# Clothes color matching: black and navy **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 14, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-color-matching-black-and-navy/641019 "2012-11-14T19:55:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-color-matching-black-and-navy/641019/21 "2012-11-16T21:32:24Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > And by pink, I mean fuschia. I think you mean “[fuscia](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15583987&postcount=43)”, don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-color-matching-black-and-navy/641019/22 "2012-11-16T21:36:15Z")
Oops, sorry. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-color-matching-black-and-navy/641019/23 "2012-11-16T21:36:15Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > When did they pass a law against purple for men?. [http://dyslexic-anorexic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/barney-tinky-winky.jpg](http://dyslexic-anorexic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/barney-tinky-winky.jpg) > [@Johanna](#): > > I remember in the late 1970s, when I lived in St. Louis, the only people I \*ever \*saw in purple were African-American women, and they wore purple a lot. Never found an explanation for that phenomenon, except I always thought it goes well with dark skin tones. > > Catch me up on this; so far pink and purple are the two colors forbidden to men? What’s next to go? Keep narrowing the circle and you guys’ll wind up with nothing but black or gray. Purple can have an air of preciousness. It was once the color of kings. Perhaps black women wore purple for much the same reasons that some of the most black-associated names for girls in the US include: “Precious”, “Diamond”, “Jada”, “Tiara” or “Ebony” ([Top 20 'Whitest' and 'Blackest' Names - ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2470131&page=1) ). Red, blue and green are basic enoug for men. Although, since red is loud, it is usually kept to smaller items in men. It is broadly accepted that ties can be louder than the rest. Like cufflinks and to some extent watches, they’re one of few men’s items which can be meant to attract attention with their prettiness. I’m pretty sure men will keep white, black, gray, blue, brown (not beige), medium to dark green and blue for larger items like pants, shirts, jackets and footwear\*. \*At least in most combinations. I don’t mean a white jacket with pale blue pants, a brown shirt and pale green shoes. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-color-matching-black-and-navy/641019/24 "2012-11-16T23:57:46Z")
Dorkness, Right, darkness matters a lot. I guess you might have the same problem with any very dark color paired with black or a similarly dark color. Although burgundy and navy seem to match alright [http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DJgGeUnIuiI/TVfg-zCfvGI/AAAAAAAAAD0/jQ\_f3THan58/s1600/Obama%2Bred%2Btie.jpg](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DJgGeUnIuiI/TVfg-zCfvGI/AAAAAAAAAD0/jQ_f3THan58/s1600/Obama%2Bred%2Btie.jpg) Going the other way with white and pale blue doesn’t seem to pose a similar problem: [http://rlv.zcache.com/white\_and\_pale\_blue\_damask\_design\_tee\_shirt-r06113e5d4a65496fb5c59c50d5934fc6\_f0czt\_512.jpg](http://rlv.zcache.com/white_and_pale_blue_damask_design_tee_shirt-r06113e5d4a65496fb5c59c50d5934fc6_f0czt_512.jpg) So this would be a problem limited to black/nearly black and very dark blue. It’s true that, say, in movies, when someone wants to represent nighttime while still allowing the audience to see, they add a dark blue tint. Am I the only one having a bit of trouble distinguishing between dark blue and charcoal in a suit/tie combination like this: [http://www.blacklapel.com/suits/solid-charcoal-3-piece.html](http://www.blacklapel.com/suits/solid-charcoal-3-piece.html) or are they distinct enough? Is this example ( [http://www.blacklapel.com/suits/solid-navy-blue-3-piece.html](http://www.blacklapel.com/suits/solid-navy-blue-3-piece.html)) true navy (presuming the website and monitor are faithful) and how does it come compare to the charcoal suit? Distinct enough? Sometimes looking at both, I have some difficulty telling them apart. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-color-matching-black-and-navy/641019/25 "2012-11-19T19:56:48Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Am I the only one having a bit of trouble distinguishing between dark blue and charcoal in a suit/tie combination like this: [http://www.blacklapel.com/suits/solid-charcoal-3-piece.html](http://www.blacklapel.com/suits/solid-charcoal-3-piece.html) or are they distinct enough? As the jeans example shows, it’s not just closeness in color that matters. It’s whether it appears you were trying to make a match. We are used to ties being a different color, so there’s more wiggle room. And trying to it with lighter colors doesn’t work as our eyes can more easily distinguish lighter colors. Not that the pale blue you showed is anywhere near as light as the white. Try matching it with a type of gray and see how it looks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clothes-color-matching-black-and-navy/641019.md?page=1)