What to wear with odd black pants?

[cheessus]

I just realized that I have some odd black pairs of pants that are nice which I never wear. I makes sense that black is the easiest color to match, but I never wear them because I can't figure out what to match them with without making me look like a mime or a waiter. The fact that I have only navy jackets don't help either I suppose. Is any navy top with black pants a no-no?

Any suggestions?

 

[DocHolliday]

Maybe a sweater in a warm golden tan? Or one in mid gray?

 

[Tomasso]

Originally Posted by cheessus

I never wear them because I can't figure out what to match them with without making me look like a mime or a waiter.
Then you should probably send them to charity.

 

[acidboy]

Give them away, and be happy someone will put them in good use.

 

[Patrician]

Yes navy jacket with black pants is a no-no, however why not try a gray sweater, as Doc suggests.

 

[JayJay]

A sweater in a shade of gray, red, or light blue would look nice.

 

[forsbergacct2000]

Any light colored casual shirt would work as would a lot of grey sport coats or light brown, tan, etc. (unless you are against black pants.)

 

[sfnewbie]

What about an odd black jacket? What could you match up with that?

 

[academe]

Originally Posted by sfnewbie

What about an odd black jacket? What could you match up with that?

Grey trousers, possibly white ones...

 

[Niels]

Ligth grey or ligth blue jackets are fine with black trousers. I love black trousers. Remember always black shoes.

 

[eHaberdasher]

With my black pants (wool gabardine FF from Incotex) I wear light gray shirts and sweaters, light blue 1/2 zip sweater (usually with a blue/white tattersall checked shirt underneath), or a medium/dark gray herringbone sport coat. You can pretty much wear almost any patterned shirt, sweater or jacket that has a little bit of black in it. I personally wouldn't wear tan or light brown unless you wanted to resemble a pint of Guinness.

 

[AntiHero84]

I recently wore a medium gray suit jacket with some slim black pants. It went together really well.

 

[MetroStyles]

If you don't have to wear a jacket with the outfit, most shirt colors work. Like you yourself said, black matches almost all colors. People here hate on black clothing, but there is nothing wrong with black pants.

 

[Dewey]

Originally Posted by cheessus

I have some odd black pairs of pants that are nice which I never wear. I makes sense that black is the easiest color to match, but I never wear them because I can't figure out what to match them with
Black is the hardest thing to match. It can work with various colors, as people testify here, but it does not work as well with those colors as would other colors. E.g. a gray/blue jacket might look OK with black trowsers, but also that blue will look better with other color pants. If black was truly the easiest color to match, you wouldn't be asking this question. Black is a great color for shoes. So is dark brown. If you like to see shoes that are darker than the pants, and pants that do not match the shoes, then you are going to have trouble getting dressed with black pants. At least with dark brown pants you can wear black shoes. There are good reasons to avoid black as a color for odd pants. These reasons may not be enough to forbid them forever, but they are still good reasons.

 

[goodlife]

For a casual sans-jacket evening ff black trou work well with one of those shirts that is a 'dress shirt in material and detail, is made unsuitable for the office due to bold color or patten. For example, I have a broadcloth shirt with a semi-spread collar in kelly green and white butcher stripe. The kelly green is the field, so this is inappropriate as a 'dress shirt.' As a result, I usually end up wearing it with jeans. Combined with dark charcoal or black odd trou it works well for going to a movie, casual dinner out, or when we have friends over for cocktails.