The Classic Menswear Guide to Color
How to liven up your wardrobe...
On Wednesday, we discussed the importance of color: both its psychological impact, and its biblical underpinnings. In theory, it’s easy to say you should have more color in your life. In practice, it’s hard to implement.
In today’s world, you can wear almost any combination of color imaginable. But when it comes to dressing up, most men still default to the plain white shirt. This is not, in my estimation, a failure of the male imagination any more than it is a desire for the drab. It is simply a failure of know-how.
Color introduces a new factor of uncertainty that the plain white shirt keeps successfully at bay: how to pair colors without looking conspicuous and gaudy. For as important as the mastery of color is in developing one’s personal style, no man wants to strut like a peacock.
What follows is a beginner’s guide on how to introduce color into your wardrobe. We’ll focus on the quick wins, and cover everything from suit to shirt, tie, socks, and accessories. If you routinely find yourself defaulting to a white button-down to wear with everything, then this guide is for you.
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Part 1: The Suit
“An Oxford man!” He was incredulous. “Like hell he is! He wears a pink suit.”
-Tom Buchanan on Jay Gatsby, The Great Gatsby
We’ll kick things off with the least exciting staple on the menswear repertoire: the suit.
Why is it the least exciting? In part, because you don’t need it. But for the sake of today’s article, because a suit should never be a flashy showpiece. Your clothes are always speaking, but they should communicate with quiet authority. A colored suit, on the other hand, screams for attention.
Men love to show off their suits, but my philosophy is that a suit should never be the main event. It should rather be the backdrop on which the rest of your attire springs to life: your shirt, tie, pocket scarf, cufflinks, etc. Counterintuitively, a neutral suit actually gives you more room to work with color than a vibrant one.
The blue suit is a staple of the business world, but it’s surprisingly confining. How often can you pull off green with navy blue? Even colors that technically go, like yellow, pink, and orange, can feel like statement pieces because of how much they contrast with the navy blue backdrop.
For this reason, a brown, charcoal, gray, or tan suit gives you much more leverage, as they pair with almost any other color while simultaneously keeping things low contrast. A pink tie with a gray suit, for example, feels less like a statement and more a fun touch of color.
This is not to say of course, that colored suits are always and everywhere verboten. In the winter, a glen plaid suit with a streak of color running through it is the perfect way to add a little color into an otherwise neutral backdrop. In the summer, seersucker and linen provide the perfect opportunity to have some fun. As long as you stick with muted pastels and don’t go overboard, in the summer you can get away with cream, blue, green, and even — to the eternal chagrin of Tom Buchanan — pink!*
*Important disclaimer: As I’ve written in this article, color is not something you should choose based on random personal preference. Rather, you will look best when you wear colors that best reflect the contrast and shade of your natural features.
For you, that might mean you look great in deep and vibrant colors. Or maybe you’re like me and are most at home with muted tones and low-contrast. Either way, keep this disclaimer in mind (and read the original article if you haven’t already) as you implement all the advice in this section and the ones to follow.
Now back to the article…
When correctly applied, you can add tons of color to an otherwise ordinary backdrop. Take this picture of the then Prince of Wales, for example. The grey of his suit is broken up by pink and rust orange checks, but that’s far from the most remarkable bit. On top of the neutral backdrop, the King manages to add purple, pink, light blue, brown, and even green! Who said grey has to be boring?
Now, of course, most men don’t wear suits every day. So what is the easiest way to incorporate color into your wardrobe, both for business and non-business attire?
In the next section, we look at the easiest and highest-ROI place for you to begin, and outline exactly what steps to take to do it. We’ll cover everything from everyday staples to overlooked details, as well as the one piece of clothing you wear every day, but probably have never considered how to liven up…
