Living in New York City, I have a front-row seat to some of the world’s best dressers. Looking at runways is great, but there’s no determinate of trends better than seeing what really chic people are actually wearing. For anyone I can’t see up close and personal while perched at the corner of Mercer and Prince with a Campari spritz on the red-checkered tablecloth at Fanelli Cafe and my best outfit-scanning sunglasses atop my face, an Instagram feed full of elegant sartorialists in Paris, London, Copenhagen, Milan, and more does just fine. It’s actually kind of perfect.
Right now, the chicest thing I’m seeing—both on the streets of New York and virtually in the most notable fashion cities in the world—is a shockingly easy-to-style color combination that’s seemingly taking over the fashion world: gold and black. A great black belt with a gold buckle, point-toe black pumps with gold hardware, or an all-black ensemble with gold earrings and a matching bracelet—the styling options are endless. To prove just how elegant and effortless the pairing is, I collected nine ready to be copied outfits and dropped them below. Hop to it.