The Guy's Guide to Wearing Slate
Why there's nuance to this neutral color
By Style Girlfriend | May 10 2016
Spring has sprung, flowers are in bloom, and colors are popping. Prime your closet for more color with this series of guides for spring shades. Each week SG HQ is going to break down how to wear a bright hue with easy color combinations and outfit ideas.
Catch up on how to wear bluebird blue, amber orange, lavender, army green, salmon, blood orange, sharkskin, gold, teal, khaki, merlot, red, evergreen, white, cobalt blue, mint green, orange sorbet, yellow and navy.
Slate isn’t just a lighter shade of black
It’s easy to think of grey as just a lighter shade of black—but there’s actually a lot of nuance to the color (yes, it’s a color). Take slate, for instance—a hue that might register as distinctly blah when you see it on city sidewalks—but the truth is that beneath the surface this shade boasts an equal mix of green and purple pigments.
Translation? It’s incredibly dynamic while still being neutral enough to wear with a lot of other colors, and complements warm and cool skin tones alike. Pretty great for something that seemed boring at first, right?
Because of its underlying color mix, seeking out slate items for your wardrobe can be a little tricky. A good rule of thumb? Guys with warmer tones should look for slate pieces that fall a little more toward the green end of the spectrum, while the warmer skinned among you should seek out clothing and accessories that have a little more purple going on.
How to wear slate in your wardrobe:
HOW TO WEAR
Good news! This color is super-easy to work into your wardrobe. Treat it more or less like you would any other grey – i.e., as a neutral – and then style it accordingly. We love this shade in full suits, jackets, and fitted pants, but it’s also perfect for off-duty items like worn in tees and zip-up hoodies.
At the office
Suit: Topman, $360 | Tie: The Tie Bar, $19 | Shirt: Tommy Hilfiger, $42
Shoes: Allen Edmonds, $395 | Socks: Ashi Dashi, $12 | Pocket Square: Brooks Brothers, $45
Watch: Triwa, $200 | Belt: Gap, $40 | Cologne: Hermès, $100 | Pomade: Mr. Natty, $30
WHAT TO PAIR
Whether you’re in dressed up slate or rocking a more casual vibe, this color tends to look incredible with light and pastel shades. Keep in mind that cool colors will be more complementary than warmer ones (we wouldn’t, for example, recommend you match slate with lemon).
If you’re wearing a slate suit, think about a pale mint or lavender tie. With jeans and a perfectly worn tee in this shade, you might try a teal jacket or cobalt kicks.
On the weekend
Shirt: Zara, $40 | Shorts: Bonobos, $68 | Socks: Stance, $10
Shoes: Cole Haan, $60 | Sunglasses: Ray-Ban, $175 | Pomade: Jack Black, $22
Bag: Asos, $41 | Watch: Nixon, $275 | Belt: Anderson’s, $89
WHEN TO WEAR
Because grey functions as a neutral, you can wear this color most anywhere. A word to the wise about the suit situation though: The warmer the weather, the lighter your grey suit should be. That means: we’d keep this one in the closet until next fall on that front if we were you.
TELL ME:
HOW DO YOU PUMP UP YOUR NEUTRALS?
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Wow! For a while, I thought that slate was more of a mixture of gray and blue.
As it is, I have a light slate pair of non-jeans, which I would usually wear when I want to deviate from the usual khaki bottoms. Would be interesting if I had a slate leather jacket, though. It’d be an interesting change from the usual blacks and browns.
I wore a light grey suit yesterday and realized I need to up my spring color game (it worked great but all of the patterned shirts I had were too overpowering as they were suited for dark suits and jackets).
With you on the light purples though -I need to get some more of that in my wardrobe for the spring.
Light grey suiting is the perfect way to incorporate more spring color into your wardrobe because nearly every pastel pairs beautifully. A few lightly colored gingham shirts would be great!
would an orange work with slate?
Wow, I don’t know what it is about those socks but they just grabbed my attention and I really want to get some teal socks now!
Right?! That color is a show-stopper.
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