Gray and chocolate brown is the grown-up way to skip black this fall. These five outfits put gray cashmere, wool, organza and cotton with brown suede, leather and satin. Treat brown the way you would treat black and let gray take the knits.
Gray and Chocolate Brown Outfits to Try This Fall
Between about 1909 and 1912, Picasso and Braque painted almost nothing but brown and gray. As one art history guide puts it, the archetypal Analytical Cubist paintings are virtually monochromatic, painted in muted browns or warm greys, because color would have distracted from all those broken-up shapes. I find that a very reassuring dressing rule: if two of the most radical painters of the century were happy with gray and brown, so am I.
Gray and chocolate brown is the grown-up way to skip black. Brown is warm and gray is cool, so together they look calm without looking flat, and the whole thing reads like a very good tweed. It also means wearing suede and cashmere at the same time, which is my favorite part of fall.
A quick test: put a gray sweater next to your darkest brown bag. If the gray looks soft rather than cold, you have found the right gray.
Brown Suede and a Gray Herringbone Scarf
JW Anderson's Loafer bag is brown suede with a slot across the front like the strap on a penny loafer, which is a good joke if you like shoes as much as I do. Tod's tote is chocolate suede too, soft and roomy with a little leather tag. Gabriela Hearst's scarf is the gray: silk and cashmere woven in a fine herringbone, the pattern of an old tweed coat. Brunello Cucinelli's boots are tall dark brown leather biker boots with a harness at the ankle, and they make the scarf look less polite.
A Gray Sweater, Brown Suede Jeans
Lisa Yang's Karine sweater is gray cashmere, cropped and slightly boxy, and B Sides' Charlot jeans are cut like denim but made of chocolate suede, wide in the leg with a little split at the hem. That pairing is the whole edit in two pieces. Paris Texas' Vera boots are brown suede on a thin heel with a croc-effect toe cap, and Fane's Loge bag is a small, plain chocolate leather shoulder bag. How to wear it: tuck the front of the sweater in so the waistband shows.
A Brown Cable Knit, a Gray Organza Skirt
Nili Lotan's Jori sweater is a chunky dark brown cable knit with a zip collar, and Ruohan's Cocoon skirt is dark gray silk organza, sheer and long, so you get a fisherman's sweater with something that floats. That contrast of textures is why it works. A.Emery's Easton boots are brown suede with a square toe and a short shaft, and DeMellier's Brooklyn bag is chocolate suede with a little gold bar at the top. What I would skip: a gray boot here. Brown at the feet anchors the organza.
The Gray Wool Dress Under Brown Leather
Bottega Veneta's knee-length dress is light gray wool, long-sleeved and fitted, very clean and a little 1960s. Christopher Esber's leather jacket goes over it in dark brown, boxy and slightly cropped with big chest pockets, and it makes the dress look much less serious. Legres' Chelsea boots are dark brown suede, and Tory Burch's Romy Bauletto is a curved brown suede bag with a leather tie. This is the outfit I would wear to a dinner where I did not know anyone.
A Gray Coat, a Brown Satin Shirt
God's True Cashmere's Silver Runestone coat is pale gray cotton with a collar and epaulettes, and Ossou's Arroyo shirt underneath is brown crinkled satin that knots at the waist. Guest in Residence's barrel-leg pants are charcoal brushed wool and cashmere, soft like a sweater, and The Row's June mules are flat brown suede with a pointed toe. It is the most relaxed outfit here, and probably the one I would wear most.
Wear Brown Like It Is Black
The easiest way into gray and brown is to treat chocolate brown the way you would treat black: shoes, bags, a leather jacket. Then let gray take the knits and the tailoring. Mix textures, suede with cashmere and leather with organza, so the outfit has depth even though the colors are quiet. My first move would be a gray sweater with brown suede shoes, nothing more complicated than that.
