark green suit I can remember seeing that looked good was on Willem Dafoe at the Spiderman premier. He looked great, but I'm not sure if I could pull it off unless I was the Green Goblin.

 

[jcusey]

Forest green suits? No. I've seen forest green blazers, and the effect wasn't bad. Not better than a navy blazer, to be sure, but not bad. They were certainly better-looking than those mid-green things that winners of the Masters get.

 

[friendlyone]

Acole,

Dark green suits are actually fairly popular in Italy, especially for summer wear. I'm not sure why; perhaps it's because they go well with the Italian complexion, perhaps because they complement their favorite color -- blue.

Green suits are much more of a rarity in the United States. But as it so happens, the other day I went to our friendly local NM, where I was shocked to see quite a number of Kiton suits in green. To my mind, they looked beautiful, but I had to ask the salesman whether there really were people who would pay $5000 for a green suit. At first, he just joked, saying, "I can sell it if you buy it." But then he became serious, saying that there were quite a few people, either Europeans or those looking for an unusual suit, who would snap the beauties up.

I'll check back toward the end of summer to see if he really was right.

 

[AskAndyAboutClothes]

Acole:

It's certainly not an "acceptable" business color for suits, but for social events it might work.

Maybe you were inspired by the famous green blazer, watching the recent Master's Golf tournament..

Andy

 

[acole]

Well, as much as I like to go out and try my hand at golf on rare occasion, the idea of watching it on TV bores me to tears. Â So I didn't catch the masters tourney. But I've seen some golf-oriented blazers that are rather a lighter green than I'm talking about (HF for Bobby Jones has made one w/ gold buttons). Â In case "forest green" is too imprecise--I'm talking about rich, dark "midnight green" which would acquire both subtlety and a "power" component from being so close to black. Â I still think it would make a great suit, and I think I'm going to get one made one of these days if I can find the right fabric and avoid the $5K Kiton price tag.

 

[j]

I have a pair of almost satiny cotton pants in the color you're describing and I would definitely welcome a matching jacket. Not business wear by any stretch though.

 

[wcp45]

I saw a Brioni dark (very dark) green suit at Wilkes Bashford a few weeks ago--$4,000+ price range. It was very elegant. From a distance it could have been mistaken for a dark grey suit. I would not have hesitated to wear it for business.

 

[bern]

Acole,

I do have a very dark green suit, which looks really great: the fabric has a non-uniform color, with some subtle chalk stripes of darker and lighter shades of green. I find it looks best with brown "chestnut" shoes and a casual shirt either off-white or tan, without tie.

Bern