Bright Colored Pants – Too Loud?

This has been a subject that I’ve been mulling over for some time – whether I should get myself some solid bright colored pants – chinos or khakis in colors you usually associate with rainbows. When it comes for pants for men, I’ve been rather conservative in my school of thought. I like dark colored pants and mix and match them with a variety of colors up-top, dress shirts of different patterns and colors that draw the attention of the ladies.

I finally decided that rather than mull, I’ll just lay out the pros and cons of bright colored pants in an article of its own. So let’s go through the thought process, and hopefully we can come to a conclusion.

They Are Trending (Pro)

Maybe it is just me – but I’ve been noticing this trend of men wearing bright colored pants to be on the up, especially during the summer months. There are businesses that started out solely based around sales of bright colored pants – like Bonobos – that are doing really well today, and there’s probably a reason for that. Of course, that brings me to a con…

Bright Colored Pants Are For ‘Kids’ (Con)

Ok, not exactly kids. I’m hitting 30 and I’m considering them. However, a disproportionately large number fall into the early 20s age group – mainly college students and people in the creative line. I am sure they do not qualify for office wear – except maybe casual Fridays. This makes me wonder – what sort of vibe would I be giving out if I were to don a pair of firetruck red pants? Would it make me look younger? Would it draw the right attention? Speaking of attention leads to a major pro in my opinion…

Bright Colored Pants Ooze Confidence (Pro)

Most working men like myself are used to wearing black, navy blue, tan pants and adding style through our shirt colors. Wearing bright colored pants – bright pink for example – makes a bold statement. It is going to draw attention to you. If you do it right, it’s going to portray you as a self-assured man full of confidence. Why? Because most of the other men around you are going to be in dark pants and bright shirts, so you will stand out! However, this leads me to think that…

You May Have To Be Extra Nice (Con)

Huh? What do you mean? This may not make sense but think about it – if I’m trying to draw attention to myself, people may mistake it for over-confidence and expect a brash personality. What this means is, if I want to be able to network in bright colored pants, I need to tone down the actual confidence, smile a lot more and remain a lot more relaxed and open to ensure I do not get shunned at any gathering.

Wear Those Plain Shirts – Finally! (Pro)

The standard rule of fashion is that if you are wearing a loud piece of clothing, everything else should be toned down to pull it off well, i.e. your bright colored pants are your statement piece in the outfit. What this means is that you would be able to pair your bright colored pants with a plain white, black or blue shirt that felt too drab or muted with your dark pants before. The flip side to this is….

Limited Outfit Options (Con)

When you have a pair of bright colored pants, you would be forced to ensure everything else is plain and dark around it. This means that there are only a limited number of items you can match those pants with. Simply put, it increases your expense and does not pay itself off through constant usage (and everyone would surely notice your canary yellow pants if you wore them every other day).

Wear Colors You Never Considered (Pro)

I would love to wear a lime green shirt – but with my skin tone, it’s not an option. Lime green chinos however… that I could wear! Why? They are nowhere near my face, making their effect on my skin tone negligible! Which is to say, I can consider the colors that I normally scroll past in the shirts section when in the pants section shopping online.

 

So that is the list I came up with – the pros outweigh the cons, but I remain undecided. What do you guys think? Are there other aspects I failed to consider when discussing bright colored pants? Do let me know in the comments below!

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