Black Shirts for Men

A black shirt is the one shirt built for after dark: dinners, parties, weddings and evening events. It looks just as sharp at the office with grey or beige trousers.

Fabric decides how a black shirt looks. Cotton oxford has a soft basket weave and a matte finish, smart enough for the office and easy at the weekend. Cotton sulphur shirts are sulphur-dyed, the classic way to get a deep black on cotton. Fil-a-fil weaves black with a lighter thread, so it reads as a soft charcoal up close. Cotton crepe has a gentle texture that hides small wrinkles. Bamboo-polyester and polyester stretch give with movement and need less ironing, which is good for long days and travel. Viscose and tencel prints drape softly for parties and evenings.

Slim fit (tapered at the waist, fitted through the shoulders) is 94% of the black shirts our customers buy online. Relaxed fit is straight through the body and suits printed half-sleeve shirts for the weekend. Half sleeve is about one in six of the black shirts we sell: cooler in the heat, and best worn untucked over jeans or chinos.

What to wear it with: grey, beige or khaki trousers for the office; blue or black jeans for the weekend. For evenings, black on black works, but break it with a brown belt and shoes so it doesn't look heavy. Shoes: black or brown leather, or white sneakers with jeans.