Rediscovering Black

Many of us grew up thinking that black was the best color in clothing. We bought the line that "every man has to own a black suit." We believed that "black goes with everything" without question. And at some point, we had to unlearn all of that. There are easy ways to wear black. Black tie; black suit at night a la Tom Ford; "goth ninja" type shit, all black flowy fits; basic black on black denim. I'm trying to break past all that. I want colors, patterns, and forbidden pairings. I want everything I was told wouldn't work. Some people make all black wardrobes work by way of unique silhouettes and details. But most of us realized that black was not what it was billed as. It's "neutral" in tone, but it creates a harsh contrast with most of your wardrobe due to its depth. We had to learn that black is a formal color. Its natural home in tailoring is in evening attire, a business suit is just not formal enough for black. We learned that it can look odd in sunlight. And we learned that…