What do you wear with black trousers?

[PetiteMum]

I have bought a pair for work which I adore, but all my tops look cheap with them! Probably because they are colourful and I normally go for beige or brown trousers.... Hmmmmmmm. I am stuck!

Here's the thing.

It's not that I don't care what people think, otherwise why bother thinking about clothes at all?

But I genuinely think that those of you who say "black trousers don't go with colours" are only remembering the times that you saw crappy black trousers teamed with a poor choice of coloured top.

All the times that you saw someone wearing nice black trousers with a coloured top and the person looked OK, or fine, or alright, or quite nice, you just don't remember.

Oh FFS

You can bang on about me being a snob and a ponce as much as you want, but my point is not that you should wear DC only clothes it is that if you insist on black tailored trousers (and I recommended from the off that you don't) they should be good quality, that does unfortunately almost always mean DC.

And just to clarify I used the word "tailoring" to mean suits. And I stand by my assertion that suits should never be washable. It is of course perfectly acceptable for a fitted skirt (and here I am thinking my anglomania slightly wierdy cut skirt) to be machine washed. Hopefully that has cleared up that misunderstanding because I cannot seriously believe anyone on S&B would advocate washable suits

There are hundreds of alternatives, if you will just step away from the black, that look good and don't need to be DC - these are far preferable to black nylon mix trews.

Topshop for example do decent looking grey wool mix trousers that go in the machine and don't develop that awful sheen that black do once washed. You could also wear cotton chino style peg legs or black cotton jeans - all of which can be washed and all of look great - and frankly a lot more stylish to boot.

but if you want to insist that you can carry off your nylon mix trousers with verve and panache then go for it - and remember you are 1 in a million

"You could also wear cotton chino style peg legs or black cotton jeans"

Because "cotton chino style peg legs" are not "trousers"? And if they were black they would not be "black trousers"? :o

I think you've lost here.

Your point seems to be that nothing looks good with a certain type of black trousers because they are horrible anyway and could never look good no matter what you wear with them.

btw. my gap black trousers have not a jot of nylon in them.

and believe me i looked everywhere to find them. they are cotton.

When did I say anything about nylon mix trousers??

Nope, the word nylon is never mentioned. Also, my Next suits aren't black (one grey one, one russet). You're making a lot of assumptions - and trust me Queen, if you did what I do for a living, you'd want washable too. Bizarrely (and I'm not doing this deliberately!!) I wouldn't wash a tailored skirt - the skirt is likely to shrink slightly leaving the lining exposed.

My apologies to OP - the discussion has moved away from what to wear with black trousers. To reiterate, if you get the trousers right, and the shoes, top and accessories right (for the occasion), they're a fabulous basic part of your wardrobe. And it's entirely up to you whether you wash them or dry clean them - I won't mind one bit either way.

trillian yep that is pretty much my point

And that despite what a lot of people seem to think black trousers are hard to wear. Because i) 98% on the market are crappy quality and look it and ii) if you do have a nice pair they actually don't go with a lot.

wicket I made no assumtions about your suits - for the most part I am talking generally. This thread talks about "black trousers" so most of my comments relate to the same, although really I don't care what colour a suit is it shouldn't be put in the washing machine.

I realise this is my fault re semantics but when I refer to trousers I don't mean jeans or chinos or jeggings or leggings or capri pants or combats or trackies although I accept these are all trousers. I mean those other trousers....just me then?! I'll get my coat

Good luck with your search

I have some wide legged high waisted black trousers from Oasis that work well with tight tucked in tops like this one or a breton or my [[
www.mustgetthat.com/Women/FullRange/ViewItemDetail/xmid/54645.aspx old faithful]] silk blouse
Then wool mix cigarette legs from zara which I wear with cashmere polonecks in winter or at the moment have been teaming a navy lace tee (Reiss Minna)

I love black and navy or black and blue combinations.

Wow, I never thought my humble musings would precipitate such passionate banter! Hmmmmm still haven't worn them lol! FYI they are gap crops.....

jeans or chinos or jeggings or leggings or capri pants or combats or trackies

I would generally assume that trousers are neither jeans nor tackies, but chinos? Chinos are Trousers with a captial T.

Hmmm. Have to say I'm pretty much in the black with grey / camel / black camp. And also in the Next trousers are not a great cut camp.

However, Zara do fantastic black trousers. Great length (if you're tall. If not, find a dressmaker for alterations). I've got a tailored cropped pair with a slight turn-up. Wear them with a grey short sleeved pussy cat blouse from French Connection and high black patent stilettos for work. And agree that electric blue can look good in an 80's way - fun!

Zara also good for full lenght ones too - with a thin knit white t-shirt and a tuxedo jacket. Gone from office out in that outfit by changing jewellry many a time. Always with proper heels though and not those stack heeled boots! Eek at them!
And yup, with the previous posters on the dry clean only thing.

shady you can't be "with the previous posters" on an issue if there has been a fairly serious disagreement - you have to say which side you are aligning yourself with

But I have decided that you are not real anyway, no-one really goes from day-to-night office-to-party except imaginary people in magazines for whom the day-to-night makeup articles are written :o

What, you never go out straight from the office? Well, I do! But then, I have a very glittering & glamorous career!

And I'm on the 'I buy dry clean only clothes' - sorry if I needed to actually spell that out for some and it was clear by inference....

Oh, and I can assure you I'm real - except I'm shandy, not shady!