https://twitter.com/dieworkwear/status/1828969363912962168
If you had to choose, which of these two outfits look better to you? Please decide before opening this thread. https://t.co/XIfn7AwAjZ
Even if you don’t know anything about color theory, I bet you picked up on the central difference between these two outfits. Although the person behind Obama’s Twitter account posted these as two tan suits, they differ in an important dimension: temperature.
Color temperature is the idea that colors can look warmer or cooler depending on their hue. Think of the movement from candlelight (warm) to blue sky (cool). The more yellow or red you add, the warmer the color. The more grey or blue is in the undertone, the cooler it looks.
Let’s do a basic test. Here are three pairs of tan chinos. Which look cooler and warmer to you?
To me, the top pair is cool; the middle pair is neutral; the bottom pair is warm. This is because the bottom most pair has a yellow undertone.
Paying attention to color temperature can help you build better outfits. For instance, here are three sport coats and three pairs of pants. All three sport coats could be worn with the middle pair of trousers, as they are neutral in terms of temperature.
However, you could not swap the left and right jackets, as they would not go well with those pants. The warm hue of the right-most jacket needs a warmer pair of trousers (like the ones with a yellow undertone).
Here’s another example. To me, the right outfit looks better, as the jacket’s yellow undertone is successfully carried by the white (neutral) trousers. Whereas the left outfit has a warm upper half and cool bottom half. It looks bisected and less harmonious.
When shopping for casual suits, it can help to pay attention to temperature because this will determine how easy it is to pair the jacket with trousers. Obama’s cooler tan suit will be easier to team with the grey trousers that make up most men’s tailored wardrobes.
Here we see two outfits. The left is coherently warm; the right is coherently cool. If you have warmer jackets like the one on the left, you may want to look for white, cream, or warm-colored trousers.
The same is true of shoes. Here are four pairs of brown suede shoes, each differing in undertones. Sometimes a “warm” colored shoe in a cool outfit (e.g., cherry Doc Martens) can be an intentional look. Other times, you want coherence.
The final issue has to do with what flatters you. I’m not a big believer in grand theories about how certain colors look better across all people of a certain skin tone. But I do think that some colors look better on you. You just have to figure that out for yourself.
If you buy ready-made clothes, you can test this by simply trying on clothes and paying attention to dimensions such as hue, shade, and color temperature. If you buy custom clothes, you can put a swatch next to your arm.
I think both of these outfits are nice, but if I had to choose, I think Harris looks a bit better. The overly cold, grey undertones of Obama’s tan suit wash him out, whereas Harris’ warmer tan suit looks enlivening.
Although if you’re a man shopping for a tan suit, I would consider something between these two extremes. Something like this suit below can be broken into separates and still be teamed with grey trousers, while not looking overly warm or cool.
Two more things: there’s no right or wrong answer here. I’m just presenting a concept you can use to think through why you like or dislike an outfit.
Secondly, if you want to know why Obama’s tan suit was controversial, here’s a thread