How To Match Colors Of A Tie Suit And Shirt 13 Steps

Other mild, pale shades of color, especially light blue, are also highly versatile and offer a variety of options when it comes to ties.

Black shirts are the exception to this last point - they’re a dark, bold color, but, like white shirts, they’re very versatile and go with most types of ties.

For most formal or semi-formal occasions, you’ll want to choose a shirt with a modest pattern. Thin vertical stripes of neutral colors (like white and light blue) are a safe bet, though small repeating patterns like dots are also fairly manageable (especially when at least one of the colors in the pattern are neutral ones). Shirts with more complex patterns, like intricate stitching across the chest, are sometimes best worn without ties, as the pattern and the tie can compete for attention.

Picking a tie that’s lighter than your shirt is occasionally a viable option as long as it stands out against your shirt. For instance, if you’re wearing a black shirt, all ties except black ones will be brighter than your shirt, so you may want to pick a tie that strikes a bold contrast - for instance, a white one.

Don’t pair a boldly-colored solid-color tie with a shirt that’s also boldly-colored unless you’re sure the combination works. Avoid extreme contrast - a cherry red tie and a bright green shirt, for instance, will be difficult to pull off.

The exception to this rule is that you shouldn’t wear a tie with a small, repeating pattern whose background color is the same as the color of your shirt, as this creates little contrast. For example, if you’re wearing a light-blue shirt, you might choose a plaid tie featuring mostly shades of dark blue and a small amount of light blue.

For example, you won’t want to wear a plaid tie with a plaid shirt, a thin-striped tie with a thin-striped shirt, and so on. You can, however, coordinate the pattern of your tie with the lining of your suit. This is a fun way to weave patterns into the look and make it more cohesive and put-together. [1] X Expert Source Dina SchererWardrobe Stylist & Personal Shopper Expert Interview. 24 August 2021.

Not only are these colors more dignified (and thus a better choice for classy, formal events), but also easier to match with most shirts and ties.

Match a dark-colored suit with a neutral shirt and a dark-colored tie for a universally-dignified look. Brighter ties can work well with dark suits but can appear informal if too bright. Note that some sources claim that darker blues don’t pair well with black or navy blue suits. [2] X Research source

As a general rule, try to avoid wearing three patterned garments. In other words, make sure one of your garments is a solid color. It’s difficult to pull off three different patterns in the same outfit - if your look backfires, you may end up looking like a clown.

To be clear, neutral shirt colors like white and similar shades of the same color on ties don’t count toward this “three color” rule. For example, if you’re wearing a dark blue plaid tie, the different shades of dark blue in the plaid pattern don’t count as separate colors. [3] X Expert Source Dina SchererWardrobe Stylist & Personal Shopper Expert Interview. 24 August 2021. Try to focus on complementary colors that make each other stand out, like red and blue or blue and brown. [4] X Expert Source Dina SchererWardrobe Stylist & Personal Shopper Expert Interview. 24 August 2021.