When are Brown Ties Okay?

[mensimageconsultant]

You're very welcome.

The one issue that seems the most mysterious is why aren't more brown ties manufactured? It's possible that of all basic colors other than white, brown is the least common available in neckties. Early Nazis and other fascists wore brown ties, right? Maybe later tiemakers in Italy and Great Britain decided to avoid the association and that has become standard practice? If brown ties weren't hard to find in stores, they would be worn as much as green ties and orange ties at least. But the perception might be distorted for loud items are more easily remembered, i.e., brown ties get worn but viewers hardly note it. As a side note, this is about medium- and dark brown. Light brown is almost an automatic fail, whereas light-colored versions of green, orange, etc. can look good.

 

[PaisleySnail]

Good thread. I just bought a solid brown tie and I can't wait to start wearing it.

 

[Gerry Nelson]

 

[Pliny]

You're very welcome.

The one issue that seems the most mysterious is why aren't more brown ties manufactured? It's possible that of all basic colors other than white, brown is the least common available in neckties. Early Nazis and other fascists wore brown ties, right? Maybe later tiemakers in Italy and Great Britain decided to avoid the association and that has become standard practice? If brown ties weren't hard to find in stores, they would be worn as much as green ties and orange ties at least. But the perception might be distorted for loud items are more easily remembered, i.e., brown ties get worn but viewers hardly note it. As a side note, this is about medium- and dark brown. Light brown is almost an automatic fail, whereas light-colored versions of green, orange, etc. can look good.

I think u may be wrong here. As you can see, mostly black and surprisingly, blue. (You may be thinking of 'brownshirts'? but black ties with them too)










+1 on brown ties and awsmness

 

[MalfordOfLondon]

I find that brown ties can help to tone down a loud outfit:

 

[wojt]

I imagine a lot of it is that 80% of the people wearing ties are also wearing black shoes (I might be over estimating this as I live in a city where that number is at least 95%). Regardless of whether a brown tie would work with black shoes and a black belt, there definitely is the conventional wisdom of "no brown with black" that people will be basing their clothing decisions on.

this is something I thought about, in one corner you have

brown tie, belt, shoes (maybe too matchy-matchy?) on the other you have brown tie with black shoes, belt(generally not approved)

so what do you do ?

 

[mensimageconsultant]

Healthy bump there. It's very possible that an aversion (probably justified in the situation) to mixing brown with black clashes with a general dislike for heavily brown outfits, whereas people don't seem to mind wearing several blue or black items at a time, and prompts people to reject brown ties as unwearable. Actually, one could get around that by using burgundy shoes or belts instead, but many men probably don't own them.

 

[Christopher Essex]



Healthy bump there. It's very possible that an aversion (probably justified in the situation) to mixing brown with black clashes with a general dislike for heavily brown outfits, whereas people don't seem to mind wearing several blue or black items at a time, and prompts people to reject brown ties as unwearable. Actually, one could get around that by using burgundy shoes or belts instead, but many men probably don't own them.

I suspect that's the case - black shoes are much more common than brown in the general non-SF world, so anything brown would likely be seen as clashing with the black leather.

Also, many people will stay with as conservative colours as they can, because anything else requires more imagination and most people are too lazy to take the time (which is why we see so many people wearing black clothing all the time).

 

[wojt]

Healthy bump there. It's very possible that an aversion (probably justified in the situation) to mixing brown with black clashes with a general dislike for heavily brown outfits, whereas people don't seem to mind wearing several blue or black items at a time, and prompts people to reject brown ties as unwearable. Actually, one could get around that by using burgundy shoes or belts instead, but many men probably don't own them.

burgundy seems to be a good idea, I think different shades of brown could work too like belt 2 tones lighter than shoes
At least that's what I would do, since I don't have burgundy shoes ;-)

 

[mensimageconsultant]

Light brown tends to be problematic for belts or shoes, because it can draw attention to a large waist or large feet, respectively. That is, if the suit is in the darker half of the color spectrum. Most people seem to automatically avoid mixing light brown with that. [enter speculation about the suit colors most often paired with brown ties]

 

[wojt]

Maybe not light, but medium with dark brown shoes hmm ot sure it would work but I might try sometime. I think it would be better than going matchy-matchy.

 

[SirJamesWinston]

Good thread.

I dislike light brown shoes. I had a chestnut colored pair of loafers that I sold and replaced with a burgundy, which great with what I have: khaki, stone khakis, mid gray flannels, and dark brown cords. I don't think I could buy the walnut colored shoes. I have a hard time picturing a suit or odd jacket combination that would look better with light shoes than with a mid-dark brown, or burgundy.

I have a brown knit wool, a brown with white and red flower patterned Macclesfield, and brown with cream lined blue Polka dot tie. I really want a brown silk knit, and a brown (either dark brown or bitter chocolate) grenadine from KW or Sam Hober. I have brown hair and blue eyes and love the look with a blue shirt and navy suit. I would also considering breaking the white dress shirt (spread, white OCBD is an exception) with black shoes rule, with a brown tie and brown shoes. A light blue shirt would probably look better for the patterned browns, but the textured knits and grenadines would pop nicely with the white.

 

[ds11]

To update the groupthink in lieu of Manton being in hiding...

 

[AlexE]

Agree - navy suit + light blue shirt + dark brown tie are a good combo, which I would wear to pretty much any business occasion

 

[mensimageconsultant]

Not to an interview, one would think.

Also, an inflammatory but serious question: are brown ties now okay in Germany?