Home > Matching Your Outfit > Men Clothes Color Matching 101

Men Clothes Color Matching 101

August 10th, 2010

One of the things guys ask me all the time is how to match one’s clothes. This question pertains mostly to colors because that’s where us men have the biggest problems.

How can you really stand out from the crowd?

What’s the one thing that will draw women’s eyes upon you? (without effort…)

Give up?

It’s color.

In fact, it’s not color… it’s color matching.

When you make a great color combination, you’ll really feel what it’s like to have people admire you.

Think about it:

If you stop wearing t-shirts with big logos on them or socks with sandals, you’re on the right track.

If you take good care of your personal hygiene, you’ll save yourself from embarrassing moments… But it won’t get you any attention.

If you start wearing a nice shirt or a tie, you’ll look good but you still won’t hit a home run.

BUT, if you wear a great color combination… that’s another story, isn’t it?

Learning to match colors is like learning to be good at a sport: the more you practice it, the better you become. If you’re clueless about where to start with color matching, I’m going to give you some excellent tips.

It won’t be easy at first and you’ll probably be afraid to wear this or that combination.

It’s ok, I’m here to help.

The Color Wheel to the Rescue

Let’s start with the color wheel. Do you remember it from grade school? If not, here’s a picture of it. You’ll see why we need it in a second.



Let’s throw in some notions about colors. Red, yellow and blue are called the primary colors. Any other color is a combination of these three.

The secondary colors are green, orange and purple. Mix any two primary colors in equal proportions to get them.

Two colors that are next to each-other on the color wheel are called analogous…

… and color that are on opposite sides of the wheel are complementary:

OK, now let’s see the color matching rules, that are BASED on the color wheel.

Remember these 2 Rules Forever and Ever

Analogous colors go well together only when they have the same level of intensity.

Complimentary colors create high contrasts. Be careful which ones you wear because some shades don’t go very well with one another. In general, complimentary colors go well together. Just make sure you avoid the red and green combination. You don’t want to look like an elf…

When you start to actually match your clothes, you need a lot more rules than the two above. Color intensity, luminosity and the colors’ shades need to be taken into consideration. However that’s not something you need to learn by heart.

Once you have the fundamentals handled, you need to start looking at stylish outfits to train your eye to feel what works and what doesn’t.

Good luck!

Matching Your Outfit



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  1. August 24th, 2010 at 05:03 | #1

    color do really plays a great role in choosing a casual or a formal wear for men and women alike

  2. December 13th, 2010 at 06:27 | #2

    A really great post. I’m going to show this to my brother since he always have trouble matching up his clothes.

  3. December 20th, 2010 at 02:06 | #3

    Great post, thank you. The color of the suit is always problem for men, so the information above will help people in the future.

  4. December 20th, 2010 at 02:17 | #4

    It is my first time to hear about the men clothes color matching. However, it will be so important for us to pay attention on it.

  5. December 30th, 2010 at 22:29 | #5

    i would think that just showing us the colors that work together instead of all that is what we want. Such as black pants and red or yellow or blue or whatever then a black sweater or something like that. we come here for answers and we get this floating drop down box like anyone really cares about the what ever it is that the damn things is about. so do you get my drift. Make your web site helpful and more will come here.

  6. December 30th, 2010 at 23:12 | #6

    whostandsforwhat :

    i would think that just showing us the colors that work together instead of all that is what we want. Such as black pants and red or yellow or blue or whatever then a black sweater or something like that. we come here for answers and we get this floating drop down box like anyone really cares about the what ever it is that the damn things is about. so do you get my drift. Make your web site helpful and more will come here.

    We have a few articles about that and more will come as time passes. Here’s a few:

    http://www.bestylish.org/blog/index.php/matching-your-outfit/what-can-you-wear-orange-with

    http://www.bestylish.org/blog/index.php/matching-your-outfit/7-purple-outfits-for-men

    http://www.bestylish.org/blog/index.php/matching-your-outfit/3-simple-men-casual-outfits

    This article is for those who really want ta deeper understanding about color matching.

  7. June 12th, 2011 at 13:05 | #7

    Hi,

    Nice article but I think there is one mistake in this article. As up to my knowledge the primary colours are RGB (Red, Green and Blue).

    I want to see article regarding color combination for office wear.

  8. June 12th, 2011 at 17:34 | #8

    Hitesh Agja :

    Hi,

    Nice article but I think there is one mistake in this article. As up to my knowledge the primary colours are RGB (Red, Green and Blue).

    I want to see article regarding color combination for office wear.

    Hi,

    RGB is a standard for monitors, which use red, green and blue to form all other colors. But the primary colors are red, yellow and blue (green is actually formed from yellow and blue). It’s easy to forget – I do too sometimes. :)

  9. June 17th, 2011 at 17:04 | #9

    Amazing! All are great tips.but all are traditional…i want some new..

  10. Todar
    August 17th, 2011 at 07:56 | #10

    I think this ia a fantastic introduction into the subject of “matching colours” a lot more men need to get this post in their mail, its a good for all to know the basics.

  11. JasonX
    February 18th, 2012 at 22:29 | #11

    Yea man. Color is visual flavor!

  12. February 25th, 2012 at 02:28 | #12

    dp :

    Amazing! All are great tips.but all are traditional…i want some new..

    Just check the other articles in the archive.

  13. February 25th, 2012 at 02:28 | #13

    Todar :

    I think this ia a fantastic introduction into the subject of “matching colours” alot more men need to get this post in their mail, its a good for all to know the basics.

    Thanks, color is THE way to stand out.

  14. February 25th, 2012 at 02:29 | #14

    JasonX :

    Yea man. Color is visual flavor!

    Nicely said.

  15. brian watling
    July 13th, 2012 at 18:24 | #15

    i am looking for gold tips for foumal dress shirt can you help

  16. srinivas
    July 29th, 2012 at 10:32 | #16

    Hi just want to know what color and type of shoes will match my white suit for my wedding.

  17. October 17th, 2012 at 09:06 | #17

    Nice write-up. You talked about complimentary colour being a possible match, then in the latter end you warned against combining red and green which according to the chart are complimentary.
    Contrasting details?
    Thanks.

  18. October 17th, 2012 at 10:10 | #18

    Hey, like I said in the article, red + green = Christmas Elf. You should only use this color combination around the holidays.

  19. tonery
    November 23rd, 2012 at 20:26 | #19

    Yeh, nice article but i think a color matching chart will serve more better. Tnxs!

  20. patrick
    December 12th, 2012 at 20:05 | #20

    George,
    great article as usual.your insight and advice are simply invaluable

  21. Andy
    January 11th, 2013 at 06:44 | #21

    @lent ford
    Did you bother reading what you wrote before posting? Hoping you don’t speak the way you write.

  22. AB
    January 29th, 2013 at 15:27 | #22

    The primary colours are Red, Blue and GREEN. The secondary colours are Cyan, Magenta and Yellow. This throws your entire color wheel off.

    So red complements cyan, green complements magenta and blue complements yellow. Makes a bit more sense now, huh?

  23. January 29th, 2013 at 15:49 | #23

    You’re talking about a different color model than the one I’m mentioning in the article, namely RGB versus RYB.

  24. AB
    January 29th, 2013 at 23:06 | #24

    That’s true, but the RYB model is a historical model for mixing paint pigments, whereas the RGB model is a more up-to-date model derived from human color perception in the visual cortex and hence more applicable for color matching on clothes. See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complementary_color
    Hope this helps your article!

  1. November 30th, 2010 at 22:34 | #1