Shades of Gray in the Debate Over Black and Brown
Dear Fashion Police: My girlfriend is always preaching that black and brown should never be worn together. But then I’ll see Gucci ad campaigns where the male models are wearing all black with brown shoes or boots. Or we’ll go to the store and I’ll point out a Prada jacket that incorporates both black and brown. She still says it’s wrong! So, is she right? And if so, does this apply to all shades of brown?
--COLOR CONFUSED
Dear Confused: If there’s one thing we hate, it’s being put in the middle of a couple’s fashion spat. But at the risk of splitting you two apart over a color combination, here we go:
Black and brown worn together don’t always constitute a fashion crime. For instance, black pants with a brown turtleneck, in every shade from sand to mocha, looks great. What your girlfriend may be reacting to are a couple of things: One, that she simply doesn’t like black and brown together, or two, that she was brought up with the notion that one should never wear brown shoes with black pants, leading her to think every brown-black pairing is wrong.
That being said, it is the prerogative of fashion designers to push the edge of the envelope and shake up our notions of what colors and styles are “right” and “wrong,” hence those Gucci ads. Does that mean that tomorrow every man on Wall Street will come to be wearing black suits and brown shoes? Doubtful. Might those ads inspire someone to try a new palette and change the way they view color? Perhaps.
Now, before you show your girlfriend this column, do the right thing: Buy her a beautiful bouquet of flowers and tell her that no matter what that Fashion Police lady says, she’s still the most beautiful, stylish girl in the world.
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Dear Fashion Police: My dilemma is that I have too many clothes, yet nothing to wear, except when I go to the gym. I get frustrated trying to coordinate my daily work wardrobe and fun clothes. I work in construction management--not hammering nails, just budgets and schedules. I’m either in the office or on a site, where I wear mostly khakis, cords and jeans with sweater sets or other types of tops. I used a personal shopper once at Macy’s who was not bad, and I am wearing some of the basic pieces I purchased, including a DKNY suit (pants, jacket & vest), white blouse, tailored herringbone pants and a couple of coordinating sweaters.
I know the styles I like for work and weekends; I just can’t seem to buy the right coordinating clothes. I’m going to try a personal shopper again, but it’s still frustrating when I look in my closet.
--NOT DRESSED UP WITH
SOMEPLACE TO GO
Dear Not: We know you speak for countless women who dread opening their closet doors each morning to face the “I don’t have anything to wear” dilemma, despite the racks of pants, dresses, skirts and tops before them. The reason so many of us go through this is simple: poor shopping habits. We see a skirt, think it’s cute, buy it. See a jacket, like the way it looks, buy it. See some pants, love that they fit, buy them. There is little, if any, regard for what we already have that goes with this new purchase. So we take it home, maybe wear it once or twice, then abandon it.
We’ve certainly been there. Let’s face it--it’s difficult to shop with your entire existing wardrobe in mind, and we can’t haul our closet with us to the store. What we can do is buy basic pieces that already go together--such as your DKNY suit--and add on to those. Let’s say you buy a black pantsuit. You can wear the suit with a white blouse, the pants with a colorful sweater, or the jacket with a black print skirt. The suit you start with should reflect your style, whether it’s classically tailored (pleated pants, notch-collar jacket) or pared-down minimalist (slim, flat-front pants, zip-front jacket). Choose a neutral color that mixes with other colors (black, gray, navy, camel) and make sure the suit isn’t so trendy that it’ll look dated next year.
When you start with one or two sets like this per season, adding complementary pieces shouldn’t be that difficult if you stay within your chosen style and color palette. If you like long, straight skirts, find ones that look good with that suit jacket. It’s OK to mix textures, just as long as they’re from the same season. In other words, we wouldn’t recommend wearing lightweight linen pants with a wool flannel jacket. Keep your suits and coordinated pieces together in your closet so you won’t have to hire a search party to find them.
Basics don’t have to be boring. You could wear a leopard-print skirt with that black jacket, or a sexy cashmere V-neck and suede stole with the black pants. As we’ve suggested before, when buying basics, buy the best quality you can afford, take good care of them, and you’ll have them a long time.
When building your weekend wardrobe, keep these same principles in mind. Start with a pair of jeans, add a fun sweater set, then mix that up: Wear the cardigan with a T-shirt, the shell with a leather jacket. If you find yourself in a rut, try a few new pieces--pants with some stretch, low-slung, flat-front twills, or some ethnic-inspired print tops.
It’s not a bad idea to try another personal shopper to get started. If you do have some “oops” items in your closet that you’d like to try to wear again, take them with you to find coordinating items. Start slowly building your wardrobe, and we’re sure that in no time you’ll be going from undressed to dressed in 30 seconds flat.
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Write to Fashion Police, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles CA 90012, fax to (213) 237-4888, or send e-mail to socalliving@latimes.com.
