# If you wear that, I'll disown you. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 8, 2009, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437 "2009-12-08T13:09:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/81 "2009-12-10T20:11:25Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > Are there people would find a shirt like that and then buy it in multiple colors? If so, then yetch, I definitely didn’t mean to argue in favor of that. Yes. I’m one of them. If I find something I like that fits I buy it in every color I think I will wear. If any of my coworkers are colorblind, he/she probabaly thinks I never change my clothes. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/82 "2009-12-10T21:01:47Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > It looks more business than formal. Do satin lapels help? > **[Bridesmaid Dresses, Accessories and Formal Wear](https://dessy.com/mens-formal-wear/)** > > Bridesmaid dresses and formal gowns; plus perfectly color-matched accessories including men's ties. View the collection, locate a retailer. Or a bride? [http://www.jimsformalwear.com/images/product/282\_parisian\_alt1\_lrg.jpg](http://www.jimsformalwear.com/images/product/282_parisian_alt1_lrg.jpg) Heh. ["Help! My man won’t marry in brown!](http://wedsmack.favorideas.com/trends/help-my-man-wont-marry-in-brown/) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/83 "2009-12-10T21:20:57Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Do satin lapels help? Yes, a bit. I think that the ascot looks a little too much like a neck tie, so that doesn’t help much. I had an ascot for the first tux I ever wore, but it helped that the suit was white and the coat had tails. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/84 "2009-12-10T21:48:28Z")
> [@melodyharmonius](#): > > I’m talking about self-imposed uniforms. He literally wore the same shirt, just in a selection of colors, and the same cut of jeans with the same style of sneakers EVERY DAY. Sounds like Jerry Seinfeld. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/85 "2009-12-10T22:10:12Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Do satin lapels help? > [Wedding Suits, Tuxedos & Formal Accessories by After Six](http://www.aftersix.com/s/i/p/variation_pic_485.jpg) > > Or a bride? > [http://www.jimsformalwear.com/images/product/282\_parisian\_alt1\_lrg.jpg](http://www.jimsformalwear.com/images/product/282_parisian_alt1_lrg.jpg) > > Heh. ["Help! My man won’t marry in brown!](http://wedsmack.favorideas.com/trends/help-my-man-wont-marry-in-brown/) [QUOTE=Gigi’s wedding site] - “Brown isn’t a formal color.” Time was, you’d wear brown for daytime and maybe church, but it was all black for weddings and funerals, and if you showed up in the dreaded brown, people’d know you got no class or learnin’. Of course, time was, you jostled up against 40 other kids in a one-room schoolhouse, poured molasses on your pancakes, and strapped a saddle to the family pig for fun. [/QUOTE] The thing is, brown _isn’t_ a formal color. It’s not even formal enough for work, let alone a black tie social event. Obviously most businesses don’t even require suits at all anymore, but if they are required or are required on special occasions brown is still inappropriate most times. And that’s in an informal business setting. Wearing brown to a nice black tie event is even worse. I don’t _really_ care if someone wants to wear brown to an evening semi-formal or formal event. I don’t even care if some groom wants to wear one to his wedding. But I’d be really peeved if my fiance ignored my objections to wearing a casual brown dinner suit to my own wedding because she wanted me to match her bride’s maids. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/86 "2009-12-10T22:45:34Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > The thing is, brown _isn’t_ a formal color. It’s not even formal enough for work ::boggle I guess it depends on your work. It was good enough for the President. > **[Roth CPA – Behind the Casino Biz](https://www.rothcpa.com/)** > > Behind the Casino Biz I can’t believe I invoked Reagan. I couldn’t stand that guy. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/87 "2009-12-10T23:00:45Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > ::boggle I guess it depends on your work. > > It was good enough for the President. > > [http://www.rothcpa.com/archives/misc/1986.jpg](http://www.rothcpa.com/archives/misc/1986.jpg) > > I can’t believe I invoked Reagan. I couldn’t stand that guy. :smack: Oh well if _Reagan_ did it! On the one hand I don’t mean to be so heavy handed about it but on the other hand I really do think it looks atrocious. The thing is, a brown suit is too casual to wear for most businesses, especially finance or law. On the other side of things, a black suit is too formal to wear for most businesses. They’re just not even close to being appropriate! There’s an entire world of blue and gray in between them in formality. Men’s formal wear should be midnight blue or black, unless you’re going with a white dinner jacket for summer or a tropical locale. If you were going to dress it down, which strikes me as crazy anyway, it should be navy or gray. If you want to go totally crazy then lavender or red or peach or raspberry makes sense. Brown seems as inappropriate as lavender but without the fun. Blegh. Just blegh. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/88 "2009-12-11T16:27:37Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > Men’s formal wear should be midnight blue or black, unless you’re going with a white dinner jacket for summer or a tropical locale. Or a gray morning suit but that is wedding-only. I guess I had a knee-jerk about brown because my father’s only suit for many years was a gorgeous brown verysubtlecheck which only came out on the formalest of occasions so I have a soft spot for it. You’re certainly spot on about more formal occupations; he had only clawed his way to middle management at IBM. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/89 "2009-12-11T17:01:57Z")
IBM let him wear brown? They didn’t force him to wear The Uniform? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/90 "2009-12-11T19:09:27Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > IBM let him wear brown? They didn’t force him to wear The Uniform? He was a technical editor, ahem, “Information Developer”, so wasn’t seen by the public like the salesmen. He wore a rather more spirited set of shirts and ties from the late 60s/early 70s throughout his career, into the 90s. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/91 "2009-12-13T21:10:45Z")
Good news! Get yer dickies [here!](http://www.collarsanddickiesbysarah.com/) They even have thermal and police dickies! I’ll take the large size dickie, please!😃 ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/92 "2009-12-13T21:57:28Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > He tried it on and did the New Outfit parade before me, and I smiled, nicely, and made comment on what a bargain he had snagged… **.and that he was forbidden from ever wearing it out in public in my company**. When The Kid came into the room and burst into hysterical laughter at the sight, I think he realised the gravity of his sin. 😃 > > What fashion faux-paxes do you, your SO or friends commit that mortify you and assault the senses? Before the kid walked in I had a smoking hot sex scene all worked out between you two that involved the safari theme and some wicked role play involving you being threatened by a wild rhinoceros, but now with the kid in the room… well… it’s back to a beige life. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/93 "2009-12-13T22:55:57Z")
**Kambuckta** , is [this your husband?](http://static.stuff.co.nz/1236038659/445/1991445.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/94 "2009-12-13T23:52:02Z")
I have a mint green leisure suit, ca. 1977. Would the fashion police arrest me for wearing it? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/95 "2009-12-14T00:13:00Z")
FYI, in case you have been living under a rock, REally Fugly Xmas Sweaters are now uber cool. Every other person that comes in to work is looking for a RFCS to wear for a party. It is the kind of tackiness I can approve of because it is awful and fantastic all in one felled swoop! ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/96 "2009-12-14T00:44:42Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > I have a mint green leisure suit, ca. 1977. > Would the fashion police arrest me for wearing it? 😃 Arrested? No. For that, they get to shoot on sight. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/97 "2009-12-14T13:42:02Z")
> [@Surly\_Chick](#): > > Good news! Get yer dickies [here!](http://www.collarsanddickiesbysarah.com/) They even have thermal and police dickies! I’ll take the large size dickie, please!😃 aaack! I forbid you to show this to my mom. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/98 "2009-12-14T13:46:27Z")
I cannot ever imagine ever working for the Dickie store and telling my friends and strangers that I make Dickies for a living. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/99 "2009-12-14T14:25:09Z")
> [@Surly\_Chick](#): > > Good news! Get yer dickies [here!](http://www.collarsanddickiesbysarah.com/) They even have thermal and police dickies! I’ll take the large size dickie, please!😃 Can I get a price check on the extra-large dickie?! ---
**Author:** ![melodyharmonius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/melodyharmonius/32/21310_2.png) [@melodyharmonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melodyharmonius)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437/100 "2009-12-14T14:33:28Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Can I get a price check on the extra-large dickie?! _runs screaming from the thread, finds a corner, drops to the fetal position, and starts rocking back and forth, hands over her ears_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-wear-that-ill-disown-you/520437.md?page=6)