Black and Brown
- Daniel Hakimi
- May 2, 2024
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 1
Black and brown. A forbidden combination. Why do people say these colors don't work together? They look fantastic together. Like, consistently. Here, I'll prove it.
Jonathan Daniel Pryce
As you might know by now, I enjoy debunking menswear taboos. You can jet your pockets casually, you can wear blue jeans with black loafers, you can wear linen in the fall. But one of the more prevalent myths in menswear has to be that you just can't wear black and brown together. Not only do I think you can do that, I think they're really a downright fantastic combination. Contrasting the two directly, in almost any shade of brown, consistently gets me going. So wear white after labor day and let loose, it's time for some good, simple color inspo.
I'm going to organize this as a slow awakening, peeling back the layers of the taboo one by one:
First, that you can't wear black and brown together at all. You can and should. They look fantastic together. You'll see knits abound, lulling you into a sense of comfort.
Second, that you can't wear black shoes and brown pants, or vice versa. London can learn a thing or two, and I've found some fussy old men to teach them.
And third, that you can't wear black and brown together while you're in tailoring, or in traditional tailoring, or in formal tailoring. You will, by the time I'm done with you.
Warning: There might be some incredibly dark browns here that just look like blacks to me. I don't think those cases really detract from the article, though. Browns will mostly be dark, but cover a range that includes rust and "light browns" or dark tans.
The Base Matter
Daniel Simmons mixes black and brown quite often.
Naomi Elizée, Editor at Vogue
I love @nago_726's wide, slouchy silhouettes. Okay, some of his fits might seem... repetitive, but the guy just has consistent style, it's fine.
A Wythe belt styled by No Man Walks Alone
A horsehide jacket from Buco
Some outfits from Studio Nicholson
Simon Crompton of Permanent Style.
Aaron Hu
Ethan M. Wong loves black and brown, but you'll see a lot more of that further down.
r_bak_ and adamdraps in Saint Laurent. Black skinny jeans and sleek tan suede boots are a staple combination of SLP style, and darker browns play in nicely as well.
Story MFG
Margaret Howell
South2West8
Dave1 of Chromeo
Toshihiro Yasutake and his family, coordinating.
Here, I wore black cords and brown suede loafers with a brown sweater from Uniqlo. Soft textures all around.
George Costanza in Goretex
Shoes, surely
So you've already seen some cases of brown pants with black shoes and vice-versa above. But let's keep going. Some photos focused on the footwear, and even some cases of two-tone footwear that just looks great.
New Balance x JJJJound 990v3
Madeline Harper Fass, another editor at Vogue.
Simon Crompton of Permanent Style
The Only Proper Way
I like a broad spectrum of tailoring, from casual to straight up formal, and there's no place I've found where brown and black look bad together.
That said, you'll see some patterns. I notice, in particular, a lot of knits—turtlenecks, in particular.
I'll also note that I just don't see a lot of black suits out there. You'll see odd black trousers, but I don't have any relevant inspo with brown suits. I'm sure a brown suit and black knit would work beautifully together, though, try it out and let me know how it goes!
Simon Crompton of Permanent Style
Brioni
John Greenacre Robinson has beenrocking a lot of black lately. He can even make black dress shirts look good consistently.
From the Noah SS22 Lookbook
@hsinhan_seatheworld popping the collar is a little much for me, but the color breakdown is cool.
Marc Jacobs in a bespoke suit by Huntsman
Thomas, in a fashion take with a brown jacket and black trousers.
Saman Amel
Philip Gregard in a Scott Fraser Collection suit
Kenji Cheung of Bryceland's
My brown DB with a black tee and black chelseas. Partially inspired by Saman Amel above.
more on the topic.
Simon Crompton's Cold Colour Capsule. See also "What shoes should I wear with brown trousers?" If you are too stuffy to accept Simon Crompton's color combos, you might want to examine your perspective.
What's On with Mark Cho of The Armoury, talking us through his brown suit, black tie, black loafer combo.
Chocolate Eclair: Dark Brown Linen in Tailoring. Note, particularly, The Anthology's take with black buttons right on the brown suit.
“Edgy” Menswear and Wearing Black by Ethan M. Wong
Jonathan Daniel Pryce, again. Damn, I love this photo.
Daniel Hakimi
Black and Brown
There are a lot of old rules that wormed their way into menswear in funny little ways. The separation between black and brown is a famous one; black was for London, and brown for the English countryside. But those distinctions are less and less relevant to life in 2024. As it turns out, black and brown look great together.
