Shirt and Tie Combinations For a Navy Suit

Take a look at the picture above. You see how Daniel Craig can’t be separated from the image of James Bond, nor vice-versa. Why is that? The answer is simple. It’s the navy suit that cements that image of the calculated, witty and charming 007.

It’s the suit that shouldn’t miss from any man’s closet. Although this article is strictly on shirt and tie combinations for the navy suit, we will expand the tips, and talk a little about general basic rules when wearing one.

How many buttons to button?

If you have a 3-button suit jacket make sure that the middle button is the only one buttoned, except the times you sit down, when you should unbutton it completely. If you have a two-button suit, the bottom button should be left unbuttoned. The reason is that it emphasizes your torso’s shape. Look at the man below:

photo:www.gq.com

Bored of solid colors? Try a pinstripe suit

The advantage of navy suits is that you can match them with both black and brown belts and shoes, unlike the black suit. And, if you are a creative person, you can play a little bit. Instead of wearing a plain navy suit, you could wear a pinstripe suit, or with a textured fabric.

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photo:1.bp.blogspot.com

Now, for the main topic of this article, finding the shirt and tie best suitable to your suit. First of all look carefully at your suit and notice all the colors and shades on it (especially if you are looking at a pinstripe suit).

Overall, the look of the suit is blue but up close we find it has fine lines in teal, maroon and gray. Once you have selected the color of the suit you need to find more of it and the easiest place to do this is with your tie, to complement it. The color of the tie will definitely need some contrast.

Choose a tie in a bold color

Here’s a great combo: a pinstripe suit, a solid color shirt and a patterned tie. Consider a solid navy suit with white shirt or light blue shirt and striped tie.

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Wear a pinstripe suit with a uni shirt. For a striped navy suit, try a solid blue shirt or white shirt and foulard tie.

Looking to stand out even more?

If you want to impress the ladies, I’ve got some great ideas for you (and they all involve your navy suit).

The best way to stand out is to pair your suit with a shirt in a bold color. A navy suit (whether it has pinstripes or not) will work great with a light pink or even regular pink shirt.

If pink is not really you, you have another option to playing with color: playing with patterns.

How about this: a pinstripe suit, a checked shirt and a striped tie. Would you be able to handle mixing three patterns together?

Remember: since the suit color is dark, the shirt and tie color should be lighter for a formal look. Here’s a silver tie that would work well with a navy suit:

photo:www.ctshirts.co.uk

You can also try a deep purple tie:

photo: hawesandcurtis.com

Matching the tie

When matching the tie, you can’t fail while using patterned ties (striped, checked or any other type of pattern). Striped ties are the number one choice you should consider. As for the color, it must have some basic blue or gray tone within while the rest can be of more striking colors like red, pink, yellow, green. Especially red, like the guy below:

photo:slimages.macys.com

At the end I should remind you of one very important saying in the suit industry:it’s better to have 2 expensive suits, rather than 5 cheap ones. One of those 2 must be the navy suit. Good luck finding the perfect navy suit for you!

P.S. If you’re looking for a black suit, we have a separate article about that (pictures included) here.

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