Which Color is Best for a Suit?
There are many colors that gentlemen might want to consider when looking for a new suit. But there are only a select few that are ideal and only one color that sits at the top.
You might be wondering if black is the best choice or if there's something else out there that might work better for you. In any case, in this article, we're going to explore a few aspects you need to consider.
The most common colors for suits are black, navy blue, most shades of gray, and brown.
Which of the four that looks the best has to do with a lot of different factors. First and foremost, it depends on which color fits your skin, hair, and personality the best. Other factors are occasion, style/cut of the suit itself, and even season.
The Ideal Color for a Suit
All in all, the best color for a suit is a rather dark navy blue. A dark blue suit complements almost every skin tone and hair color. Also, navy blue looks great with both black, brown, white, and gray, making it a good match for any shoe or shirt color.
Now, it’s important to note that just because there is such a thing as a “best suit color”, this doesn’t mean you’ll only need the one suit for the rest of your life. Most men tend to own multiple, in fact.
So, if navy blue isn’t your preferred color or you already have such a suit, then we suggest taking a look at the following valid alternatives.
The Most Common Suit Colors
Black
Let's start with black. Black is one of the most popular colors for suits, and it is most often worn during serious or formal occasions such as funerals, weddings, job interviews, etc.
It looks very elegant and timeless but, sadly, can also make you look larger. This maybe isn’t what most of us want.
If you’d like to wear a black suit, nonetheless, we recommend wearing a lighter color shirt in combination with a colorful tie. This will reduce that “overwhelming” look and add some variety to your outfit.
Try to accent a predominately black outfit with a bold accent color.
Black clothing comes with a few decent benefits:
Black goes with almost any other color. This makes pairing, mixing, and matching a breeze.
The color is suitable for many different occasions. There are only a few times you shouldn’t wear too much black, like at a kids’ birthday party, for example.
Black clothing isn’t flashy (obviously), so you rarely stand out in ways that others might not like.
There is a lot of color-psychological symbolism behind black. When worn, black is a symbol of class, sophistication, business, elegance, and sexiness while often also having an overbearing, even sometimes evil character to it.
Be sure to know what you’re doing if you choose to wear an all-black outfit.
Nonetheless, black is always going to be a staple in any man's wardrobe. If you wish to have a second suit on hand, then we seriously recommend opting for a pure black one. Another very valid candidate for the role as a second suit would be gray.
By the way, black is one of the best colors for a tie. And yes, it also fits a black suit perfectly.
Gray
Gray is another color that looks good on almost everybody and isn't too difficult to match with.
Gray is a great color for business suits as well as more casual attire. As a rule of thumb, you could say that the darker the gray, the more “suit”-able it is for more serious occasions, and the lighter the gray, the more casual the suit.
We go into much more detail on the topic of dark versus light colors in this article, if you’re interested.
A dark, charcoal, or anthracite gray suit is a great choice because it brings with it all the benefits of a black suit without actually being black. Since dark gray is less dark than black, it is also less overbearing and slightly more friendly-looking. It lightens the mood in an office setting compared to an all-black get-up.
A light gray suit, on the other hand, is maybe too casual for the office (depending on the office, of course). Light gray suits are best for formal summer or spring events like weddings or garden parties.
We go into a lot of detail concerning the color psychology of gray in another article of ours, but here’s a short summary just so you know what you get with a gray suit:
Gray symbolizes sophistication, elegance, stability, simplicity, neutrality, and/or minimalism. In fashion, gray is a neutral color typically used to make an outfit less noticeable and prominent. Yes, even more so than black.
In other words: choose gray as a suit color if you wish to have a good all-rounder in your wardrobe that you can wear to both formal and semi-casual events, but also to the office.
We suggest opting for a darker type of gray for maximum efficiency. Colors like anthracite or charcoal are ideal options.
By the way, don't be afraid to try out gray suits with some patterns like pinstripes or plaids. Just make sure that the rest of the outfit uses solid colors and textures.
Blue
There are many variations of blue that are common as suit colors. But what is typically the case, is that they’re rather dark. Or more precisely, maybe: blue suits are rarely light.
The most often seen kind of blue suit is either royal blue, or navy blue. Sometimes you’ll stumble across a baby blue or even a muted blue suit, but that’s not very likely.
Dark blue is a great suit color. It’s elegant and sophisticated, yet still casual enough. | Socks: Pineable
As with gray, the darker the blue, the more suitable it is for serious occasions. And obviously, the opposite is also the case; the lighter the blue, the more playful it looks and the less fitting it is for business and “black-tie” events.
Royal blue is one of our favorites and happens to be one of the easiest bold colors to match with. You can easily put together a blue suit with almost any* color shirt/tie and it will look great! Royal blue is another color that looks good on many men, but it especially looks nice on people who have fair skin and light hair.
A navy-blue suit is an absolute classic. If you read our orange short answer box at the beginning of this article, you already know: Navy blue is the “best” color for a suit. Why? Let us go into detail towards the end of this article, ok? We need more space for this.
There is a load of color-psychologic meaning behind blue, but here’s a short summary for you:
The color blue symbolizes calmness, intelligence, sincerity, and confidence. It projects a sense of calmness and security on a wearer and on others.
Wear a blue suit to look smart and confident. Lean towards darker blues to add some more authoritativeness.
Pro tip: Blue is one of the best colors to wear if you wish to make a good first impression. It’s also a great color for monochromatic outfits.
Brown
Last but not least, brown (and variations of brown, like beige and tan).
Brown is another suit color that can be worn all year round depending on what you decide to wear it with. This color looks great on people with lighter skin.
If you have a rather dark complexion, we recommend staying away from wearing a lot of brown because it might not look right with your skin tone. We explain why in our article on the ideal clothing colors for dark skin.
All types of brown can be worn for casual occasions or even (if you're feeling really bold) to formal events as well.
Keep in mind, though, that (as with all the previous colors) the darker the brown, the more suitable it is for times when it’s important to look serious.
Light brown suits (tan, khaki, or beige) are great for semi-casual events, where people like to mingle and small talk. Summer cocktail parties are the ideal occasion to rock that beige linen blazer you’ve been hiding in the closet. Conversely, don’t wear it to important business meetings or black-tie events.
Brown and dark brown suits are good all-rounders like gray suits. Sadly, though, when you predominately wear brown, you shouldn’t accent with black or gray. That just looks wrong. So, you restrict the number of possible accessories you can wear when you opt for a brown suit versus a gray one.
Variations of brown are perfect for the spring and summertime because they don’t absorb as much light and heat in warmer weather. You can easily match them with lighter colors like yellows, light blues, and light greens to complete that fresh look people are going for when spring arrives.
The Best Suit Color
Now that we know which colors are the most common choices for suits, we also start to realize why they are the most common: ease of use.
The whole idea behind wearing a suit is to look authoritative, dependable, classy, sophisticated, and/or professional. Wouldn’t you agree?
So, it’s important to find a suit that helps you “look the part” while being easy to wear. And by that, we mean the suit should be easy to pair with all types of shirts, shoes, belts, and other accessories.
This begs the question: “Which color suit can do all that?”. Well, the answer is:
Navy blue.
If you wear a navy blue suit, people regard you as intelligent, trustworthy, and calm. And, since navy blue is a mixture of blue and black, the color-psychological properties of black are inherited as well.
This means that you are also perceived to be sophisticated, authoritative, and classy.
Almost any other color goes well with a navy blue suit. Especially the most common clothing and accessory colors (neutrals) such as black, gray, brown, white, and blue work extremely well with navy blue.
No other color except for white works with the other four neutrals.
And no, this doesn’t mean you should go for a white suit. Please, don’t even think about it – unless you’re a member of a boyband, of course.
The majority of common accent colors harmonize well with navy blue, too. Colors like orange, yellow, and red pair beautifully when worn as ties, pocket squares, or Colorbux socks (obviously).
A navy blue suit can be worn in almost any setting. It’s formal enough to wear to a classy dinner party, yet casual enough to wear to a summer get-together with friends. What’s more, navy blue suits are so professional looking that they’re considered the heart of classic business attire.
There’s no other suit color that is as versatile, easy to wear, or fitting for almost all occasions as navy blue.
What About Charcoal/Anthracite?
Now, that said, dark gray suits come in as a close second. Arguably, you could say it’s a tie. But there are two small facts that help navy blue outrank dark grays.
Dark gray looks hideous when paired with brown. So, you can forget to wear brown shoes or belts with a charcoal suit.
Anthracite and charcoal suits aren’t very casual. The lack of color in dark gray makes for a much less “happy-go-lucky” vibe.
In other words: dark gray is less versatile and can’t be worn on as many different occasions as navy blue. It’s as simple as that.
But is dark gray the definite number two? Certainly yes.
What Color Should Your First Suit Be?
If you haven’t bought a suit yet, this might be the ultimate question for you, right? Well, before we get to the answer, ask yourself this: “What do you need the suit for?”.
We know now which is the best suit color overall, but is it the one you’d want on your first suit? The answer depends on two things:
You and your preferences
The reason for buying a suit
As we’ve learned in this article, certain color suits are better worn to occasions where other colors tend to lag and vice versa. And now that you know which is best for what, you can make up your mind more easily.
In short, and to be completely honest with you, the choice is up to you. But if you want our input, here it is:
Your first suit should be either navy blue or dark gray. Either color is easy to pair with others and is suitable for a vast variety of occasions. You rarely fall flat with a navy-blue or charcoal-colored suit.
Black, brown, and light-gray-colored suits are those you should maybe consider purchasing after you already own the first two options.
If we’d have to make an ordered list in which any man should consider buying suits, it would look like this:
Navy blue
Charcoal/anthracite/dark gray
Black
Mouse gray/light gray
Brown
Beige
Light/muted blue
Any other color
If you’re a newcomer to the world of suits, we really hope this list helps.
If you’d like to show your appreciation, we’d seriously enjoy a nice Google review. It would help us out a bunch since we’re pretty slim (to say the least) when it comes to online feedback on third-party platforms.
What To Look Out For When Choosing a Suit Color?
To sum up this article, let’s briefly go through the aspects you should consider when choosing a suit color.
What occasion are you wearing the suit for? Are you going to the office or are you attending a wedding? Opt for a darker suit color if the event is more formal and serious.
Make sure the suit color doesn’t clash with your skin tone. If you have darker skin, try not to wear dark brown. Most any other common suit color will do, though.
Ideally, wear the right seasonal color. Dark blue is fine for all seasons, but the other colors do actually have some seasonality. Read this article to learn more about which color is best for which season.
Which color psychological effect do you wish the suit to have on others? Color can strongly affect how you are perceived by those around you. Learn more here.
Make sure you like the color you’re wearing. If you don’t feel good donning a certain color, then don’t do so.
Obviously, there are many more aspects you might have to consider when picking a suit color. But we think we’ve listed the most important ones, right?
In any case, don’t choose to wear a navy blue suit just because we say it’s the “best” choice. Find out for yourself which color is best for you.
Nonetheless, we hope this article helped you on your journey to the perfect suit color. If so, remember to leave us some feedback. We’d really appreciate it. Thanks for reading.
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