The case for black dress shirts?

[Caustic Man]

This is absurd. This is not the "Anything could be appropriate if you think hard enough" forum. This is the classic menswear forum.

 

[js4design]



I am required to wear a black dress or 3 button polo shirt paired with khaki or black pants as part of my daily workwear dress code in a retail environment. In an effort to find quality shirts, I turned to Brooks Brothers to see if I could find something that fit well and presented the best look that I could afford on short notice when the code changed over.

Brooks Brothers does not sell a black dress shirt. The highest quality, somewhat tailored, cotton black dress shirt that I could find was only available online through Jos A. Bank. Does that tell you anything? I don't know but I wasn't encouraged.

Spoiler: The only pic I have available is of an early thrift store purchase from the week that the new code went into effect and I no longer wear it.

End of the work day wrinkles and all.

I now own about a dozen and wash them in Woolite for dark clothes to keep them from fading.

My other dress shirts and my suits weep silently in the closet.

I don't think I've see one in a retail store, but they have sold them in their 346 outlets on more than one occasion.

 

[FillW]

Some women love a guy wearing a black dress shirt. They think it makes us look hot as hell (if you're in reasonable shape etc, etc) so it's good for wearing out at night.

As for business dress- no. (waiter/bartenderish look)

 

[cptjeff]



I'm sure you could make a good argument that for ranchers and people who spend a lot of time with animals that a denim ***** makes much more sense than a cotton shirt. .

Denim is a weave, not a fiber, and is nearly always made from cotton.

This is absurd. This is not the "Anything could be appropriate if you think hard enough" forum. This is the classic menswear forum.

Bingo. I have a denim shirt that I wear on occasion, and I like to think that it's appropriate for what I wear it for, which is mostly outdoorsy stuff in winter. Fairly interchangeable with a flannel. But classic workwear and classic menswear are not the same thing, and I wouldn't ever suggest one to somebody looking to learn about dressing professionally. It's a fine garment in the right context, but the right context is not in this forum.

 

[Gus]

I had a black shirt in the early 90's. They look awful after a few washings.

 

[Digmenow]



I had a black shirt in the early 90's. They look awful after a few washings.

I submit that you were doing it wrong.

I have gathered my collection of identical black JAB dress shirts for my job over a period of several months. I usually add three whenever the "Buy 1 Get 2 more Free" promotion happens along which is surprisingly less frequent for dress shirts than one would imagine. As I mentioned in a previous post, I wash them separately in their own load on the delicate cycle with Woolite for darks and I can't distinguish the first one I purchased from my most recently acquired shirt.

Not that you'll have any current use for this process but maybe someday, you'll have another (for whatever reason) and perhaps you'll recall this advice.

 

[dreamspace]

Even though most SF'ers hate it, I can gladly use a charcoal suit with a black shirt in more casual settings...even though I prefer white and blue. Some people may live 100% by classic and conservative color combinations, but I don't.

 

[random-adam]



The time and place for a black dress shirt is between the ages of 16-20, at your high school prom or a waiter's job. Inappropriate anywhere else.

I submit "performing in a pit orchestra" as another acceptable venue, for which I keep one black dress shirt with black buttons tucked into the back of my closet. It gets used so rarely that fading is not a problem.

 

[Gus]



I submit that you were doing it wrong.


Not that you'll have any current use for this process but maybe someday, you'll have another (for whatever reason) and perhaps you'll recall this advice.

Thanks Dig, I'll keep that in mind in case the minimalistic, black shirt, black Prada suit look comes back

 

[jacket]

every time I see someone where a black shirt while "dressing up" I am reminded what a dark time high school was.

I'm sure in SW&D black shirts have their appeal but that does not seem to be what you are going for, and since you are asking the question I am assuming your wardrobe has not been built in such a way that you could pull it off

 

[Ecstasy]

Well, black dress shirts are meant to look sleek, aren't they? I would think a slim guy in a black shirt is supposed to look elegant or refined in a way.

On the other hand, black for leather jackets is supposed to make you look masculine/macho. The argument goes on...

 

[YRR92]

Well, black dress shirts are meant to look sleek, aren't they? I would think a slim guy in a black shirt is supposed to look elegant or refined in a way.

On the other hand, black for leather jackets is supposed to make you look masculine/macho. The argument goes on...

If you're looking for "elegant and refined," isn't the path of least resistance simply to wear elegant and refined clothing (IE, not a solid black shirt)?

Anyway, I'm a photographer, so they're an occupational hazard I have as yet avoided. They don't look good on most people.

 

[archibaldleach]



Well, black dress shirts are meant to look sleek, aren't they? I would think a slim guy in a black shirt is supposed to look elegant or refined in a way.

On the other hand, black for leather jackets is supposed to make you look masculine/macho. The argument goes on...

Keep in mind that you are posting in a classic menswear forum, where the focus is on clothes that work with a jacket and tie. The best you can do with a black "dress" shirt IMO is to wear it casually with no tie, perhaps to a night club. There are usually better choices for a strictly casual shirt (e.g. navy) and black shirts look absolutely terrible and not at all refined when worn with a tie. Most jackets don't go particularly well with them either. It's not really a proper dress shirt, more like a casual shirt that gets treated like a dress shirt just because it has a collar.

 

[lawyerdad]



Well, black dress shirts are meant to look sleek, aren't they? I would think a slim guy in a black shirt is supposed to look elegant or refined in a way.

On the other hand, black for leather jackets is supposed to make you look masculine/macho. The argument goes on...

Posting two random, concusory generalizations does not establish the existence of a substantive "argument".

 

[Ecstasy]

Posting two random, concusory generalizations does not establish the existence of a substantive "argument".

How is this more random or cursory compared to other opinions here? Generalisation? This subject is hardly a science.

Keep in mind that you are posting in a classic menswear forum, where the focus is on clothes that work with a jacket and tie. The best you can do with a black "dress" shirt IMO is to wear it casually with no tie, perhaps to a night club. There are usually better choices for a strictly casual shirt (e.g. navy) and black shirts look absolutely terrible and not at all refined when worn with a tie. Most jackets don't go particularly well with them either. It's not really a proper dress shirt, more like a casual shirt that gets treated like a dress shirt just because it has a collar.

I agree to an extent. A black shirt certainly does not do well as part of a suit. But then again, classic menswear means different things in different regions. In the tropics, ties are not seen frequently, let alone suits. Thus the jackets argument is totally irrelevant in this particular case. After all, this thread is about the colour of dress shirts alone, is it not?

If you're looking for "elegant and refined," isn't the path of least resistance simply to wear elegant and refined clothing (IE, not a solid black shirt)?

Anyway, I'm a photographer, so they're an occupational hazard I have as yet avoided. They don't look good on most people.

That is true.