How to Dress Like a WASP: Maybe Brown is Your Color

Brown may be the haughtiest of colors. It only works well when done expensively.

Brown works best when expensive. This is perhaps my only example of a Brown cotton Garment that I like. Made in England by Chrysalis. All photos by/of Muffy Aldrich.

A lot of people think Brown is not their color because they associate it with cheap Brown dyes. 

However, it would appear, sartorially speaking, that the color Brown is having a moment, being embraced as the ultimate luxury color.

Brown is having a resurgence, and presented as a luxury color. I could not be happier, and have often gone with Brown including for my luggage, as above.

This may be because almost no one would ever think that.  For many, Brown has not been thought of as a safe color. If one wants to impress, the first instinct is not to reach for Brown. 

It is my opinion that most people have bad first experiences wearing Brown and thus give up quickly on as a color for clothing.  Done well however, Brown has sophistication and depth, nuance, confidence, subtlety. It is actually one of my favorite colors.

Brown wool is safer than Brown cotton, and undyed (above), naturally Brown wool is safer still.

One rule of thumb is that the more expensive the item, the better the brown.

With one or two exceptions, I mostly stay away from cotton items in Brown and stick to wool garments.  And the best Brown comes when when the wool fibers come from actual Brown sheep, and not dyed wool.

Some Browns are a lovely Silvery Cocoa. And tattersalls go nicely with Brown.

What goes with Brown?  Not much.  It is a limiting color.