Black, brown, navy blue, white, grey. A lot of well-dressed men stick to this austere palette. The main reason is versatility: you can mix those five colours together with minimal risk in any season and more or less anywhere. An additional appeal of the five-colour approach – for some men – is that it is unimpeachably masculine. Call that classicism or insecurity, as you like.
My view, however, is that nature wants more from us. Outside of homo sapiens, sexual dimorphism frequently cuts the other way. From mallards to mandrills, the males wear the paint. Both male and female fireflies light up, but it is the men who loop around, flashing their iridescence. The women wait, flashing back only if sufficiently impressed.
From left: Ned wears Dior cotton sweatshirt, £1,700, cotton shirt, £990, and cotton trousers, £890. Asics mesh and synthetic leather SportStyle US7-S Gel-kinetic Fluent trainers, £185. Emily Nixon gold Madron ring, £2,800. Jackson wears Dior cotton jacket, £2,400, cotton rugby top, £990, cotton shirt (just seen), £590, cotton shorts, £890, and leather Derby shoes, £1,150. Pantherella silk socks, £28 © Rodrigo Carmuega
Jackson wears Loewe wool drawstring jacket, polyamide bib and coated cotton trousers, all POA © Rodrigo Carmuega
