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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
Are you dining with a long time girlfriend or an escort?
blow-up doll, duh. 
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.
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-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?
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.
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?’
How about the lawyer in post #13?
No evidence, but: I bet this much less true outside of the Northeastern U.S. (and maybe Chicago, too).
…
Merneith … isnt Mad Men set in the 1960s?
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
Here’s James Gandolfini dressed up as moster Tony Soprano from the Sopranos: http://www.virginmedia.com/images/tv-crims-sopranos-431x300.jpg
It’s not like the Sopranos mobsters dont often wear crisp white shirts with their suits and ties. I just dont associate that look with the mob.
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).
That’s a different look I dont like. I dont 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.
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.