On Earth Tones

As it is well known around the web, TFR is a very fashion forward enterprise. From our sleek design to the measured green fonting, we take matters of style very seriously around here.

Accordingly, while reading the Sunday Styles section in The Times this weekend, which I do because I'm fashionable, I came across the following correction that blew my argyle socks off:

The Vows column last Sunday about the wedding of Evan Wolfson and Cheng He misstated the given name of Mr. Wolfson's mother. She is Joan Colter Wolfson, not Jean. The column also described the couple's suits incorrectly. They were black, not brown.

Now, I happen to be a lover of earth tones. I think they are not only sensible and appropriate for most occasions, but also dignified. So upon reading that earth tones were under attack, to the extent that being mistaken for wearing a brown suit instead of a black one was a gaffe on even par with the misspelling of the mother of a groom's name in a wedding announcement, I decided to make this a teachable moment for all of us.

I enlisted the help of Emma Frame, a designer at Calvin Klein, to help me sort through this mess. Here's what she offered on the topic of brown suiting:

My first thought about that is that brown suiting goes in and out of fashion. Depending on the current feeling about it, one can look either very on-trend or very passe in a brown suit. In short, it's a risky choice. This couple, probably doubting the validity of the brown suit, needed to broadcast that they hadn't chosen it. Black is also traditionally the much dressier color, and the only appropriate choice for a wedding. Since their names were featured in Sunday Styles, I'm sure they also needed to public to know that they were not ignorant of this sartorial standard.

There you have it. Both marriage and brown suits are risky choices.