Do you think colour with black is wrong ?

[Lardlizard]

?

I love Trinny ( also I am unsure if any of those photographs show her in black with a colour - I’m sure she has occasionally however) she wears interesting things and I wish we saw more of her. I think she cares about women and fashion
I think black plus anything other than a neutral or metallic looks very Office party in Sutton. It immediately screams clueless, disorganised or fearful to me

During Trinny and Susanna's heyday colleagues in my field were young aspiring and striving but relatively poor young professionals and all donned the same attire. The uniform was black trousers with an array of colourful tops. It was dire. I remember one interviewer saying he couldn't tell them apart. I think this era is where that "rule" came from.

I think black and dark blue can look punk. Black and dark green has an interesting edge. Black with the greys creams mentioned service is a little sophisticated. It's all good!

I do not like the black trousers with a bright or patterned top. It is so frumpy. Over the years I’ve worked with people who made this their work uniform paired with black ballerina flats. A more awful look was difficult to find! I wore it myself for years and remember often spotting a certain style black trousers in River Island/TopShop (early 2000s) and buying three at the same time!

I remember watching a Trinny and Susannah episode where they went to an area of London and watched the black trousers army in action at lunchtime. I think what they were trying to say was colour and colour always look better together and they said that black is not a colour in that sense. A huge part of their show was trying to make women feel more confident about themselves and stand out and enjoy wearing clothes.

Dark and dark is the best option for me. Black trousers with dark green, navy etc. I’m not a fan of black and white/cream.

What do men wear? Dh wears black trousers with a colourful shirt or occasionally a white one. Every day. No one comments, no one makes him feel bad about his lack of style.

My DH doesn’t own black trousers. He wears beige chinos and a blue or pink shirt. Or jeans and a shirt. Or navy trousers and a blue shirt for meetings. He likes blue shirts

I’m more of a dress person generally but sometimes in winter wear slim trousers in either navy, charcoal or grey
I have a variety of merino wool jumpers if warm enough, cashmere if colder - most are neutrals but I do suit colder jewel colours such as royal blue, cerise and a turquoisey green, orange also ok if in right shade
I don’t suit pastels unless cream or baby blue
I don’t like the patterned top plain bottom look either, but have a few patterned tube skirts which I wear with opaques boots and a sweater if cold

Half the men who do my job wear walking shoes made from Gortex. We don't work outside. I don't comment but I do judge. Just like I don't comment on the women who have no style, but those that are stylish regularly get told how fab their clothes are.

Yeah follow this and what do you wear with black jeans and gym leggings?! All black all the time?! Neutral can be a bit dull and draining depending on your skin tone. Wear what you like and feel good in.

I think shoes may play a part. If you have difficult feet most of the ones that fit are black as standard and then you have black boots too. Also very practical in Winter.

These go with black trousers. I look better with clear colour next to my skin. I do tend to wear navy trousers as well.

I think the black with a patterned top is dated but requires little effort

I agree that cheap, black polyester trousers teamed with a cheap acrylic, coloured top just screams frumpy and can't be bothered.

But I think fabric quality makes a huge difference. A pair of beautifully cut, black trousers in a fine wool/silk mix from Joseph teamed with a pure silk, beautifully draped blouse in a jewel colour looks a million miles away from the same ensemble bought from Asda.

I hate patterned blouses - even stripes - as much as I hate the ghastly word “top”.

It screams Next.

Yes. Often.

Black plus brights tends to cheapen the look (agree with Trinny and Susannah here!) and Black plus pastels normally looks wrong too - in my opinion! Although there are always exceptions. I love black and navy though (like others).

I have a 'camo' pattern pale pink, black and khaki camisole from Hush that I will wear with faded black jeans/black (faux) leather joggers. So that goes against my rule above about black and pastels!

Black and navy is cool.

Ooh - Molton Silver, good pics! I think the background of the dress in your first pic is navy and the trousers in the second are def burgundy. The black and yellow looks awful though.. I think!

I read this thread earlier and have been keeping an eye out around the office since then for people wearing black with colour. It's a big office so lots of outfits to observe.

It seems that it is really quite easy for black trousers with a coloured top to look dowdy. Especially if it's a coloured, patterned blouse or if it involves a waterfall cardigan. And especially if it's paired with sensible flat shoes (sorry).

Black trousers with a grey or beige/camel or muted plain colour top (like khaki or burgundy) looks much better.

Flat shoes look better with cropped (like 7/8 length) trousers.

Silky tops are less likely to look dowdy than a shirt/blouse.

On the other hand, coloured trousers (even if bright or pastel) with a black top is much less likely to look dowdy.

You can definitely, definitely tell expensive and well cut black trousers in good fabrics from cheap polyester ones. The former are easier to wear and look stylish.

All of this is just my opinion.

Evilharpy I agree with everything you wrote.

I think, and it is just my opinion, that many people wear black trousers because they create a ‘uniform’ of sorts for work which they don’t wear outside of work because the dress code in many offices is ‘smart casual’. Many people wear only jeans and having to create a smart casual uniform can be difficult because they are wearing clothes they wouldn’t normally choose to wear. They may not want to spend their budget on clothes they wouldn’t ordinarily wear esp if not meeting members of the public through work. They then get into a rut of either buying the same style repeatedly or else buying an item of clothing they like but are reluctant to wear to work. They wear that item until it’s sell by date and then transfer it to the work uniform side of their wardrobe, forgetting they stopped wearing it because they no longer enjoy wearing it for whatever reason. And of course some people, many people, are not interested in clothes and prefer to spend their free time doing something productive (instead of whiling away hours and hours online shopping when I should be taking up a sport!)

Members of the public is a silly expression really as we are all members of the public but you know what I mean hopefully?

Well quite. If I have a new shirt or something that I really like I would never think of wearing it to work. I need to look smart at work I don't need to look stylish and they don't pay me enough to shop at Joseph rather than M&S!

Exactly, it's easy to put on black trousers and why would I want to purchase expensive ones to wear to my workplace.

Usually would wear a cream blouse or long sleeve t-shirt with them usually white or grey

My black rules are:
Black with other black/army green or grey is ok.
Black to with blue jeans looks cheap and dated
Black with white top/blouse is only for waiting staff.
Black with color is bad, very noughties.
I can't with the black and navy. People say it's chic but to me it looks like a fail.

I really hate black with bright primary colours. It is OK with dark green, dark purple, dark navy, deep maroon reds, white, grey, charcoal, camel, denim.

I saw someone this morning with black trousers and a pale blue Mac - I really didn't like the combination, I just think black looks cheap with some colours. The blue would have looked great with navy or denim or white (although not in this morning's downpour) but black just ruined it.

If I have a new shirt or something that I really like I would never think of wearing it to work.

Work is my top priority with clothes! I'm there 5 days a week and see all my colleagues. If I didn't wear my clothes to work I'd never wear them! Pretty much all my clothes are chosen to be suitable for work, admittedly we are at the casual end of smart casual so I have a lot of leeway. And I don't believing in saving clothes for best, I'd far rather spend money on a silk blouse for work that I'll wear every week than a 'posh' dress (that's probably polyester) that's only worn once a year.

I'm not a fan of black with bright colours. My only exception is black skinnies with a bright green chunky knit jumper.

The only colour I do not put with black is brown.

But as per the other posters, black should not be paired with more black, nor pastels, nor white nor bright colours.

So you're pretty much not allowed to wear it with anything.

I genuinely don't get it when people declare standard things such as skinny jeans, black plus colour or knee high boots as 'dated' as per a lot of recent threads.

Things like cold shoulder tops, sequin jumpers or velvet capris I can understand but other things are staples...

Very puzzling the style board...

i have a few silk shirts in various colours (mostly purpley actually) and have just got an emerald green chunky jumper which I'm thinking about.

But yes otherwise I stick to black on black. Or grey (cashmere/teeshirts) with black.

Although I do wear white tee shirts in the summer and don't think I look like a waitress then.