Suit, shirt and tie combinations

Knowing how to create nice SUIT, SHIRT AND TIE COMBINATIONS is a matter of style and elegance.

In order to avoid any mistake, there are some universal rules every man should know and learn, otherwise it's easy to match and combine colors and schemes incorrectly. COLORS AND HUES ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF ONE'S OUTFIT, which you should always take into consideration: a basic rule is to never mix more than three or four colors into one outfit, some rare exceptions aside the colors of the suit, SHIRT and TIE should blend together nicely.

Tips for dressing well:

1. HARMONIZE THE COLORS.

Try matching your dark blue suit, with a white or SKY BLUE SHIRT and a burgundy, blue or brown tie. Choose a black, burgundy or yellow tie, if you're wearing a white shirt with a black or grey suit. If you have a brown suit, try matching it to a beige or white shirt with a tie in a different shade of brown compared to the suit.

2. YOUR SKIN TONE IS IMPORTANT.

Those of you, who have a dark or olive skin, should prefer strong contrasts: WHITE SHIRT with a black, blue, red or green suit and tie. While those who have a light skin color should opt for sheerer color combinations: a sky blue shirt with a navy blue suit, a beige shirt with a brown suit or a white shirt matched to a grey suit.

3. Avoid wearing different geometric shapes:

Stripes and checks. If you wear a striped shirt, you should not match it with a checked suit. It's not recommended to combine a REGIMENTAL TIE with a CHECKED SHIRT, some rare exceptions aside. When mixing patterns remember that they should have different sizes.

4. COLOR AND STRIPE COMBINATIONS.

If you're wearing a STRIPED SHIRT, you should choose the primary color of it and the suit or blazer should evoke this color. For example, a white shirt with sky blue stripes is perfect matched with a solid blue suit. You should avoid wearing striped shirt, striped tie and striped suit combination, usually it doesn't work.

5. ITTEN COLOR WHEEL.

A general and basic suggestion, to avoid bad first impressions caused by incorrect color combinations of your clothing, is to base your color choices on Itten color circle, that is used also by the most influential and famous fashion designers, to choose the perfect color combinations. According to this well-known circle, any two colors opposite each other make a harmonious color combination, as well as colors that form a triangle or any four colors forming a rectangle.

However, Itten color wheel might appear difficult for beginners. So here are a few practical examples on HOW TO MATCH SUIT, SHIRT AND TIE CORRECTLY. In the table below, you can find various cases to help you out to dress with style and elegance. The left side column shows specific styles to choose from.

STYLE	SUIT	SHIRT	TIE
Classic	Solid grey or black suit	White or light blue shirt	Solid color or regimental tie (stripes)
Youthful	Solid grey suit	White shirt with sky blue, purple or pink stripes	Solid color tie in the same shade of the shirt's stripes.
Formal	Blue or black suit	White or light blue shirt	Solid color tie with shades of burgundy or a patterned tie with shades of vivid red
Modern	Blue suit	White base shirt with white collar and cuffs, and sky blue or pink stripes	Colorful polka dot tie
Dynamic	Beige suit	White shirt	Checked tie with the shades of dark brown or regimental tie with brown hues.
Original	Beige suit	Sky blue shirt	Orange bow tie