Colorful Outfits in Mens Fashion

Finding Fashion: Colorful Outfits

colorful-dress-shirtsMen might pride themselves on very practical style, but variety is a very rare trait in the male wardrobe. You might have all of the basic daily pieces you need, but it’s also very likely that your fashion repertoire is sorely lacking some color.

Open your closet and scan through the contents. If at least 75% of the space is white, black, gray or navy, you’ve fallen victim to this common fashion pitfall. While color isn’t such a crucial element of fashion per se, you’ve got to admit that a near monochromatic selection of clothes is hardly exciting when you dress up in the morning.

Closet Expansion
Before you get around to adding color to your outfits, you have to expand your range of options first. That means starting with essentials like neckties, button downs and polo shirts – the stuff of everyday casual and work attire. The fact that you wear these items on a daily basis makes them a very good place to start investing in colorful variety. Fire red jeans might be tempting, but the difficulty of wearing them reduces their long-term value.

Start by adding to the solid colors in your closet. Items like blood red button-downs, ice blue neckties and mint green polo shirts already add much to the daily variety. Beige chinos, gray trousers and white jeans are also good places to start for bottoms.

A Man and His Colors
Not all colors will suit all men equally. The expression “not your color” refers to that reality of style, due largely to differences in complexion. When adding colors to your wardrobe, you also have to be conscious of which shades work in your favor – and which ones won’t do you any favors.

Generally, fairer (read: Caucasian) skin tones work better with brighter and bolder colors, while paler or more subdued shades like pastels and earth tones go with darker skin. You want to aim for a color that complements your skin and makes you look your best.

If you want to take things a bit further, you could accent other parts of your body. Shirts that match a striking eye color, for example, will emphasize just that. Do you have hair color? Try a button-down that complements it – something dark and deep for platinum dye, say – to put both in a positive light.

The Moderated Man
Not all guys can pull off wearing multiple colors, and extremely few can manage outfits of several bright shades. Aside from ignoring several rules of style, doing so runs the risk of your looking like a crayon box that melted all over the place.

To make the most out of any color in your outfit – whether the color in question is in a tie or a button-down – it has to be paired with other pieces that let it take center stage. If you have a bold color somewhere in your outfit, for example, make a point to keep all other pieces subdued so that your statement item has the spotlight. Otherwise, the various bold pieces in your ensemble will all clamor for attention and visibility.

Fashion-savvy men make the effort of learning the right way to match colors – that is, with a color wheel and a critical eye – so that the whole outfit comes together. It might sound like so much more effort than the white-black-and-navy wardrobe, but the variety and the style points you’ll score will be worth the time in the end.

Other Suggested Readings:
Mens Spring Fashion Basics 2011
Trendy Pink Ties 2011

Your Mens-Ties.com Team

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