Pick a color, any color. Well, maybe not just any color. At Samuelsohn, we like to offer top trending men's suit colors so you can feel confident and stylish. The suit color you choose is an important decision, as colors directly impact your mood and those around you.
Color psychology has been studied since at least 1810 when Goethe linked certain colors to emotions. For example, he found that reds, yellows, and oranges evoke feelings of warmth and excitement. The same theory applies to men's suit colors.
Since colors have the power to convey a message, it’s important to know what those messages are before buying a suit. So, here are the most popular trending colors for men’s suits and jackets and what each of them represents.
How To Choose A Suit Color: What to consider
When selecting a suit color, you should consider these three things:
- The season
- Your skin tone
- The occasion
The season
Fashion is very seasonal. When it comes to men's suit colors, there are colors you should and shouldn’t be wearing at each time of the year.
Skin tone
Your skin tone is another important aspect to consider when choosing a color for a suit. You want to be sure to select a color that will compliment your skin, not wash you out. To avoid that, pass on colors that too closely match your skin tone.
For pale skin:
- Wear: Gray, beige, navy blue men's suits
- Avoid: Pastels
For light skin:
- Wear: Earth tones: Green, brown, khaki, white, maroon, or grey men’s suits, black and white.
- Avoid: Pastels, nudes, yellow men’s suits
For olive skin:
- Wear: All colors except the ones mentioned below look good on you
- Avoid: Yellow, green, brown men’s suits
For dark skin:
- Wear: Pastels, white, pink, bright tropical colors
- Avoid: Brown and deep navy
The occasion/dress code
When choosing a men's suit color for a specific occasion, you should always go by the dress code on the invitation to guide your event dressing.
We recommend sticking with dark-colored suits, like black, navy, or charcoal gray for a formal event.
For a day at the office, an all black men’s suit is way too formal. Instead, we recommend wearing a gray or navy blue men’s suit to work.
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The Top Trending Men’s Suit Colors:
Navy suits
Navy is the most popular men's suit color, hands down, making up 50% of all suits. It makes sense, as the colour navy represents power and authority — both traits one wants to feel when they wear a suit. That’s why navy is known as the presidential suit color. It’s also a safe choice if you prefer to blend in. Given its popularity, in a navy blue men's suit, you won’t stick out like a sore thumb.
Our Navy Windowpane Check Wool Suit is versatile and modern with a contemporary fit, perfect for professional or social events.
The best color combinations for navy blue suits include either neutrals like white, beige, brown, black, or gray.
Blue suits
If you like the idea of a navy men's suit but want to go a more modern route, try a blue suit. A blue men's suitwill make you pop out in a crowd more than navy. Royal blue men's suits like our Blue Minicheck Suit, are very trendy year-round. You can also dress it up or down for any occasion.
Black suits
Black is the most formal men's suit color. It’s perhaps the most appropriate color for weddings and funerals because it’s classic and respectful. For your next event, try on Samuelsohn’s Black Ice Wool Suit or Black Ice Wool Notch Tuxedo - Classic Fit. Black men's suits are great because they are also slimming and go with practically everything.
Dark/Charcoal Gray suits
A grey men's suit is another classy option. It’s slightly more casual than black but way more versatile. It’s also known to make people look a little older. So if you just graduated and want to look like you know what you’re doing, this color is for you.
If you go with a grey men’s suit, Samuelsohn’s Grey Super 120s Suit is a sophisticated, sensible choice that comes in both contemporary and classic fit. If you're looking for fabric with serious performance attributes then the Grey Ice Wool Suit is the best choice in this color group. The 100% super 150s Ice Wool fabric is sourced from the Luigi Colombo Mill in Italy. It’s stain-resistant, water repellant, and wrinkle recovering, and has isothermal properties to maintain your body temperature any time of year.
Light Grey suits
A light grey men's suit is the most casual gray suit color. It’s suitable for spring, summer, and early fall. Our Light Grey Earth Care Loop Wool Suit is the best light grey men's suit for you and the planet. (Crafted from Ermenegildo Zegna & Figli milled sustainable Loop fabric and produced from recycling pre-consumer raw materials that would otherwise be wasted.)
In terms of grey suit color combinations, we recommend adding a splash of color. For example, pair a light grey men's suit with a white or pastel pink or blue dress shirt. Lighter, casual suits are also an excellent opportunity to introduce patterned ties or pocket squares because they can pop more.
Brown suits
Brown men's suits give a more vintage look. However, it’s not a formal color by any means. Rather, it’s reserved for semi-formal or casual events. If you’re a novice, brown can be a tricky color to style. Pair a brown men's suit with a crisp white shirt, medium brown monk straps, and/or classic oxford shoes. Samuelsohn’s Brown Summertime Wool Silk Linen Suit is an earthy tone of brown perfect for day or night.
Tan/Khaki suits
Tan and khaki suits fall under the same umbrella as brown men's suits. They’re the definition of ‘neutral.’ Unlike a classic brown, they are more appropriate to wear when it’s warm out. Tan jackets are a great choice with many options. A tan jacket like our Tan Stripe Seersucker Tech Jacket screams “laid back summer.” The best tan suit color combinations include white, light blue, light pink, or light green.
White/Beige suits
We’re now moving away from the classic colors and into the advanced color category. If you already have the above necessary colors, you can begin experimenting. A white suit has a bad reputation for being tacky (think: Gatsby). But this year, celebrities like Shawn Mendes, Simu Liu, and John Legend all made a strong case for them. To us, an all white men's suit connotes that you are:
- Clean and put-together
- Cool and collected
- Innocent and pure
- Elegant and sleek
- Professional and successful
There are two things to remember when wearing a white suit. First, don’t wear them after Labor Day. Second, wearing a white suit demonstrates confidence, but wearing a white suit while drinking red wine? That’s just cocky.
Burgundy/Maroon suits
Another daring and unconventional men's suit color is burgundy/maroon. Stay away from wearing a burgundy men's suit in a professional setting. Instead, it’s great to wear socially at night at a red carpet event or fancy restaurant in cooler seasons. If you can't find a burgundy suit, a jacket in the same family color is a great option.
Red suits
A red men's jacket takes your boldness one step further (and brighter). If you wear it wrong, it can look gaudy. It’s not the most trendy, which is why we don’t carry a red suit at the moment. But, red is the statement color of strength and passion. So, if you want to feel assertive and powerful, go for it. Red is scientifically proven to boost your heart rate — so maybe, it will make your crush’s heart skip a beat.
Pink suits
According to Vogue, a pink men's suit color is “catching on.” Pink has become a mainstay at men’s fashion weeks. For pink suit color combinations, stick with white or black. Shop Samuelsohn’s Rose Plaid Wool Silk Linen Jacket to follow this trend.
Purple suits
A purple men's suit is particularly pretty on men with dark complexions. Plum, eggplant, aubergine, or mauve, are rich suit colors that pop nicely. Rock our Purple Silk Linen Wool Blend Jacket and pair it with a white or black shirt and brown boots.
Green/Olive suits
Green suits are coming back as well. Green men's suits signify luck, earthiness, and groundedness. If you’re hosting a big presentation or popping an important question, why not try your luck with a green suit? This Olive Herringbone Wool Cashmere Soft Jacket is particularly flattering if you have olive skin.
Plaid suits
Although not a color, plaid men's suits are a huge trend this year, especially when paired with mismatched patterns. There are different kinds of plaid to look out for. You can choose from Buffalo, Windowpane, Glen Check, Dupplin, or Tattersall, to name a few. Samuelsohn has lots of plaid options. The Black & White Plaid Wool Silk Linen Suit is subtle and contemporary. The Blue Plaid Wool Silk Linen Suit is versatile and modern. Be sure to have fun with them.
Striped suits
Striped suits are a classic, sophisticated choice. It’s popular for men who work in finance. It shouldn’t be the first suit you buy, but it’s a great choice for a mature professional looking to expand on their collection. Samuelsohn’s Navy Tonal Pinstripe Wool Classic Suit and Blue Pinstripe Silk Blend Suit are both fantastic options. When styling a pinstripe suit, make sure you use only solid colors, so you don’t overdo it on the stripes.
Seersucker suit
Seersucker suits are big for summer weddings, particularly on the east coast. It’s a quintessential striped summer fabric made with cotton to look slightly crinkled. Our Blue Plaid Seersucker Jacket is high quality and made with a soft hand — super lightweight and fun for summer. Just ask a Kennedy.
Find the right suit colour for you
No matter what your occasion, skin tone, or season, Samuelsohn has the perfect men's suit color for you. Follow the latest trends or forge your own. We’ll shop with you every step of the way.