How To Wear An All Black Suit The Right Way

Hey Felipe!

Thanks for the high praise, knowing how to wear a suit is pretty important (we think)! As far as the relationship between you and your Tailor, many will ask you for pictures of things like your posture, shoulder positioning etc. This will help them get a better understanding of not only how you stand, but how your silhouette naturally looks. Many tailors, including our own concierge team will be very responsive to suggestions, because nailing your fit is the tailors goal! If you have any questions for our personal concierge team, reach out to them here!

No worries John, we’re here to help. We understand money is tight for a college kid, but think of a new suit as an investment. Also, chances are you’re going to need a gray or navy suit to interview for jobs after college and even when you start out at your first job. If you’re close to graduation, maybe you can hit up a relative for a suit as an early graduation gift. We’d recommend a charcoal gray suit for now since gray and purple is a classic menswear combination. If you really can’t make that work, you’ll have to stick with your black suit (which we’re glad to hear fits well). It’s definitely not a good idea to wear a saturated purple-on-purple shirt and tie combination with a black suit. We’d recommend a fitted white dress shirt and purple tie like this knit one: https://blacklapel.com/shop/ties/purple-silk-knit-tie/. Generally, you want to stay away from adding bold colors to a black suit outfit, but we understand this is a work obligation here. Hit us up with any more questions you have.

Appreciate the questions, Everitt. Here are our best answers for you:

1. The tie knot is up to you. Think of it as a chance to express your personal style, but check out this guide on which knots work best on certain frames. In terms of the style of the tie, it’s a good rule of thumb to stay away from shiny ties in general. Stitching is OK, and we’re a big fan of the knit tie.

2. Red ties are fine, just not with a black suit. It’s one of the no-gos outlined above. A more subdued red tie, like this Maroon Knit Tie, is a much better choice. True red ties are a better match for dark blue suits.

3. There’s a strong argument to be made that a man only needs white and blue dress shirts. The buttons on your shirt are called a “button-down collar”. The button-down collar was made popular by Ivy Leaguers and polo players, so it’s a preppy choice but totally acceptable.

4. The watch sounds simple, but before buying a watch, think about the other leather you own. As in, are your belts and shoes mostly brown or black leather? Do you carry a leather bag? We recommend matching all the leathers in one outfit, so answer those questions first and then purchase the watch.

5. Hats are a must in the dead of winter. Fedoras are old school, but if that’s your look, then all the power to you. However, we recommend the more versatile newsboy cap. These hats straddle the line between formal and casual, allowing you to wear them with all but the most formal of outfits. We recommend getting any hat in neutral gray or brown to get the most use out of it.

Did you notice how almost all of the photos above with a check mark next to them have a white shirt and a black tie? Follow Rule #3 above, don’t overcomplicate it. Keep it simple with a white shirt and a black tie for a worry free outfit.

The solution is to change your suit, Daniel. Black suits aren’t business suits. You tend to look like you’re going to either a funeral or a formal affair. As you can see above, black is the most limiting suit color you can wear, making it extremely difficult to wear black suits regularly (as you’re finding out). So our first piece of advice is to build your wardrobe on a more office-appropriate, and versatile, foundation color. We just published an article about doing that very thing. Check out Wardrobe Foundations: 3 Suits Every Man Should Have for specifics.

Secondly, stock up on white dress shirts. You can’t have enough of them. They work with anything (including your black suit) so they make getting dressed in the morning simple. Just grab a white shirt and you’re most of the way to an outfit. We’ve shown how you can build an entire shirt wardrobe on just white and blue shirts but if you want to add some more colors, we suggest you read the article on picking shirt colors first.

With a strong set of shirts and suits in your wardrobe, making outfits will become much easier.

Follow Rule #3 above: Keep the accessories simple. We’re not sure why you’ve eliminated the best and simplest option (a black neck tie), but be that as it may, we recommend the next simplest option: a gray tie.

A black suit and a black bow tie sounds like a half-assed tuxedo. That’s not something you want to half-ass. That’s why we never suggest black bow ties for anything but black tie outfits.

To make this outfit work, ditch the bow tie and go one of two ways: either go without a tie at all, in which case you’ve got a dark and brooding laid back look with the maroon shirt, or go with a necktie and change the shirt to white. Either way, remember Rule #5 above and don’t go crazy on the dark elements in your outfit.

No. A white tie is only acceptable when it’s a bow tie for a white tie event (like the Nobel Prize ceremony) or when it’s a part of a 20s gangster costume.

Gray and, sometimes, pale blue shirts can also work with a black suit on certain skin tones and hair colors, but white is the undisputed champ and works for almost everyone.

A black suit isn’t interview material in our opinion. It can look too serious and more often than not, guys royally screw up the shirt and tie combination to go along with it. We recommend grays and blues for interview suits. We think your best bet is to wear your navy suit again, but with a different colored shirt and tie. If you have a blue dress shirt (which you should), wear that this time around. Chances are you have another tie to complement this new outfit too. Best of luck, we hope you nail it.

Easy! Go with a tailored white dress shirt. It’ll get you through a lifetime of weddings.

Ah the dress code, that enigma wrapped inside a riddle…okay we’re exaggerating a bit, but you get the idea: dress codes can be confusing. But Compass subscribers know (if you’re not one, now’s the time, Brian, subscribe for free here), we’ve tackled dress codes in our Decoding the Dress Code series.

Take a look at Decoding the Dress Code: Weddings where you’ll see that a black suit may be a little too somber/serious for a cocktail attire event. That’s why you’ll be hard pressed to find Roger Sterling in a black unless it’s a tuxedo. Also, the funeral-esque look of a black suit doesn’t blend well with the relaxed vibe of the neckerchief (ascot tied around the neck). That same neckerchief with a medium gray suit, would play much better.

So hopefully we’ve been able to help you avoid the problems a black suit presents for this occasion. As for the neckerchief fitting into the Cocktail Attire dress code…that is a stretch. Going without a tie is pushing it. If you’ve got a kid in the school and you don’t want to be known as the “eccentric” dad, stick with a suit and tie.

Nope. A red bow tie with a black suit is going to look clownish. Sorry, but there’s no other way to put it. Don’t break rule #3 above. Stick with muted colors with a black suit or better yet, do what we said above and countless times in the comments below and pair your black suit with a gray tie. Do that and we’ll at least approve the outfit.

As for how you wear it, see rules 1-4 above. If the whole thing works with your coloring, go for it, but if it doesn’t don’t try to force it because you saw some other guy in a black suit looking cool. That’s some other guy. You do you. If it works with your coloring and it doesn’t fit you flawlessly, the whole look still isn’t going to cut it. Finally, if you nail the other rules and then top off the whole look with a beaten up pair of shoes you’ll still just have a near miss. But if you go back through the article above and can honestly say you’ve followed the rules, you’re bound to look good.

As it says above, strong colored ties can look clownish with a black suit. Stick with black or gray, Tarun.

Hey, John. A lot of your confusion can be solved by looking at the wedding invite for the defined wedding dress code. If the invite states black tie, black tie optional, or cocktail attire, count the black t-shirt out. We recommend you wear a tie to any wedding unless “casual” is specified on the invite. If casual is acceptable, you could rock your black suit with the black dress shirt and no tie. It’s a good look for a night wedding, but it would be too harsh for, say, a warm weather wedding. So if that’s the case, opt for the white dress shirt and no tie. If the dress code suggests a more formal setting, we recommend your white dress shirt and a simple, non-shiny, monochrome tie.

Like, white sneakers casual? You can reference the suit + sneakers section we wrote about here, but we have some more styling tips in addition to what we wrote about there. If you want to wear casual shoes, that casual theme should carry throughout the rest of your outfit. So a black or white t-shirt or sweater is the way to go instead of a dress shirt and tie. Hope that helps.

In general, we don’t recommend black suits for job interviews. A) They’re particularly limiting as you’ve noted, and B) they’re extremely serious/formal. If a dark suit works for you, we’d suggest charcoal gray instead. Charcoal gray is still a dark suit but allows you to wear bright colored accessories, a larger range of shirts and brown shoes (a no-no with a black suit).

As for the disliking wearing white shirts, you MUST get over that. Look at any photos of well dressed men. They all wear white shirts regularly. Of all of the scarring experiences associated with Catholic school (we know, a large contingent of the Black Lapel team went to Catholic schools) a fear of wearing white shirts should not be one of them. White shirts are the foundation of all stylish men’s wardrobes.

As we recommended above, strong colors and black suits just don’t mix. That goes double for a job interview. A tangerine colored shirt and red tie is loud in any setting. The goal of an interview suit is to keep the interviewer focused on you. Against a black suit, this combinations is like wearing a blinking neon “Look at me” sign on your chest. Keep the shirt and tie simple to keep the attention on your face, not your clothes.

Having said all of that, we have one final and counter-intuitive piece of advice and that is don’t put too much importance on your clothes. Body language, it turns out, trumps clothes. We wrote a whole article about this that we’d suggest you check out while job hunting: What’s Stopping You From Looking Powerful? Hint: It’s Not Your Clothes.

Please don’t!

If you get nothing more from having read The Compass let it be this: Green shirts and black shirts and black bow ties should never be seen in public together. It’s just a recipe for clownish.

Sorry for the tough love here, Roy but that’s just the truth of the matter.

Not in our book. See Rules #3 and #5 above.

If there are two things you’ll hear repeated in our advice they are as follows:

1. Don’t try to add too much color to a black suit, and
2. Don’t worry about matching your date.

Rule #3 above shows the right way to wear a black suit and the way that makes you look like a clown. How do you avoid looking like a clown? Stick with black, white and gray, like well dressed men do (see Tom Ford) and you’ll be fine.

As for the matching your girlfriend, we generally tell guys who ask about this that you’re her date, not an accessory. Of course, we’re usually giving grown men this advice because the whole matchy-matchy thing is a little cutesy for our tastes. Since this is the prom and we know how teenage girls can be about this kind of thing, we’d understand if you went with a pink pocket square to coordinate with her dress. We’d recommend leaving it at that, though and sticking with a stylish black or gray tie.

Of course you can, Tyler, but your results may vary. There are many different kinds of tuxedo shirts, after all. A white shirt with French cuffs, a turndown collar and a hidden placket, for instance, would work perfectly well with a black suit for a formal look. On the other hand, a wing collar, a pleated front and holes for studs would look out of place with anything but a tuxedo.

Our advice is, if you’re supposed to be in black tie, you should either bite the bullet and get yourself a tuxedo or just abstain and go in a suit. Don’t half-ass it by wearing a shirt that really belongs with a tux but not wearing a tux. The only thing worse than not wearing black tie to a black tie event is wearing part of a black tie getup to a black tie event. That basically says “I understood the dress code but didn’t care enough to really follow it.” At least if you show up in a suit you can just plead ignorance.

We’ll refer you to rule #3 above. There’s really no reason to add a red or blue tie to this outfit. A pink shirt against a black suit is already pushing it with a black suit (we’d recommend swapping for white), adding a colored tie will just call attention to the jarring contrast of color and black. When in doubt, limit the color palette. Making the outfit strictly black, white and employing shades of gray for contrast is always stylish.

Although men with darker skin can pull off black suit combinations better than most, this sounds a little too matchy-matchy. Pick your bold accessories wisely, and by wisely we mean just add one in this scenario. You should choose between the patterned tie and camo slippers, but don’t wear both.

Completely depends on the context and how it looks on you. While it’s not exactly the kind of thing we imagine when we picture a well-dressed guy, we’re not going to pass judgment without seeing it.

You said it, Don. What’s the point of the black tie if it’s just going to blend in?

Are you hoping we’ll okay this outfit because of the white polka dots? Sorry, but we still consider this outfit going overboard with the black. Actually, it may even be worse since the polka dots will just call more attention to how flat the rest of the outfit is.

Our solution, swap the shirt out with a white one and you’re done. Simple, right?

As we said in Rule #3 above, strongly colored accessories and black suits don’t mix well. Without seeing the accessories in question, we can’t say for sure, but when we read words like paisley and orange we fear you might be treading on thin ice. We recommend you limit the colors in your outfit, Andre.

We’ll assume you mean that the shirt is gray, not that your black jacket has gray sleeves. In that case, sure, a gray shirt and a black suit are okay to wear together. As we stated above, it’s all about who’s wearing it. If you’re just not cut out for wearing black, no amount of finagling the rest of the outfit will change that.

As for the vest, take a look at our article on How To Wear A Vest The Modern Way for some ideas on wearing an alternative vest with your suits.

Ah, the good ol’ 3-piece remix as we like to call it. We’re advocates of wearing an alternating vest with a suit— it’s modern and smart. The idea behind adding a black pinstripe vest to a black suit is good, but tread carefully. Pinstripes are mainly to be worn together, and interrupting the lines can make your body look disproportional. Although this effect only really takes form when breaking up a pinstripe suit jacket and pants, if the pinstripe vest you mention isn’t cohesive with your black suit, you could be at risk of this faux pas. Then again, there’s the potential for this outfit to look totally gangster. Like we said, tread carefully.

You have a bunch of options here, Jai. It depends on how formal you want to look at your party, but here are some outfits we would put together:
1) Black suit, white dress shirt, no tie, white pocket square and your black dress shoes. If your black boots are dressy, you can probably pull them off in the outfit too.
2) Black suit, white t-shirt and black boots.
3) Black suit pants, white t-shirt, black bomber jacket and black boots.
4) Jeans, white dress shirt, and black boots.

Notice we didn’t incorporate a tie into any of the outfits above. You’ll be at a club and dancing, so wearing a tie isn’t exactly dress code or fun to dance in. Hope this helps! Enjoy your party.

Night weddings = more formal. We recommend you keep things classy and opt for a black and white ensemble. You can read more about what to wear to a wedding here.

We think this is a very professional-sounding outfit, Fabian. Although, in full disclosure, a black suit isn’t our first recommendation for a job interview suit. But if that’s all you’ve got, that’s all you’ve got. Wear it with confidence and you’ll look powerful. Anyways, if you get the job, then you can splurge on your next suit 😉

If you go back to Black Suit Rule #1, you’ll see that men with darker complexion/skin can pull off low or high contrast colors. It’s up to you. A classic, high contrast combination is black and white. Black suit, white shirt, black tie. That look will stand out more than a look with subdued, low contrast colors (like gray) so it depends about how hard you want to throw your sartorial punch for this wedding.

Keep it classy, Chris. Black and white is a classic, formal color combination for special events. That being said, opt for a white dress shirt. If you want to match your wife, you could wear a subtle, silver tie in a muted tone. On the flip side, you can continue with the black and white theme and knot up your best black tie.

A black suit is a tough one to wear to the races where folks tend get decked out in bright colors. If it’s the only option, perhaps only use the pants at the races and pair them with a sharp white polo shirt and black loafers for a laid back look.

Keep it simple, Mark. Stick with a black or dark gray tie on a white shirt. All black would be going against our recommendation in Section 5 above. Plus it would be inappropriate for a job interview unless it’s a goth office.

Keep the attention on you, not your outfit, and you go ace that interview.

As you can see in all of the photos on the left side of this page, a black tie works well. Keeping it simple when you’re wearing a black suit is the way to go.

That’s a lot to chew on, Stephanie. Probably more than we should try to handle here in the comments section. So, we encourage you to speak with one of our stylists by emailing us at concierge@blacklapel.com. We can help you figure out the best look for all the men in the wedding party.

Ah if it were only that easy, Bill. Sadly, we can’t give you a blanket answer. The idea of matching yourself to your clothes is all based on contrast. You feature more than one color. You may be dark skinned, but your hair has another color than your skin. Your eyes have yet another color, as do your lips. If these differences are subtle, you have a low contrast appearance.

Apply the same logic to your clothes. You don’t just wear a black suit or a gray suit and nothing else (at least we hope you don’t). How much contrast should there be between your shirt and your suit, your tie and your suit, your pocket square and your suit? If you’ve got a low contrast look, you want a keep the contrast in your outfit from being too strong and overpowering you.

If you’re a lower contrast guy a lower contrast outfit like a blue shirt and a gray suit will work for you. If you’re a higher contrast guy, a higher contrast outfit like a white shirt and black gray suit will work better for you but the only way to figure this out is to look in the mirror.

Nope. Black shirts are strictly for casual wear. We never recommend them for anywhere you should be wearing a tie and we don’t recommend wearing them with ties.

Swap that shirt out for a white shirt and you’ve got yourself a stylish and minimalist outfit that’s perfectly appropriate.

That’s a no-go from us, Khan. You’re contrasting in all the wrong places here. If anything, a black blazer with a white shirt and blue tie would look better. Still, as we illustrated above, keep your accessories simple and remember that a white dress shirt is your best friend (especially when wearing a black suit/blazer).

Your options are limited here, Prakhar. A black suit really only looks best with the most simple accessories, as we illustrated above. A good option is our Black Silk Knit Tie, a classic color with the texture of a modern tie.

Black suits serious and formal by nature. Making one look more casual is not easy but it can be done. Step one, lose the tie. Step two, wear it with a dark shirt which is, by nature, more casual.

Resist the urge to add a “festive” color. When it comes to black suits, people who try to make them look festive often make them look clownish. Keep the look simplified and monochromatic (all blacks and grays) and don’t go overboard on the black (see #5 above), remember less is more, and you’ll be home free.

Sorry to break it to you, Tyler, but if you don’t want to dress in black and white, a black suit is probably not for you. As we highlighted above, black can be extremely difficult to wear with strong colors because the contrast can be quite jarring.

So we suggest that if you’re dead set against a white shirt, steer clear of strong colors and go with either a gray dress shirt or a pale blue dress shirt. Then a simple black tie is the smart choice.

Congrats on the wedding. Knowing that you chose plum as the main color, is it necessary to wear that color in shirt form? A plum shirt is a going to create a very dark, heavy look. When’s the wedding? For example, a lot of times you’ll see a full plum/maroon suit paired with a white shirt and black tie. This is a clean, crisp and slightly fashion-forward look, but excellent for a late fall/winter wedding.

Another way to incorporate plum into your look is with a plum tie, pocket square, and/or socks! All of these would pair well with a classic black wedding tux.

Ah, a summer wedding in the English countryside. Sounds picture-perfect. Not to burst that bubble, but a black suit doesn’t give you that many color options for your shirt and tie. Definitely keep things simple with a white dress shirt, but the tie choice is a little more complicated. You won’t want to wear any bold, bright colored ties because that’ll create too much contrast for your hair and skin coloring. We recommend very light, muted colors like pale blue or green. These are light enough to work with a black suit and also summer-appropriate.

Best wishes from NYC!

We’ll refer you to #5 above, Rieder. The whole black shirt, black tie, black suit thing is a little played (exhibit A). Your older, wiser friends are correct. Wear the white shirt, not just because it’ll avoid looking like Regis hosting an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, but because it’s formal enough to wear to your prom. Black shirts are, by nature, casual and should be worn without a tie. At your prom, keep it classy, go with a crisp white shirt.

As we mentioned in #3 above, keeping the accessories subdued is the name of the game. The reason is that strong saturated colors can be jarring when set against a black suit. Pink, being so light, is likely to create a strong contrast that will overpower the outfit.

If there will be pink boutonnieres for the men in the wedding party, the rest of the outfit can be monochrome anyway, so we’d suggest sticking with white pocket squares for a classic and classy look.

Glad we can help with the big day, Matthew.

The outfits sound sharp and your idea about wearing a different tie is a smart one. We wouldn’t recommend dark blue with black. The combination on the tie bars article worked because it was a charcoal gray suit. Gray and dark blue complement each other much better than black and dark blue.

Instead, we’d suggest going with a light gray tie with black dots, like this one from Bruno Piatelli. This works well with your monochromatic outfit and will set you apart from the groomsmen. Yes, a dotted tie is considered slightly more casual than a solid tie, but it’s also more distinguishing and more festive, which is fitting for the groom. We say go for it.

Maybe, if the event is Very Little Contrast Night.

We kid, but like all jokes it’s rooted in a truth. A black suit and a dark blue tie is a weak combination because the suit and tie are an almost match. We suggest pumping up the contrast a little with a not so dark tie in gray or blue.

Before we get to shirts and ties, let’s talk about this brown shoes and black suit thing. We encourage you to reconsider. As the first line of section four says “Wearing a black suit means wearing black shoes.” That’s a rule we very rarely break and when we do, it’s only with oxblood shoes, never brown.

As for a shirt and tie, we like keeping things monochromatic (as in black, white and shades of gray). A white shirt and a solid gray tie is a forceful minimalist look. You can, of course, add patterns, if you like. How? That’s more than we can answer in a comment reply but we wrote a whole article about how to mix patterns with confidence for just this ocassion! Go forth and conquer, Dante.

If you’re going to a red carpet event, the closer you can get to a tuxedo the better. Therefore, wear your finest white dress shirt (one like this) and a solid black neck tie. This simple look will come off 10 times better than any audacious attempts to stand out. When the fit is flawless there’s no need for pyrotechnics.

As we mentioned in the first section, Sam, black suits present challenges for certain guys. With fair skin, blond hair and blue eyes it sounds like you fit the profile of “certain guys” precisely. Since you don’t have a choice about the suit, though, there is a way to pull the look off. Here’s how:

• Yes, ditch the shirt. Red and black is a devilishly difficult combination to pull off and most guys don’t do it well. Stick with a classic dress shirt.
• Often we would say swap the red for a white or light gray shirt to give the whole look a cohesive monochrome vibe. But in your case, that harsh contrast between black and white will only draw attention down from your face to your clothes and away from what they should be focusing on, you.
• Since you have blue eyes, reinforce them with a blue shirt in a similar or slightly lighter shade than your eyes.
• Finish off the look with a tie that incorporates the blue of the shirt and your eyes as well as some black or dark gray like this one and a pocket square that also includes blue and hints of black like this one.

Follow this plan and to bring out the best of your black suit.

We get variations on this question from a lot of grown men who are trying to play the match game with their dates at events. We always respond by stating “you’re a man not an accessory.” The reason we say this is not just because we believe men shouldn’t be dressed by their dates like so many toy poodles that get carried in purses, but because it leads to poor such poor choices. We firmly believe in dressing from the inside out and that means wearing the color combinations that accentuate your best features, not your date’s. We usually follow that up by reminding men that their date won’t be upset if he doesn’t look all matchy-matchy with her but looks incredibly good.

Of course, that’s all advice we give grown men and it’s a lot for you to pass along to your impressionable young son, Maria. But what is prom but another step towards manhood? And we say young men should start off on the right foot and learn to dress themselves well. How to do that with this outfit? Simple: keep it simple. A solid white shirt and a solid black tie is the most formal look you can wear with a black suit and looks great on anybody with medium to high contrast between their skin and hair. If he’s got less contrast between his skin and hair, still keep it simple, just lighten the tie to a gray to help bridge the gap between the black of the suit and the white of the shirt.

The beauty of these simple combos…they’re neutral so he won’t get any complaints from his date about clashing with her dress.

A black suit can be pretty intense. Black, with it’s super-formal and dour connotations can come across a little strong. So first off, we’ll say consider going with a still dark charcoal gray or navy blue suit instead. If those are not an option, don’t fret. Just keep things simple, like we suggested above with a white shirt and a dark, muted tie in a color like maroon or dark gray. Against black saturated colors tend to create stark contrasts that can easily overpower a light haired, fair skinned guy’s face. So stick with dark and somber accessories and you’ll be all set.

With most outfits which pieces you combine are simply a matter of preference and style, but with a tuxedo the choices are all made for you. Black tie has a specific set of parts that are customary. Check out our Black Tie 101 article to see how it all comes together.

Sorry Shaffan, but as we said in section four above, black suit means black shoes. Brown shoes and a black suit is a recipe for a fashion disaster.

As for the shirt, we’ll refer you back to section three above. White shirts always work with a suit. A bright, saturated shirt color with a black suit can turn a look from classy to clownish in a second.

Our overall advice in the article above is the same: keep it simple.

It sounds like you’re wondering if a patterned shirt and tie would be look good with a solid suit. The answer is yes.

Black suits are unique. We prefer them with simple, shirts and accessories and so we photographed them with solids. As we said in section three above, we like the modest look of a black suit and a white shirt but that’s just our style preference. If you like a patterned shirt and tie with your black suit we won’t try to stop you from wearing it.

As we said in section three above, keep the accessories simple. A tie in black or gray is stylish, a loud tie in a bold color runs the risk of looking clownish with a black suit.

We still don’t recommend a black suit for light-skinned guys. There are so many other options out there—all different shades of blue and gray—that are going to be much more complementary to your coloring.

Hey, Dustin. If you go back to step one, you’ll notice that the guy in these photos is also fair-skinned with blue eyes, his hair is probably just a little lighter than yours. So, our point being, a black suit isn’t going to work with your coloring either (why we’ve “x-ed” his look on the right). But, his look on the left is something you should consider for yourself. A medium to light gray suit matches with a black dress and will look much better with your coloring. Check out how we’ve styled this light gray suit on a model with your similar coloring to get an idea of how it would look on you. You could even rock this suit with black shoes as another way to coordinate with your lady.

The simple black and white look seen in section #2 above is an excellent choice for prom, Mario. Our main suggestion is just what it says there: nail the fit. The simpler the outfit the more noticable a bad fit will be so make sure it’s tailored to fit you flawlessly.

Other than that we’ll offer this piece of advice: resist the urge to “jazz up” this outfit with strong colors. If you’re doing black and white, do black and white. Don’t half-step and do black and white and then add in something silly like red socks. Keep it classy and follow through, trust us, no prom goer ever complained “my date didn’t wear enough color.”

We do have one suggested change you make, but it doesn’t necessarily have to do with matching your girl’s dress. We think you should replace the black dress shirt with a white dress shirt for a more mature, classic formal look. Changing to a white dress shirt could potentially help you match better with your date if she is wearing a lighter colored dress than black.

Wearing tis shirt without a tie is a smart idea, Gökhan. Dark shirts are more casual by nature and with a black suit there’s no need for a tie. Wear this look for a summer nighttime look and you won’t miss the tie at all.

We’ll encourage you to review #1 above. Judging by your description, it sounds like a black suit is going to be working against your coloring. In fact, you’re pretty much exactly who we suggested NOT wearing a black suit. Having green eyes gives you a great opportunity to really punch up your style with color. Don’t waste that by covering 80% of yourself in black with a black suit. We recommend you choose suit colors that harmonize with your own coloring. We’d recommend navy blue or charcoal gray instead of black for you.

Of course, despite all of our urgings, not every man has a navy blue or charcoal suit. If all you’ve got is black what do we recommend? Well, you’ve got a good idea to pair your eyes to your tie. That’s usually our advice. But strong colored accessories with black suits tends to come off a little too jarring. A green tie that adds a pop of color to a gray suit and can make you come off a little tacky when presented with a black suit. Instead of betting big on a saturated color in your tie, subtly turn down the contrast on your outfit with a pale blue shirt and dark tie like this guy.

Here’s what we recommend: black suit, white dress shirt, blue tie with dark blue stripes, and the white pocket square. This is your best bet for crushing your business conference!

HUH? CAN YOU SPEAK UP? WE DIDN’T HEAR THAT. (Just kidding, Vishal, we’ve all left the Caps Lock button on from time to time.)

To answer your question: black. Brown would clash and while, on rare occasions, we’ve worn another color, like oxblood shoes, with a black suit but it’s a very difficult move to pull off.

We do love a waistcoat. In fact, we just published an article about the remixed three-piece suit (in which the waistcoat is made from a different fabric than the suit). There you’ll see a black suit done in a novel way, with a deep, dark red knit tie and maroon accents throughout the outfit.

That being said, we don’t recommend a black suit with brighter red accessories. Strong, saturated colors can be jarring set against black. Gray, on the other hand, provides a neutral canvas that’s perfect for brighter bolder colors.

It sounds like you’re having trouble distinguishing between what constitutes a black suit for a black tie look (aka a tuxedo). If you’re wearing a suit, the above advice all applies, but it sounds like you’re putting together a black tie look. If so, there are a more rigid set of rules that you should follow. We went went through those rules in detail in our Black Tie 101 article, which we recommend you read before putting together a black tie look.

Black tie dress codes (aka when you wear a tuxedo) are a whole different thing than black suits. The above guidelines are guidelines, but when you’re wearing a tuxedo, there are more strict rules to follow. One of those rules is that you don’t wear a long tie. Another is that your shirt be white with french cuffs. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though. That’s why we devoted a whole article to Black Tie 101 and a whole story to how to break those rules. Check those out before you tux up, Shivam.

It’s only acceptable if you want to pigeonhole yourself right into the high school skater boy stereotype. We say don’t do it. Just because your lady friend is wearing a white dress doesn’t mean you have to wear a white tie. You could go with a more mature look and opt for a black tie, or add a pop of color that will match the flowers and corsage you get her (hint: don’t forget the corsage, Alexander).

You have a lot of options here, so don’t stress. One color we wouldn’t recommend though is a black because that seems too serious for a lively event such as a graduation. Since it’s spring, a light blue tie seems fitting for the season and for your skin tone. Other light, springy colors will work as well. No need to go crazy with prints and patterns. A solid tie will work just fine.

Given that you’re a young’un, you will probably be afforded some leeway on the dress code, but if you want to follow the dress code we recommended that you don’t mix and match suit separates.

You don’t need to invest in a tuxedo, but a coordinating suit is your best bet. Getting matching black dress pants for your black suit jacket is the smart move.

Stay tuned for an upcoming post on Wedding Dress Code!

Yikes! Sounds like you’re not very confident about stepping onto this particularly thin branch of the style tree. Your fears are well-founded, Tom. Navy shoes with a black suit would be a strange look to say the least.

If you were to reverse it, however, and wear black shoes with a navy blue suit, that can be pretty cool. We know the style dogma you’ve heard out there of late has been brown shoes, brown shoes and more brown shoes, but we’re falling back in love with our black shoes at Black Lapel. Are they always appropriate? No, but with a navy blue suit and a simple shirt and tie combo, they can create a rather impressive look.

Happy to help you out, Andrew.

Since you have a darker complexion, a black suit is easier to pull off than it is for a lighter skinned guy. You also have more options when it comes to shirt and tie combinations. Still, we recommend going with a toned down look, like a white shirt and solid gray tie for a seriously stylish monochromatic look. The trick to wearing black is keeping it simple.

Black tie attire (which includes tuxedos) comes with its own set of rules, Naved. We’ve covered the basics in our Black Tie 101 story. Of course, if you want to bend those rules, you can. We show you how in the Beyond Black Tie story we published a little while back. Between those two stories, you’ll find all the guidance you need to pull off a killer black tie look.

Black suits call for black shoes. Case closed. Plus, in the outfit you’re describing black shoes will also help to keep your monochrome look all together.

If you look at the last graphic we provided you with in the story, you’ll see that a black shirt isn’t your best move. The maroon tie will look good with your black suit and skin tone, but opt for much lighter shirt color. P.S., can’t go wrong with white.

A black shirt with a black suit can work, but heed our advice above about not going overboard on the black. Stop at the shirt. The only other black item in your outfit ought to be your socks, and that’s only if you wear a full black suit. (If the pants aren’t black go with socks that match your pants, not your shirt and jacket).

Not if you can avoid it, Thato. The lapel question aside, a blazer is a little informal for a funeral. We suggest a suit. Black is the funeral choice, but a charcoal blue works as well. If there’s one event you want to tone down your style for, this is it.

That said, we’ve been to some funerals for some pretty dapper guys. Knowing that they would have appreciated us adding a little bit of tasteful flair to our outfits we dropped in just the faintest touch of an accent (like a tie bar). But only do things like that if you know it won’t offend the grieving family. And don’t do anything even remotely approaching showing off.

Funny you should mention this Angel. We’ll be writing more about the fit choices athletic build guys have in the coming months.

Larger and more muscular men do have problems when trying to shop for slim-fit off-the-rack suits. That’s the beauty of clothing that’s made to your precise measurements. Because a Black Lapel slim fit is slim in proportion to you, not a mannequin, bigger guys don’t have to try to squeeze in to some designer’s vision of “slim” to get a suit that fits.

A black shirt is, by nature, less formal. We don’t recommend wearing them with ties. So, no, we wouldn’t wear this to a funeral. It’s kind of a statement look and the last place you need to be “making a statement” is at a funeral.

Save black shirt for when you want to go out and have a good time at night. For a daytime funeral, pay your respects in a simple white shirt and black suit, Jon.

Bow ties have been around too long to call them a fad. Though they can seem like a fad when a new guy comes to the office wearing bow ties and you start to see them a few times a week.

We like bow ties. (Check out the new collection we started offering from Mister Nice Tie to see some of our faves.) They’re a fun way to change things up.

Getting back to the topic of this story, the one time we don’t recommend a bow tie is when you’re wearing a black suit. It starts to look like a half-assed tuxedo. Better to go all the way and get yourself a tux, than to wear a bow tie with a black suit.

There’s something about black that keeps guys coming back to it, and perhaps overusing it. We don’t pull ours out that often but when we do, we try to get it right, by following all of these guidelines. Hence, we thought we’d share.