A white tee or polo paired with black jeans looks fantastic. A white shirt with a navy suit is the classic menwear combination. A black leather jacket and a white henley, same. I cannot agree that they are too contrasting when there are so many fantastic combinations there.

Do you want to look like Dilbert?

It'll be 5 years in August.

I can't believe I have to say this, but denim looks great. 95% of people think denim looks fantastic when worn casually. Likewise, brown shoes of all stripes, and a wide variety of colored leather and canvas sneakers can look great. Problems between blue and black arise when you have a very dark blue like a navy. Black is very close in shade to navy, so there can be problems there. That said, depending on the sheen of the shoes, you can sometimes get away with it.

I have a couple Fisher Space pens. They're both nice enough that I can use them in formal meetings and low maintenance enough that I can write upside down with them.