Yes, real men should wear pink

Gentlemen, I hope you’ve had your Weetabix, because your very masculinity is under attack. The latest threat? Pink jumpers. “Are you kidding me?? Men, would you wear this $168 sweater?” the American right-wing social media commentator Juanita Broaddrick asked on X last week.

Cue mass right-wing hysteria: her post has 3,300 replies, mostly from those not content just with their trad wives and now in need of a trad wardrobe too. Lots of sexism, lots of homophobia, claims of the “feminisation of men”, and the declaration “my husband wouldn’t use a pink bathroom towel. Seriously, he wouldn’t.” Is he OK?

I should clarify that the consensus in the Times office labels that particular J.Crew jumper with a Fair Isle yoke (£154 in the UK and listed as a bestseller on the website) as a bit ugly, though not a threat to men or humanity. But pink itself?

In the 18th century men wore pink to show their wealth and status; it was the colour for little boys before it was the colour for little girls. But it’s somehow frightening if your gender identity is so fragile that it’s hanging by a pink thread.

But not to everyone. Brave enough were two James Bonds, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, who have worn it on the red carpet. Idris Elba wore a pink suit with a red bow tie in a Gucci watch campaign. The Aquaman Jason Momoa put on a pink suit at the Venice Film Festival in September (the suit looked great; Birkenstocks on the red carpet less so).

Brad Pitt wore a double-breasted pink suit while promoting his film F1 this year. And Ryan Gosling has famously championed it on screen, on stage and on the red carpet, while promoting the film Barbie, in which he was Ken.

The question isn’t whether real men wear pink, it’s whether men are really threatened by it. Should you? If you like. You can, certainly; here are some style tips if you’re not sure how.

Pick your shade

I’ve never had my personal colour analysis “done”, as was popular in the 1980s and 1990s, but it’s a reviving trend on social media, as the younger generation discover whether they’re a “muted spring” or a “true autumn” based on their skin, hair and eye colours.

• Read more fashion advice and style inspiration from our experts

You don’t need expert analysis to know that not every shade of every colour will suit you, however. Try on a few pinks to find one that suits, and consider what you’ll pair it with in your existing wardrobe: if you usually wear only muted colours, then you might not love highlighter pink.

Plan your palette

As a starting point, paler or dusky pinks can act as neutrals, depending on what colours you pair them with — like the crisp pale pink shirt that one of my colleagues is wearing underneath a flecked mid-brown jacket today. Adding burgundy or darker browns would be tonally harmonious too. Don’t just chuck it on with anything: any bold clashing you do should be intentional, not accidental.

Start small

A little goes a long way. I’m not saying approach a pink trouser suit with caution because it’s pink and “pink is for girls” — I’d say the same of any bright coloured suit: red, green, any blue that isn’t navy. Celebrities need to dress for, and stand out on, endless red carpets: if what you need is one suit that you can wear to parties, work dos, race days and funerals, then obviously a dark colour is more practical.

But the idea of dopamine dressing in bright colours to lift your mood has proved true for me, especially on early morning commutes in the winter dark. So add a pink shirt, a pink scarf (Oliver Spencer has a good wool one, £129, oliverspencer.co.uk). Or a pink jumper: the British brand &Daughter makes amazing quality knitwear: the Balla slouch V-neck, hand-linked and finished in Ireland of lambswool spun in Scotland, is a classic and comes in pale pink as well as the classic navy and grey (£395, and-daughter.com).

Mix genres

It’s a sweet colour, so more sweetness in the cut or print — a festive Fair Isle collar, say — and it’s saccharine. Some people love what I’d consider twee — if you’re not one of them, look for pink in a different context. A chore jacket is a no-frills classic workwear shape, and looks great in pink: see Carhartt’s triple-stitched, four-pocketed Walter in pale “pink fog’’ cotton-linen (£129.50, carhartt-wip.com). Sirplus’s linen blend two-pocketed jacket is another classic, unfussy shape, this time in a clay pink that’s very wearable (£236, sirplus.co.uk).

No chinos, please

Unless you’re an expert pink wearer, or just deeply cool, I wouldn’t risk it: too close to the red trouser brigade.