The Best Suit Colour Combinations for Men - Mix and Match with Finesse

Your ability to exhibit impeccable and stylish dress sense time and again will likely reveal itself in your choice of well blended suit colour combinations. A skill that will draw significant attention and respect to your personality. Whether you choose to step out in casual or formal dressing depends by and large on the occasion and theme of the event. But your skin tone, the suit fabric, and your flair for harmonious colour combinations can elevate your style and visual appeal.

Follow our style guide below to pull off an elegant and exemplary look regardless of your dress code - whether casual or formal. With a carefully curated mix and match of men's suits, pants, ties, and accessories in appealing colour combinations, you will keep heads turning in any gathering.

Mix and Match Suits: Where Did It Originate From?

The idea of mix and match suits - also called ‘broken suits’ or separates - gradually manifested over the centuries with no definite timeline. The suit emerged sometime around the 1910s, and it overtook Victorian and Edwardian wear by the 1930s. And for ages, traditional suits were tailored and donned as a complete set in a single colour, pattern and/or fabric. Namely jacket, pants, and an optional waistcoat. But mix and match suits increasingly became a thing following critical periods of economic crises that preceded the 21st century.

It evolved from the necessity of wearing what you can afford or what is available, to a fashion movement that prioritizes versatility and personal style by adopting casual styling options. It became an avenue to showcase creative self-expression and individuality.

Personal Style Starts with Understanding Your Skin Tone and Body Shape

The classic suit jacket and trousers in matching colours remain a timeless, noble choice for office and formal wear. But modern and trendy men now lean towards the mix and match approach to pairing suit jackets with pants - an avenue to showcase their personal style and taste. But above all, a well-tailored suit with the right fit and fabric enhances your comfort and self-esteem, which is crucial to your dressing any day.

As a man, you are the grand architect of your looks. But before you embark on any fashion experiment, examine your body type and skin tone in the mirror; and stay true to yourself. Your choice of suit colours and suit types should match and even accentuate your skin tone and body frame.

Double breasted suit jackets look very flattering and regal on men with broad shoulders and/or a large body frame. But they exude such sophistication and maturity that befits high-power gatherings like board meetings, upper class weddings, high society events, black-tie events, galas, standard workplace, religious, and state functions. A double breasted suit jacket will look quite odd in a semi-formal or social setting.

While single breasted suit jackets look trim and exude a modern, elegant and minimalist look more suitable to men with less muscle mass. Your body frame notwithstanding, you can experiment with the freedom and ease of loosening and fastening a well-tailored single breasted suit jacket for all kinds of events. From dinner parties to black-tie events, the mellowed down office garb, or a relaxed but chic appearance that suits a casual meetup.

Single breasted suit jackets are a versatile choice to either ‘dress up’ or ‘dress down’ at will to suit any occasion, allowing the wearer to spot a trim yet coordinated look. Just visualize the attraction of a band collar or turtleneck shirt worn in a single breasted suit jacket with matching pants, all of them in synchronized colours. A simple, classy and yet hands-down killer look you can pull off anywhere with a single breasted suit jacket!

Suggested Reading: How to Get The Right Men's Suit Fit

Again, you should dress in favour of your skin tone. Stand in front of a broad mirror, and observe the visual effect of matching the colours of your different suit pieces on your skin. Lighter skin tones should be set to contrast with darker suits and vice versa. Your final style picks should make you look and feel confident and comfortable in your own skin.

We invite you to explore our tasteful collection of exquisite made-to-order and bespoke suits, sewn to perfection, and with your comfort in mind.

The 5-Suit Rule for Colour Pairing of Men's Jackets and Pants

There is a general understanding that men are less colour sensitive than women. That prevalent trait should not hinder style conscious men from setting up a wardrobe with a harmonious colour spectrum of suit pieces.

Yet again, it is desirable and possible to switch between the formal and casual, toned-down look with the same set of suit jackets. That trick works particularly well with single breasted suit jackets. Certain style experts recommend that men should have at least 5 suit jackets in core colours in their wardrobe - black, grey, navy blue, brown, and tan. Any style general or fashion forward gentleman can leverage them to ace the aesthetic game.

Famous on-air personality Steve Harvey further recommends that you can mix and match these 5 suit jackets in core colours with 3 must-have shirt colours: white, cream, and powder blue. Alongside several agreeable shades of pants, you can get up to 75 possible suit colour combinations. Again Harvey pointed out that the 5 core colours of jackets can match all pant colours.

Another brilliant color pairing scheme for men is to match the colour of your tie with that of your shoe. For power dressers who are creative, you may set your identical shoe and tie colour to be in sharp contrast with the rest of your ensemble.

General Rules for a Superb Mix and Match of Suit Colours

To truly excel in the men's style arena, we suggest you apply that touch of magic with the following colour combinations.

Analogous Colours

Colour pairing of men's suits can work magnificently if you combine analogous colours - a set of 3 colour tones that are next to one another on a colour wheel.

Pick a jacket in a core colour, and match it with a tie in a near-enough colour tone; but balance the pair with a lighter shade of shirt. For instance, a navy blue jacket can go with a dark blue tie and a light blue shirt.

Complementary Colours

If you have the opportunity to physically mix two complementary colours, it will result in any of three neutral colours which are black, white, or grey.

Any pair of complementary colours directly face each other on the colour wheel, and give the strongest contrast that can arrest people's attention. Like matching red and green, orange and blue, or purple and yellow. In layman’s terms, you are simply pairing a warm colour with a cool colour.

If you are bold and creative, a thoughtful mix and match of complementary colours in your suit ensemble will distinguish you from the crowd in a blink. If you plan to evoke a style disruption that will reverberate long after an event is over, especially a social gathering, do not hesitate to pull this card.

Monochromatic Colours

Monochromatic colours are several variations of a base or core colour. Take it as an extension of analogous colour groups. Like several shades or tints of blue, black, red, and so forth.

You produce a tint by adding white to a base colour; and a shade from adding black to the same. The third variation is a tone - the result of adding gray (or both black and white) to the core colour to give a sort of ‘grayed down’ or less intense version of the core colour.

A suit ensemble in a monochromatic colour combination exudes visual harmony and simple elegance with very little effort.

Neutral Colours

Neutral colours like white, navy blue, black, gray, or beige are so versatile they can match innumerable options of other colours. They offer a safe choice to fall back on if you are in a struggle to decide. To heighten your style language, consider balancing a neutral colour with a bold one.

For instance, you can pair a bold red or green jacket with gray or black pants. But avoid pairing two or more bold colours for a formal event - you may appear ‘loud’, clownish, or very distracting. In principle, shun the idea of putting on bold colours to a formal occasion, because it will most probably look and feel distasteful. The ambience and type of event should never be ignored in your choice of mix and match suit pieces.