The Mens Black Dress Shirt: Our Definitive Style & Buying Guide (2024)

Featured | Menswear | Shirts

Lloyd Hughes

The mens black dress shirt is a unique piece of menswear that (if worn cor­rect­ly) con­veys a rugged and mas­cu­line con­fi­dence. The man in black (aka John­ny Cash) owes his per­sona to this trade­mark look. There are plen­ty of ‘faux pas’ that you could make with the black dress shirt, which we’ll try to guide you on. The eas­i­est guid­ance we can offer is — KEEP IT SIMPLE.

The Mens Black Dress Shirt: Our Definitive Style & Buying Guide (2)

Do NOT wear a black dress shirt with oth­er dark­er tones

  • DO pair a black dress shirt with dark den­im. The mens black dress shirt was meant to be worn with jeans. It is a per­fect com­bi­na­tion and one the eas­i­est and sleek­est casu­al ensem­bles. You can also go tucked or untucked. For advise on the prop­er tucked shirt length, check out ourUntucked Shirt Length Guide.

Black Bam­boo / Cot­ton blend shirt w/ Dark Den­im

  • DO wear a black dress shirt with a dark blaz­er. It is a bold, clean look that you can use as a goto for any co*ck­tail hour event. Add a match­ing black tie for an even more for­mal look.

Black Blaz­er w/ Black Dress Shirt

  • DO NOT wear a black dress shirt with any­thing white. Where­as a white dress shirt goes per­fect with a black tie / sus­penders / suit / slacks, the same can­not be said for the oppo­site. A black dress shirt with a white tie is per­fect if you’re an under­world fig­ure from the 1920s. In any oth­er era, it will just draw stares — and not the good kind.

The Mens Black Dress Shirt: Our Definitive Style & Buying Guide (5)

Do NOT wear a black dress shirt with white acces­sories

  • DO wear a black dress shirt regard­less of your skin tone / hair col­or. A com­mon, short­sight­ed belief is that those with lighter skin / hair should not wear a black dress shirt as the con­trast is too “bold”. We whole­heart­ed­ly dis­agree. The mod­el shown in many of our pho­tos is obvi­ous­ly lighter skinned and has light brown hair. We think he looks fan­tas­tic. Don’t let a fool­ish and cul­tur­al­ly igno­rant opin­ion pre­vent you from wear­ing the look that you want to wear.

Metro Black Per­for­mance Stretch Shirt w/ an Ital­ian Spread Col­lar

The Formal Mens Black Dress Shirt

Metro Black Per­for­mance Dress Shirt

Fabric / Attributes:

  • Per­for­mance Stretch Poplin Fab­ric
  • Ital­ian Spread Col­lar
  • co*ck­tail Cuffs

This is one shirt every man should own. Our per­for­mance stretch will drape you ele­gant­ly but also give you just a small amount of stretch that will not only pro­vide ease but give you more of a fit­ted look that is not usu­al­ly achiev­able with a tra­di­tion­al fab­ric. The ele­gant Ital­ian Spread col­lar pairs per­fect­ly with this shirt and looks very dap­per under a blaz­er. Addi­tion­al­ly, we paired this shirt with spe­cial­ty co*ck­tail cuffs that give the shirt a much more unique appear­ance. As with all of the shirts here, we rec­om­mend either dry clean­ing or machine wash­ing on cold and then air dry­ing. NEVER machine dry. Dry­ers rob the shirts cot­ton of mois­ture which short­en their life.

Metro Black Per­for­mance Dress Shirt

Where to Buy It:

  • Deo Ver­i­tas — Metro Black Per­for­mance Shirt ($125)

The Casual, All Purpose Mens Black Dress Shirt

Black Bam­boo / Cot­ton Blend Dress Shirt

Fabric / Attributes:

  • 50% Bam­boo / 50% Cot­ton Poplin Weave
  • Eng­lish Spread Col­lar
  • 2 But­ton Square Cuffs

Our bam­boo / cot­ton blend is a unique fab­ric like no oth­er we offer. The bam­boo weave pro­vides ben­e­fits that you’re like­ly to only find on a dry fit / ath­let­ic shirt, i.e. mois­ture wick­ing, heat dis­si­pa­tion, and wrin­kle resis­tance. Though it can be worn for­mal­ly, we pre­fer it for more casu­al set­tings. In terms of attrib­ut­es, this shirt comes with our clas­sic Eng­lish spread col­lar and 2 but­ton square cut cuffs. The oth­er ben­e­fit of this shirt is it’s dura­bil­i­ty. Bam­boo has a life cycle almost 3x that of cot­ton. As such, you can expect to wear this shirt 2–3x a week if nec­es­sary for sev­er­al years.

Black Bam­boo / Cot­ton Blend Dress Shirt

Where to Buy It:

  • Deo Ver­i­tas — Black Bam­boo / Cot­ton Blend Shirt ($120)

Check out some of our other Popular Guides…

The Men’s White Dress Shirt — A Defin­i­tive Buy­ing Guide on our Favorites

Neck­tie Knots — A Defin­i­tive Guide to Wear­ing the Prop­er Knot

Untucked vs. Tucked In — A Guide to Dress Shirt Length

The Mens Black Dress Shirt: Our Definitive Style & Buying Guide (2024)

FAQs

How to style a black dress shirt men's? ›

The Do's and Don'ts for Mens Black Dress Shirts

DO pair a black dress shirt with other black garments, i.e. a blazer, slacks, jeans, shoes, etc… As Johnny would attest, black goes great with black. An all black look is certainly bold but it can be pulled off as recent Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali can attest.

Which color tie goes well with black shirt? ›

Black shirts look best with grey, black or purple ties. Pink shirts will create a relaxed style befitting of a weekend or summer occasion. Pair this coloured shirt with deeper shades of pink, plum and purple or blue and navy ties.

What color pants to wear with a black dress shirt? ›

Well, when it comes to black dress shirts, the best color of pants that you can wear with them are black pants, white pants, gray pants, and, yes, brown pants. You also can go with blue pants, red jeans, patterned trousers and denim jeans.

Is black shirt considered formal? ›

Black is always associated with formal wear. So, this can make a jarring when worn with any outfit that is closely associated with both day or evening wear, but isn't technically formal wear. Essentially, the presence of the more formal black spoils the intended casual look of business casual or semi-formal.

What color pants to wear with black shirt men? ›

Among the black shirt outfits, the black shirt combination jeans which are either white, blue, grey, brown, olive green, maroon or even black themselves, look great on men, You can try any format like normal jeans or the ripped ones and even the rugged jeans, it all gels well, when you have black shirt.

What color jeans to wear with black shirt? ›

Q: What Color Pants To Wear With Black Shirt? A: Black pants are a classic choice to wear with a black shirt, creating a sleek and monochromatic look. You can also opt for grey, deep navy, or white pants for a stylish contrast.

Should I wear a black tie with a black dress shirt? ›

Wearing a black tie with a dark black shirt can create a monochromatic and stylish look. However, it's important to consider the occasion and the overall outfit to ensure it is appropriate and well-coordinated. No this combination doesn't look good.

How do you rock a black shirt? ›

In the case of a black shirt and blue or black men jeans, you may also wear a denim men jacket in the same colors as the jeans. Casual shoes in brown or black would look excellent with this attire. You can also pair your sneakers with this look for an easygoing, laid-back feel.

Should your tie be lighter or darker than your shirt? ›

As a general rule, the tie should be darker than the shirt but lighter than the suit. For example, if you're wearing a light blue shirt and a navy suit, a tie in a shade of blue slightly lighter than the suit would work well.

How do you style a black dress shirt? ›

As a semi-casual option, you could pair a plain black dress shirt with black dress pants for a classic look. Moving towards more formal, you should pair a black dress shirt with an all-black suit look and a sleek black tie or black bow tie. When in doubt – pair black with black!

What color jacket goes with black shirt? ›

Unquestionably, if you still want more options for 'which blazer suits on black shirt', the ideal blazer pairing would be a black shirt with Dark Magenta Colored Blazer. The perk of wearing a Men's Magenta Blazer and a black shirt is that it is a very appealing combination.

How do you style a plain black dress shirt? ›

Casual look: Pair your black shirt with blue jeans and sneakers for a classic and effortless casual look. You can also add a denim jacket or a leather jacket for extra style points. Formal look: For a more formal look, pair your black shirt with dress pants or a pencil skirt, and add a blazer or a suit jacket.

What goes well with a black dress shirt? ›

So don't be shy in pairing a black dress shirt with a black blazer, jeans, or shoes. You can't go wrong. A black dress shirt needs to be worn with dark denim. Whether tucked or untucked, dark denim goes extremely well with a black dress shirt.

What is the difference between a dress shirt and a formal shirt? ›

While a dress shirt can be considered a type of formal shirt, not all formal shirts are dress shirts. However, you normally wear dress shirts with formal attire, such as tuxedos or suits, while formal shirts have a broader range of applications, from the office to semi-formal events.

What does wearing a black shirt mean? ›

Here are some common interpretations associated with wearing black: Formality and Elegance: Black is often associated with formality and elegance. It is a classic color for formal wear, such as tuxedos and evening gowns, conveying a sense of sophistication and timelessness.

What goes well with black dress shirt? ›

Pair your black dress shirt with another black piece of clothing, such as shoes, jeans, or slacks. The first rule about black color: it works great with black. So don't be shy in pairing a black dress shirt with a black blazer, jeans, or shoes. You can't go wrong.

How do you casually style a black dress shirt? ›

Casual look: Pair your black shirt with blue jeans and sneakers for a classic and effortless casual look. You can also add a denim jacket or a leather jacket for extra style points. Formal look: For a more formal look, pair your black shirt with dress pants or a pencil skirt, and add a blazer or a suit jacket.

How do you style a formal black shirt? ›

If this is for a man and it's a casual summer event, a formal long sleeved shirt would look good with white dress pants. For a more formal event, black pants and a lighter colored sports coat would look good. If it is a very formal event, you can wear a black shirt with a tux for an modern, edgy look.

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