The Essential Guide to Matching Men's Clothes
If you can establish a strong foundation of basic casual attire, building your wardrobe becomes easier. From the basics, you can add in novelty or simply stick to the classics. Nailing casual basics is easy, allow us to help guide you. This is a casual basic outfit guide for the modern man, it does not include suits and business dressing. Once you have decided on your favorite shirt and pant styles (or fits) it is just a matter of putting the outfits together. Below is a simple guide to pairing the pieces.
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Solid Same Color
A great under-used style option. This combo elongates the body making you appear taller and thinner by not cutting the body in half visually. Because it is a clean casual look, it is a great way to highlight favorite accessories like shoes or a great belt.
STYLE TIP – Stick with blues and neutrals while building your wardrobe foundation. You will have more outfitting options and the versatility will make you more confident when the time comes to add in color and pattern.
Tone-on-tone
Tone-on-tone casual outfits are a great version of solid color outfits. The slight amount of difference in the color between a top and bottom can make a huge difference in the feeling of the outfit. Navy pants with a light blue shirt is a classic example of a tone-on-tone outfit. The options are endless, but shades of grey make for a very modern look.
STYLE TIP – Make sure the hue matches, for example all colors can have a warm or cool flare. If you wear blue make sure both blues are warm or both blues are cool (a cool blue will have a green or yellow cast and a warm blue will have a red, orange, pink or purple cast).
Neutral Bottom, Color Top
The easiest way to add color into your casual style. And by “color” we advise blue, olive, and burgundy. No neons or other colors you may be questioning.
STYLE TIP – Wear dark colors for a serious casual style – Deep jewel tones are great all year for men. Kings wore robes dyed in dark rich colors because they were rare and projected a sense of prestige. Today rich colors are not as rare but they still create the same sense of prestige.
Color Bottom, Neutral Top
The opposite of above, best done with jeans or classic colors. Olive green pants make a great option for this outfit, olive can be treated as a neutral.
STYLE TIP – Keep color grounded back to neutrals. This means wearing color on the top (shirt) and bottom (pants) can look busy or simply messy and uncoordinated if not done properly. It is best to match color tops to neutral bottoms, or color bottoms to neutral tops.
Neutral Top, Neutral Bottom
Often under-used, an example includes light chinos with a dark khaki top. Shades of grey can be a modern look that provokes a strong sense of casual style.
STYLE TIP – Dark wash and regular wash denim can be used as a neutral for most occasions – modern men have accepted denim into their daily routine. The more often we can naturally fit items into our lives, the more classic it becomes.
Back to White
Similar to neutral combos, white is so versatile and classic it deserves its own category. This should be a staple look in every guys casual wardrobe. Be careful of white with black bottoms as the service industry has adopted this as their uniform. That is not to say you can not pull it off for more formal occasions or with a very casual look (e.g. white t-shirt or henley with black chinos).
STYLE TIP – Wear light colors for a happier, lighter attitude. The power of the solid white shirt may never truly be understood. Paired back to light color chinos or denim, a white shirt is one of the best-positive-attitude casual outfits the modern man can create.
Back to Black
Black goes with everything – or so they say. Often under-used is the black on top casual outfit. This is a must for every man, skin tone, and body type, you really can’t go wrong.
STYLE TIP – Pair black back to lighter color pants for a casual look. Darker bottoms will look more formal.
Pattern on Top
This is a primer for the next level of casual dressing, which adds in the novelty and interest. Often your accessories, like watches and belts, will do this task. When you need to step it up a notch pattern is a simple solution. Remember to start with the classics and then branch out. A simple dot is a great choice for this.
STYLE TIP – Stay away from plaid. This is a hard concept for most guys to grasp. Plaid is a trend and it is on a down cycle, overused, and on it’s way out. It is better to invest your money in prints, patterns, or large checks; which have more options to create your own casual style and do not look dated.
