Sure you have built up a decent wardrobe, but you have no clue how to wear half of your clothes. The simple task of trying to create different outfits leaves you in a tizzy. What’s even worst is the constant nagging your getting from your girlfriend or wife about the colored dress shirts, ties, and other clothing she and her in-laws got you for the holidays, yet you can’t find courage to muster up to wear them. Guys, Learning to match colors is like learning to be good in sports. The more you do it the better you get at it. Do I have your attention now? Don’t worry I’m here to rescue you and get you more brownie points not only among your peers but with the ladies as well! You don’t need to be a style expert to understand how to wear color and create outfits, you just need to understand the color wheel and color basics. Read on to discover this little known secret.
THE POSITION OF THE COLOR WHEEL
Where colors sit on the wheel will let you know if they go together:
STYLE TIP: Combining cooler colors together and adding one warm color can create great combinations. Ex: Navy suit, blue dress shirt and a red tie.
STYLE TIP: I recommend looking at a men’s fashion magazine and picking out pictures of color combinations that you like and emulating that look for yourself. Keep in mind you are just experimenting, so see what works for you!
STYLE TIP: The best way to pair these together is to make sure one of the colors is a darker tone. For example, with navy and red if they are both the same intensity it will compete with the eye. It’s important to have a contrast so eye is focused more on one thing.
Now that you understand the color wheel a rule that actually helps me when coordinating an outfit is to break it down using three colors. You do this by selecting a:
UNDERSTANDING YOUR CONTRAST LEVEL
Now that you have mastered the color wheel, the next most important part when it comes to dressing well is to make you look sharper. So how does one combine clothes to look sharper? The first thing to examine when learning about contrast is your hair color, eye color, and skin color. These play an important role in developing the proper contrast within your outfit. These three factors determine whether you are a high, low, or medium contrast male.
HIGH CONTRAST MEN
Men whose hair color contrasts their skin color fall under this category. The best example for men who fall in this category have black hair and white skin. The most important thing for men that fall under this category is to copy the same contrast with their clothes.
STYLE TIP: A dark suit (navy blue, dark grey, or black) and a white dress shirt or a light blue dress shirt will do the trick. As for tie options you can choose a contrasting color or something that is going to pop.
LOW CONTRAST MEN
Men whose hair and skin color are light fall into this category, as do men with red hair, no hair, or little hair at all. These men require low contrast looks if any at all. It’s important that if you are a low contrast man, stick to monochromatic (single color) looks, because any significant contrast in your look will conflict with the low contrast of your complexion.
STYLE TIP: A dark blue or earth-toned dress shirt with a dark suit. As for ties stick within the same color family of your suit and try not to look for anything that will contrast too much.
MEDIUM CONTRAST MEN
Finally, men who don’t fall under either cateogry usually fall into the category of medium contrast. This category is for dark skinned men with dark hair or light skinned men with white or gray hair. Since there is a wide variety of facial tones and hair colors it is difficult to pinpoint who exactly falls into this group. The men that do fall into this group can vacilitate between high contrast and low contrast looks.
STYLE TIP: Dark skinned man with dark hair should gravitate more towards the high contrast side, where as light skinned man with white or gray hair should aim more towards the low contrast side. Medium contrast men can have the best of both worlds, however it’s important to proceed with caution when venturing with these looks.
Here are links for some of these looks above:
Blue suit at Zara
Basic Fashion Suit with Trim at Zara
Grey Stripped Suit at Zara
Basic Linen Suit at Zara
Khaki Cotton Sateen Photographer Suit at Express
Brown Cotton Sateen Photographer Suit at Express
Blue Cotton Sateen Producer Suit at Express
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