Why men should not be afraid to wear color in their button down shirts
Let me start out here by saying that there is nothing wrong with blue and white button down shirts. There’s a good chance that they make up the backbone of your shirt wardrobe, and that’s probably as it should be. That being said, there’s nothing wrong with some well placed color - or a well placed pattern or two, for that matter - among your shirts either.
Men, in my experience, are not very adventurous when it comes to coloring their shirt collections. Think of it, how many solid grey and navy suits do most NYC men have in their closets? And what do they usually wear with these suits? The answer is a blue or white shirt. I’m not saying you should change that approach altogether, but let’s just dare to consider some small deviations for a few minutes.
Still not convinced to mix it up by adding some color to your collection of shirts? Consider this: One cheap, effective and easy way to change up your style and refresh your suit wardrobe is with a color or pattern in your shirt; or you could even try a DARK solid shirt!!
I'm not talking only about adding pastels to your shirt wardrobe here either. BE BOLD!! OR choose an 'off' color (not white or blue) something that is subtle but would make someone look twice, like a burgundy, a deep olive, or a chocolate brown.
One of the keys to selecting more colorful button down shirts is to make sure the colors you have in mind work with your skin tone. An easy test is to hold the swatch up to your face and check whether or not it accentuates your features or washes them out. One thing my mother always said was that you should work with colors that complement your natural palette. Green eyes? Greens are great; but opposite on the color wheel to green is red, meaning that it’s also complementary. Pinks, reds, rusts, warm colors could be great for you too!!
Another tip: pair your grey with color. Light grey sharkskin suits look great with greens, teals, and rusts. There are some great color variations and pairings for grey in this Bengal Stripe
If these Bengal stripes are too bold, these micro hairline stripes offer good 'textured solid' alternatives Keep in mind that grey will go with ANY color. You could even try this violet awning stripe with a grey suit
For something a little more conservative, experimental beiges and whites are really trending right now too. We have some amazing options on this front.
We’re also loving this micro houndstooth, it adds the perfect amount of texture to a "solid" color.
If you’re looking to put a little more color in your wardrobe but don’t know where to start, don’t hesitate to book an obligation-free appointment (phone or in-person) so we can walk you through some options. When it comes to custom button shirts, we at Watson Ellis offer not only the best fabrics, patterns, and the highest quality shirt tailoring in NYC, we also bring our expert styling and design expertise to the table. We’ll help you to make the best selections for your custom button-down shirt wardrobe this summer/fall.