What's wrong with black?

[gorgekko]

There is nothing wrong with black suits provided you wear them at the right time -- at night or funerals. However, people who say it's hard to match them with shirts and ties show a lack of imagination.

 

[TRINI]

Question - why is a black tux suitable for a formal event like a wedding and a black suit not (other than the fact that it's not proper formal wear)?

Shouldn't they have the same effect re: colour choice, complexion, etc, etc?

 

[gorgekko]

It's a dinner suit, not a tuxedo young man, and it's only appropriate to wear one to an evening wedding or the gathering after a day time wedding.

It has never been appropriate to wear a dinner suit to a day time wedding.

 

[TRINI]

Originally Posted by gorgekko

It's a dinner suit, not a tuxedo young man, and it's only appropriate to wear one to an evening wedding or the gathering after a day time wedding.

It has never been appropriate to wear a dinner suit to a day time wedding.

Agreed.


But I am referring to an evening engagement. Like the one I have to go to in 2 hours time. To which I planned on wearing a black suit.

 

[Brian278]

Originally Posted by triniboy27

Question - why is a black tux suitable for a formal event like a wedding and a black suit not (other than the fact that it's not proper formal wear)?

Shouldn't they have the same effect re: colour choice, complexion, etc, etc?

The associations. Among other things, black suits are worn by undertakers, and also by funeral goers. Nobody wears a tux to a funeral, and the other details of the tux that differentiate it from a black suit are enough to distance itself from the connotations of the black suit wearer.

Aside from one's aesthetic opinion on black suit, it's largely a matter of social convention.

 

[Brian278]

...

 

[76classic]

I thought black goes with everything.

 

[jyook]

...

 

[FidelCashflow]

Originally Posted by Dewey

The solid black suit has connotations of fad-following, of martial law, of undertakers and preachers, and of women. It looks naive, needlessly deferential to authority ("company man"), dreary, and/or effeminate.***

*** This only applies to StyleForum posters.

 

[redcaimen]

Originally Posted by bmulford

Wesley "Always bet on black but remember to report your winnings to the IRS" Snipes...

Does not approve of this thread

I dont blame him.

 

[johnapril]

Search the world not associated with the question, there you shall find sha-la-la.

 

[Will]

I dislike solid black suits for day wear but I can understand why people wear them. I went into Saks this past week to look at some Brioni swatches and glanced at their Isaia rack. The display was 90% solid black suits. If Saks sells them they must be right....

 

[Dewey]

Originally Posted by Film Noir Buff

Nothing, until you hit message boards...

Whether or not one thinks that there is "something wrong" with black, it's quite true that the black suit, like the brown one, the navy one, the white one, etc., has had (and continues to have) its own special meanings. And it has long been part of the special meaning of the black suit that many men regard it is as "wrong." The idea that something is "wrong" with a black suit dates to waay before internet message boards.

Originally Posted by Film Noir Buff

If there was a time when men did not choose black suits for business in the US (In England, black is just just fine, especially with stripes, the whiter and louder, the better) this may be a generational preference that dates the observer. Just like there is a generation that considers tatoos and piercings a sign of a fallen woman which is a dated one. That there are people who would wholeheartedly agree with that statement today only serves to illustrate that they are reactionary or judgmental. In any case, they are not a part of the "mainstream" in either the elite or pedestrian sense of the word. I think what I am trying to say is, maybe the black suit wasn't liked once but this is no longer the case and if you do not like it, that's fine but this is piggy-backing onto a previous generation's preference and demonstrative of an overattention to detail which is also perfectly good for an intellectual exercise, as long as one realizes that the vast majority of people, whatever their background, will have no idea what the differences in shades are between darkest charcoal, midnight blue and actual black.
This is all good and true, especially the last part. Nonetheless, there is a tradition to thinking particular thoughts about black suits. And most men who are aware of that tradition come to see some wisdom (as well as some folly) in the tradition. And that wisdom is the kind of stuff from which we build our own sense of style. The OP asked what's wrong with black. If you know much about the history of men's clothes, you ought to be able to answer the question -- at least hypothetically -- in depth. Black is somber Sunday brunch, black is for the waiter, black is the poor man's tuxedo, black is for mourning, black is for the band/orchestra, black is Armani, black is for women pushing up the corporate ladder, black is for AmJacks, etc., and so forth. You can answer the question -- and generally be against black suits for daytime workaday use -- without being some kind of conservative reactionary who worships some previous and mainly imaginary golden age of men's fashion.

 

[Dakota rube]

This thread was really just a ruse to flush Manton out of his hidey hole, right? I mean, you didn't really want to resurrect this whole discussion, did you?

 

[jyook]

Originally Posted by Dakota rube

This thread was really just a ruse to flush Manton out of his hidey hole, right? I mean, you didn't really want to resurrect this whole discussion, did you?

I'm still reading the "Is black suit an acceptable business attire?" thread that was posted as a link in this one... I had no idea that I touched on such a controversial subject...

I just wanted to know what was wrong with a black suit... Now I see Dewey labeling a black suit as the uniform for AmJacks... (I didn't even know what that meant until Google gave me a link to Urban Dictionary... Trashy loser types... Really

?)

I just wanted to get a very nice suit for funerals, weddings, and nice evenings out... I guess I should find an inexpensive fused black suit and only use it for funerals...