Q. What does gray count as
in terms of a color? I was wearing a shirt with thin gray stripes on white with
khaki pants, and I was unsure which ties really worked with it.
A. That
is a very good question. It shows you are aware of some of the important color
subtleties connected with being well dressed. Some shirt and tie pairings look
terrible. Others bring compliments. And since gray is one of the two most
common colors in men's wardrobes, knowing how to work with it is important.
My first answer would be that gray, being in between
white and black (or a mix thereof), does not necessarily need to be treated as
a color, because neither black nor white is actually a color. But many grays
include a hint and tint (see more below) of another color, and that can make a
tremendous difference.
For instance, a shirt with gray and white
stripes is perfect for all your gray suits. It works well with gray tweed
jackets and charcoal gray dress pants. Because it contrasts nicely with most
colors, it is the perfect foil for a necktie in any shade of red, from pink to
bright red or burgundy, and also works with ties in light-to-medium shades of
blue, green or purple. Your preferences in color can dictate your choices, as
you have very few restrictions.
The easiest and safest tie with a striped shirt
is a solid color (with no pattern). It is certainly possible to mix a striped
shirt with a patterned tie, but it requires paying attention not only to what
colors you put together but also to the type and size of the tie's pattern. To
look as if you chose the patterned tie on purpose rather than pairing it
thoughtlessly, stripes need patterns that are not too large, not too busy and not too close together.
As examples, a large all-over paisley, most
checks and all plaids are hard to do well with a stripe ... and should be
avoided. On the other hand, small designs on a plain background (such as club
ties with those little sailboat or tennis racquet designs) work very well. So
do ties with widely-spaced stripes.
I know that men often tend to think of khaki
pants as so neutral that they go with everything. But your teaming of a
gray-and-white shirt with khakis is not my favorite combination. The reason is,
as you mentioned, gray is in the black family, and khaki is actually a color in
the brown family. I am not saying that shades of brown and black can never mix
well, but doing so takes a certain degree of skill and sophistication. Why look
for difficulty?
To help explain what I meant about grays'
often having a hint of another color in them, consider a garment in slate gray.
Slate gray is a dark shade of gray with a tint of blue. It is very popular for
suits and dress trousers, but it is difficult to mix and match. When you mix it
with a blue shirt, it looks gray, but when you mix it with a gray shirt, it looks
blue. Instead of looking like a handsome contrast, the combination looks like a
near-miss mistake. Some grays have a slight cast of purple or green, and these
are even more of a problem. When buying something in the gray family --
especially an expensive suit -- be careful to select a pure gray with no
undertones of another color.
For that one man in 12 who is colorblind or if
your ability to differentiate between shades is less acute than it might be,
ask the salesman. Since so many men are colorblind it makes little sense to be
embarrassed or hide the fact from the salesman. He sees people who are
colorblind every day. Ask him to show you a gray item with no green or purple
in it. That can be helpful even if you are not colorblind.
