# Menswear: Dark dress shirts with dark suits - is it ever OK? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 12, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855 "2010-04-12T17:22:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/21 "2010-04-12T19:45:54Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > if you go to a wedding dressed like that people will wonder if you’re the family’s mortician. 😃 I must say … the people that don’t like dark-on-dark are vehement about their position. Everyone parts ways and goes on wearing what they want to wear, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/22 "2010-04-12T19:47:25Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > 😃 > > I must say … the people that don’t like dark-on-dark are vehement about their position. > > Everyone parts ways and goes on wearing what they want to wear, of course. except that people that know how to dress (or, at the very least, know how to not dress like a clown) go on thinking that someone’s a bit of a doofer. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/23 "2010-04-12T19:50:02Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > Big difference from a plain navy suit and a dark blue shirt. I thought the picture I linked in post #13 was of a black suit. If not, I agree with you about navy suit + dark blue shirt. I disagree that it’s a boring look … might be the cliche “less conserative” look, however. ---
**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:** [April 12, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/24 "2010-04-12T19:51:10Z")
Only if you want to look like a mobster. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/25 "2010-04-12T19:54:49Z")
> [@Surly\_Chick](#): > > Only if you want to look like a mobster. This response gets thrown out a lot, but I don’t think it’s persuasive. Connect the dots here … are mobsters known for dressling poorly? Is there something inherently “incorrect” about how mobsters dress? Is there a covering “mobster dress code” that all mobsters adhere to? Does “dressing like a mobster” mean anything in the real world? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/26 "2010-04-12T20:11:47Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > This response gets thrown out a lot, but I don’t think it’s persuasive. > > Connect the dots here … are mobsters known for dressling poorly? Is there something inherently “incorrect” about how mobsters dress? Is there a covering “mobster dress code” that all mobsters adhere to? Does “dressing like a mobster” mean anything in the real world? I come from a Guido neighborhood in the Bronx. (No offense meant; some of my best friends as well as some of my in-laws are Guidos.;)) Mobsters are known for dressing expensively and ostentatiously; they are not known for dressing well. Good taste and a refined sensibility are not notably among their characteristics. The look is flamboyant more than in bad taste per se. IMO it’s fine for a party or club, as long as you don’t take yourself too seriously. It would be out of place in most business offices or professional conferences. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/27 "2010-04-12T20:22:36Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I come from a Guido neighborhood in the Bronx. (No offense meant; some of my best friends as well as some of my in-laws are Guidos.;)) Mobsters are known for dressing expensively and ostentatiously; they are not known for dressing well. Good taste and a refined sensibility are not notably among their characteristics. There may be a regional/cultural thing at work here. Down here, there’s no “guido” culture or anything like that … so there’s not bad sartorial example set, as it were. And maybe the Washington-to-Boston corridor, in general, is just a more conservative place, clothing-wise, than the Gulf South. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/28 "2010-04-12T20:27:40Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > This response gets thrown out a lot, but I don’t think it’s persuasive. > > Connect the dots here … are mobsters known for dressling poorly? Is there something inherently “incorrect” about how mobsters dress? Is there a covering “mobster dress code” that all mobsters adhere to? Does “dressing like a mobster” mean anything in the real world? [Here’s](http://images.childcostumes.com/child_gangster_costume.jpg) [what](http://pfd.fleured.com/images/black%20gangster.jpg) [I](http://www.halloweenmart.com/media/core/CH00578_GANGSTER_CHILD_BOY.jpg) [imagine](http://reviews.buycostumes.com/3993/35520/photo.jpg). Of course, I know that’s not _actually_ what the original poster is talking about, but it’s the first thing that popped into my mind. Whether you think that’s “dressing poorly” is a matter of taste, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/29 "2010-04-12T20:36:14Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > or for wearing during a swank night on the town. Are you dining with a long time girlfriend or an escort? ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/30 "2010-04-12T20:37:43Z")
> [@Wilbo523](#): > > Are you dining with a long time girlfriend or an escort? blow-up doll, duh. 😉 ---
**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:** [April 12, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/31 "2010-04-12T21:08:39Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I come from a Guido neighborhood in the Bronx. (No offense meant; some of my best friends as well as some of my in-laws are Guidos.;)) Mobsters are known for dressing expensively and ostentatiously; they are not known for dressing well. Good taste and a refined sensibility are not notably among their characteristics. I agree with this, but I think **bordelond** is taking “only if you want to look like a gangster” a little too defensively. It’s not entirely an insult. It also just winds up being a very costumey look for better or worse. (although, it is for worse). My own style is very preppy and if I take it too far I wind up looking like the douchebag character in every college movie or a page from a jcrew catalog. It’s not so much bad as just no longer natural. The problem is the dark shirt and dark jacket look is costumey AND bad. You don’t want to look like you’re dressed up as somebody and you especially don’t want to look like you’re dressed up as a poorly dressed somebody. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/32 "2010-04-12T21:23:28Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > It also just winds up being a very costumey look for better or worse. (although, it is for worse). 😕 The guys in my OP are dressed “costumey”? The colors themselves are subdued. (Colbert looks a little schticky, but it’s more his mug than his suit 😃 ) EDIT: It has to start approaching the [Don Cherry](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=don%20cherry%20suits&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi)-level to look “costumey”, IMHO. Setting up a strawman here – you guys can at least agree that the pics in my OP are world’s more conservative than Cherry’s pics, right? ---
**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:** [April 12, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/33 "2010-04-12T21:32:07Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > 😕 > > The guys in my OP are dressed “costumey”? The colors themselves are subdued. > > (Colbert looks a little schticky, but it’s more his mug than his suit 😃 ) I hadn’t looked at any of your pictures. I was talking specifically about why looking like a gangster is bad. Looking like you’re trying to look like someone you’re not is a bad thing no matter how they dress and since the look is strongly associated with gangsters, it’s hard to not look like you’re dressed up as a gangster. That said, now that I’ve looked at your pictures, yes I think they all look like Sopranos characters. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/34 "2010-04-12T21:35:25Z")
Anything other than a white shirt is considered Flashy, in menswear. White shirt, black or grey suit, restrained tie - preferably in your school’s stripe, if you’re English. Anything Flashy in menswear is considered borderline poor taste. One day, you want a plum colored shirt & tie, the next you wake up to find yourself in a powder blue suit. In menswear, it’s a very short slippery slope, and slides straight to hell. Mind you, I kind of like the look. I like the way Chuck Bass dresses, too. But most men can’t pull it off. Most men should ask themselves, "What would Don Draper wear?’ ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/35 "2010-04-12T21:35:47Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > That said, now that I’ve looked at your pictures, yes I think they all look like Sopranos characters. How about the lawyer in post #13? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/36 "2010-04-12T21:39:48Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](#): > > … the look is strongly associated with gangsters … No evidence, but: I bet this much less true outside of the Northeastern U.S. (and maybe Chicago, too). … > [@](#): > > "What would Don Draper wear?’ **Merneith** … isnt _Mad Men_ set in the 1960s? ---
**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:** [April 12, 2010, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/37 "2010-04-12T21:41:00Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > EDIT: It has to start approaching the [Don Cherry](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=don%20cherry%20suits&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi)-level to look “costumey”, IMHO. Setting up a strawman here – you guys can at least agree that the pics in my OP are world’s more conservative than Cherry’s pics, right? You realize that when I say costume, I mean dressed up like a mobster right? I get that you’re talking about dark subdued colors. That’s what makes it look mobster-esque to me. Here’s Maurice Benard dressed up as mobster Sonny Corinthos from General Hospital: [http://z.about.com/d/generalhospital/1/0/x/H/-/-/sonny.jpg](http://z.about.com/d/generalhospital/1/0/x/H/-/-/sonny.jpg) Here’s James Gandolfini dressed up as moster Tony Soprano from the Sopranos: [http://www.virginmedia.com/images/tv-crims-sopranos-431x300.jpg](http://www.virginmedia.com/images/tv-crims-sopranos-431x300.jpg) It’s not like the Sopranos mobsters don`t often wear crisp white shirts with their suits and ties. I just don`t associate that look with the mob. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/38 "2010-04-12T21:42:55Z")
I don’t wear a suit often but if it’s not at a wedding with a particular dress code, I often pair a dark shirt (grey, black, blue) with a dark suit and a nice tie and it looks quite sharp. I’ve worn that combo to job interviews and been complimented on how I look. Personally I have white dress shirts. Too hard to keep clean, anything less than “spotless” looks crappy. I also happen to like darker, richer colors, they go well with my face (white dude, no tan, going bald - light shirts highlight the worst of that palette). ---
**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:** [April 12, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/39 "2010-04-12T21:48:30Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > How about the lawyer in post #13? That’s a _different_ look I don`t like. I don`t like the light tie. I don`t personally care for that shade of blue but I wouldn’t call it dark with a dark suit the way the rest of the thread seems to be about. Chris Noth wore a yellow tie like that in some Sex and the City press photo I saw once and liked but I can’t find it. ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855/40 "2010-04-12T21:48:55Z")
I think it can look good. However, the lighter-than-shirt tie isn’t attractive to me. The combo “dark suit/slightly less dark shirt/tie the same colour as the suit solid or print” can look very elegant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menswear-dark-dress-shirts-with-dark-suits-is-it-ever-ok/535855.md?page=3)