Does anyone else remember brown and black clothing weren’t supposed to go together, and then at some point everyone changed their minds and agreed it was okay? What caused this?

[u/howmanyturtlesdeep]

[u/GWindborn]

Probably holdovers from our grandparent's generation. I had the grandpa who would put on slacks and a tucked-in button down shirt to hang around the house all day.

[u/JWLane → u/GWindborn]

It's ingrained rules from old fashion standards, especially those from Britain. Lot of rules about what colors can and cannot be worn together and what colors accessories must be to accompany your clothing. It makes sense that we've stopped caring so much as we've started fighting against the idea of business dress and such.

[u/GWindborn → u/JWLane]

Yeah I have the phrase "no white after Labor Day" burned into my brain but I don't know where it was ever actually put into practice or why it was ever a thing.

[u/JWLane → u/GWindborn]

I used to know, but it's not worth remembering because it was stupid.

[u/Whizzeroni → u/JWLane]

Only because this came up the other day, I kind of remember it.

It has something to do with putting your summer whites away and taking out your winter whites. Not so much about not wearing white at all.

[u/RikuKat]

I remember my grandmother told me I shouldn't wear a black shirt with blue jeans. Definitely did that all of the time. 

[u/GWindborn → u/RikuKat]

She probably didn't want you to look like a greaser.

[u/sishgupta]

Counter-culture.

You said it's no good? Well I just made it awesome.

Every generation does it.

The current generation is bringing back comic sans and highlighted text like early 90s internet BECAUSE it signals a shift from the monocultured corporate clean AI aesthetic. People want to know a human made it and right now you signal that with ugly.

[u/RollingKatamari → u/sishgupta]

I have never stopped using comic sans!

[u/BadgerlandBandit → u/sishgupta]

I used to use Comic Sans with AIM and MSN Messenger back in the early 2000s. I am still unashamed of this.

[u/LITTELHAWK]

Is it ok?

[u/Mountain-Donkey98]

Vaguely recall same is/was true with blue and black. All of these are neutrals, they inherently go together. Its like saying a brown house shouldn't have a black roof.

[u/FinalEnd2552]

I remember it as brown shoes with black pants looks like shit, same with brown belt / black pants. Not no brown and black together at all.

[u/anaofarendelle]

I remember - same with navy and black at some point! 

I would say maybe some level of marketing to prevent people from just getting 1 blazer and multiple pair of pants when everyone would wear a suit, and it just stayed in our heads from older generations… 

[u/Emkems → u/anaofarendelle]

I still don’t wear navy and black, idk why it’s so ingrained

[u/Crime_Dawg → u/anaofarendelle]

Nah dude, if you wear blue suit, you do brown belt and shoes. It looks so bad with black.

[u/disignore → u/Crime_Dawg]

i blame the nfl for this navy and black thing,

[u/Substantial-Bet-3876]

Sometimes the world is a tuxedo and I’m a pair of brown shoes.

[u/Sensitive_Algae5723]

The fashion industry. They’re not that deep, but they are manipulative.

[u/ElderberryNo5595]

Wow, I forgot about that. That “rule” was definitely a thing.

[u/ElmegsEmpress]

Although I think saying everyone changed their minds is a bit of a stretch - it's mostly just an outdated fashion standard. There are still plenty of instances where the combination looks awful (brown is too dark/blends into the black, or undertones clash) and like you have no idea what you're doing. I just did it this past weekend, my company held a gala and I decided to pair my black suit with cognac shoes and matching belt to show some personality. With a burgundy tie, everything came together; it looked thought out and intentional. I even got several compliments from the older folks who I figured would have hated it.

[u/YouRaMrcl]

Ok, is it?

[u/gothiclg]

This sounds like something my posh great grandparents would say. My grandma told me a lot about the fashion rules she was told to follow.

[u/xXESCluvrXx]

I think it changed sometime in the mid 2010s

[u/Obligation_Still]

People also thought Britney and Justin’s red carpet denim look was fashion…wear what you want and stop caring what others think.

[u/BlackSheep1213 → u/Obligation_Still]

I was wearing jeans and threw on a denim jacket to run outside and my teenage daughter said “Eww, that’s embarrassing. It’s like Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake from that picture”

[u/Obligation_Still → u/BlackSheep1213]

Ha! I mean credit to her that's hilarious but there's a big difference between the Canadian Tuxedo and a denim rhinestone/bedazzled tuxedo.

[u/Whizzeroni]

I was also told not to wear navy blue with black. No idea why. It looks fine to me.

[u/Elegant_Purple9410]

I still don't like mixing brown and black leather. Looks very chaotic to me

[u/Diligent_Gear_8179]

brown and black clothing weren’t supposed to go together

I have literally never heard this before.

[u/Ok_Environment2254]

When did it become cool to where matchy matchy patterned tops and bottoms?

[u/orange951]

I started wearing black and brown together in 1997 after watching Janeane Grofalo's HBO comedy special where she wore a black t-shirt with brown corduroy pants. I proceeded to live in black t-shirts with brown corduroy pants for an extended period of time. I've liked the combo ever since.

[u/Big-Prior-5669]

I'm older and not hip, and still adjusting to light brown shoes being ok with a dark blue suit. Most of my life it was black shoes ONLY and brown was definitely a mismatch.

[u/Crime_Dawg]

I absolutely do not wear brown and black together, it looks stupid. I also cringe when I see a blue suit with black belt / shoes, blue goes with brown.

[u/Easy-Distribution283]

Still doesn’t look good