Every evening, our family goes to the living room after dinner and watches an episode of a sitcom together. My wife, me, and my two eldest daughters all on the sofa. It’s lovely family time and now such a tradition that no evening feels complete without it. 

It’s been going for ages – over the years we’ve watched every episode of Friends, Doctor Who, Scrubs, Frasier, Blackadder, Parks & Recreation, Seinfeld and at least a couple more I’m forgetting. We’re currently halfway through Bob’s Burgers. 

It was this that reminded me how much I liked the way Richard dresses in Friends, and wrote about it here. Last year the same thing happened with Frasier, and I meant to write about it at the time – but forgot.

Fortunately, the outfit below I featured recently brought it back. That jacket and trousers with the dark shirt felt very Frasier to me – particularly the shirt, which he wears many dark versions of throughout the series, with and without a tie. 

Frasier – the character, not the series – is an interesting illustration of several menswear styles that I think are very relevant. I’ve explored each one in turn below, with an image each time to illustrate. 

I think it’s good to highlight things that don’t work as well, so I’ve done a shorter list of those. Often the issue is that things are little too unusual or too period. 

I won’t comment on the other characters because Frasier is the most interesting. Niles is more conventional and his interesting points are often repeated by Frasier anyway. The other characters are only occasionally relevant. 

If you want a much fuller breakdown, however, I recommend Ethan Wong’s article here, for which I am also indebted for its trawling of images. Oh, and we’re only talking about the original Frasier series by the way. The new one is nowhere near as good.

1. Brown tailoring

Throughout the seasons, Frasier wears a lot of brown, green and other earthy colours in his tailoring, as well as more sports jackets (in contrast to Niles). This means the outfits are often useful for suggesting ways to pair these earthy separates. 

Sometimes he wears them with grey trousers (top image), which would be my default (though Frasier usually uses sleeker fabrics – no flannel) but other times it’s brown on green, on beige, on taupe, even on a different brown. 

Sometimes this muddiness can go too far, as in the second image above (perhaps deliberately going to a level of caricature) but the shirt, cardigan and trousers are a really interesting combination. Also, note the taupe trousers Niles is wearing. Taupe like this is such an underrated odd trouser. 

2. Red/brown shoes

Frasier doesn’t really dress that formally, at least by the business standards of the time. This is why there is less navy and grey, but less obviously, it’s also why he can wear shoes that often contrast with his trousers. 

The rule of thumb we all know is that shoes should be darker than trousers. That’s a good starting point, it’s smarter as well as easier, but of course it’s not the end of the matter. Shoes that contrast slightly can be interesting and characterful – it’s just harder to pull off. 

Frasier does this well throughout, often pairing his trousers with shoes that are a ruddy shade of mid-brown. In the image above he’s wearing them with taupe trousers, but he wears them with trousers that are darker than the shoes as well. 

Given few of us wear ties or handkerchiefs (or indeed cardigans) in the way Frasier does, it’s all the more useful having some interest in the shoes. I did something similar with browns in this outfit, but lighter trousers would be easier and present more options. 

Wearing a belt in the same colour takes the look a step further – it makes it more noticeable. You may or may not want that. 

3. Dark shirts

Frasier’s most striking tendency is to wear dark shirts in a variety of colours – grey, green, brown, burgundy. Well not that dark, but certainly darker than the white, pink or blue we wear most of the time. 

This is not an easy thing to pull off, and looks much more striking with a tie. But if you’re interested in this I’d suggest starting with more muted and easy options (as always). So a mid-grey or a light taupe perhaps. Work through some combinations you like with your existing tailoring (probably start with brown) and only then venture into something more unusual, like the green I’m wearing in that outfit above.

There are interesting parallels here with Lucas’s article about ‘stimulating’ shirts. I think the difference reflects something about the ways we both prefer to dress – Lucas likes to play with a little more colour and pattern, whereas nothing makes me happier than sludgy colours that all play nicely. 

4. Pinstripe shirts

As discussed in the guide to shirt style, a shirt with stripes that are thin and widely spaced apart is usually called a pinstripe. Because, obviously, the pinstripes on a suit are usually a little far apart too. If the stripe is a little thicker, it’s a pencil stripe. 

Frasier and Niles wear a lot of these – it was a big thing at the time, often associated with Armani (which the brothers namecheck fairly often) but sold by many others as well. My father had a few.

I think it’s a nice option with and without a tie. Without a tie, it provides some much-needed interest; with one, it’s easier than a denser or stronger stripe, but it’s still not a plain. 

5. Collared knits with tailoring

Frasier’s casual wardrobe is a little hit and miss (it reminds me of the casual section in Dressing The Man). But one look he does consistently well is collared knits with tailored trousers. It’s instantly more relaxed, a man-at-home look. But because he retains the sharp trousers and leather shoes, it’s smart too – a good example of that casual chic thing we often talk about. 

The knits can be in different colours, and this is an area where it’s easier to wear things like burgundy and shades of green I find. I like the black above, but then I would. 

Also, Frasier clearly knows that things with a collar look better on him, as is often the case with men and particularly those not in amazing shape. So when he’s very casual, he might wear a T-shirt but there’s an overshirt too (images below). The few times he doesn’t wear a collar are when he wants to look depressed and down-and-out (a ratty old sweatshirt, poorly fitting jeans and chunky trainers).

He also does collared knits well with tailoring. 

What I don’t like

Now, in much less detail, here are the things I don’t like, and perhaps readers shouldn’t emulate. Pictures of some of them below the list.

• Long jackets. The suits are big, but the thing that really makes them stand out is how long they are. Move with the times, of course, but avoid these kinds of extremes.
• Low buttoning. This is also quite pronounced and makes the lapels longer still. As we trend in that direction, it’s good to have an example of how to go too far.
• Sloppy trouser hems. Basically, trousers that are too long as well. I can see the appeal of a nice big break at the front and clean drop at the back, but often there’s distinct puddling.
• High-buttoning cardigans. Sleeveless cardigans make Frasier look most stuffier than anything else, but they can still be nice. The high-buttoning ones look a little too unusual to me and are even less flattering.
• Mock necks. Not often seen, but he wears these as an alternative to collared knits now and again. The collars look so much better. 
• Short shorts. The image below obviously exaggerates this, but it’s rarely a flattering combination on someone of Frasier’s build – the large upper torso, with sweater vest, and the shortest shorts. Something just a little fuller and longer would make a big difference.