Suit Colors: Which to Buy First, and When to Wear Them

Men arrive with a colour in mind more often than a cloth weight. The real question is rarely which colour is best. It is which to order first.

The order to buy in

Navy, then charcoal, then mid grey. Three suits in that sequence cover nearly everything a man in this city is asked to attend.

• First: navy. Business, weddings, funerals, dinner, an interview. Nothing refuses it.
• Second: charcoal. The graver one, and what stops navy being worn twice in a week.
• Third: mid grey. Lighter, friendlier, and the best of the three in daylight.

Why navy comes first

Navy holds its depth under every light a Los Angeles day produces. It reads formal in the evening and ordinary at eleven in the morning, takes almost any shirt and tie, and photographs without going flat. The jacket also wears well on its own over a knit.

Charcoal, mid grey and light grey

Charcoal is the gravest thing short of black tie: a courtroom, a board, a funeral, a winter evening. In a cloth with some texture it is handsome.

Mid grey is the most underrated shade in the wardrobe. Lighter than charcoal without being pale, a genuinely different look from navy, and good with both a white shirt and a blue one.

Light grey is a daytime suit: a spring wedding, lunch, anything outdoors before five. A fourth suit, not a second.

Black, and why it is a poor first suit

Black is a specialist. It belongs to black tie, to a dinner suit, and to a funeral where the family has asked for it. Outside those it works against you: in daylight it reads flat, it drains most complexions, and a camera gets little from it but a silhouette. Charcoal does nearly every job black is bought for, and better. If you want evening wear, have evening wear made properly: see custom tuxedo Los Angeles and the Los Angeles black tie dress code.

Brown and tobacco

A chocolate or tobacco suit is warm, quietly confident and unmistakably chosen, and it sits well with a cream shirt. It is not for a conservative law firm. Have it in a cloth with some surface, a flannel or soft worsted, where the colour has depth to sit in.

Tan and stone for a Los Angeles summer

These are a local advantage. From May to October a tan or stone suit in an open-weave cloth is cooler in the sun and better suited to the light than anything dark: right for a daytime wedding or an outdoor event. Keep contrast at the neck, since a pale suit with a pale shirt leaves nothing between the man and the cloth. See also the best suit fabric for hot weather in Los Angeles.

Blue beyond navy

A mid blue is a daylight suit with a lift to it, and a very useful third suit here. Midnight blue is darker than navy and, in the right cloth, more flattering than black under artificial light. The one to be careful with is a bright saturated royal: striking in a photograph, tiring in a working week.

Green and burgundy as a third or fourth suit

Neither should be your second suit. A deep olive or forest green is a handsome autumn suit and a very good wedding suit for a groom who does not want navy. Burgundy, taken deep enough to read as oxblood, carries well in photographs. How colour sits against a complexion is covered in choosing a suit colour for your complexion.

Checks and stripes

Pattern is a colour decision as much as a design one. A faint chalk stripe or a quiet Prince of Wales check reads as one colour from eight feet away and gives texture up close. A bold windowpane is memorable, and therefore worn less often.

Color under Los Angeles light, and in photographs

This city has hard, bright light for most of the year, and it is unkind to anything flat. Black goes dead in it. A cloth with depth of weave, a twill, a hopsack, a faint birdseye, holds its colour because the surface catches light at several angles.

For a wedding the test is simple: look at the cloth outdoors, at the hour of the ceremony, against your own skin. Navy, mid grey, deep green, oxblood and tan photograph reliably; black and very pale grey disappoint in the album. More on wedding suits Los Angeles.

Which color to order first

Navy, in a mid-weight worsted of nine to eleven ounces, plain or faintly patterned. Charcoal second, mid grey third. If you want a change sooner, a pair of odd trousers in grey flannel will do more for your week than a second navy.

What the cloth, not the color, does to the price

Colour costs nothing, and nothing is surcharged for being uncommon. What moves the figure is the cloth. A two-piece starts at $1,795 and a three-piece at $2,045 in our house cloths. Drago begins at $2,995, Zegna and Holland & Sherry at $3,495, Loro Piana at $3,995. What those labels mean is explained in Super numbers and cloth weight, with the full picture on bespoke suit cost Los Angeles.

The making does not change with the price. Every garment is fully bespoke and full canvas: a pattern drawn for you alone from around thirty measurements and three photographs, cut and sewn by hand by Max in our atelier in Southern Brittany, with unlimited fittings and a year of complimentary alterations. A $1,795 navy suit is built exactly as a $3,995 one is. We dress women as well as men. More on bespoke suits Los Angeles.

Questions we are often asked

What color suit should I buy first?

Navy, in a mid-weight worsted of nine to eleven ounces, plain or faintly patterned. It is correct for business, a wedding, a funeral, an interview and dinner. Charcoal second, mid grey third.

Navy or charcoal: which suit color is more useful?

Navy, by a clear margin, which is why it comes first. Charcoal is graver, narrower in use and less easy to dress down. Owning both stops one suit being worn twice in a week.

What is the best suit color for a wedding?

For a groom, navy or a deep green in daylight, midnight blue or oxblood in the evening. For a guest, navy or mid grey. Judge the light rather than the shade: see the cloth outdoors at the hour of the ceremony.

What color suit should I wear to a job interview?

Navy, with a white or pale blue shirt and a quiet tie. Charcoal is equally correct and a shade more formal. Avoid black and bold pattern: the suit should be the least interesting thing about the half hour.

Is a black suit worth owning?

As a third or fourth suit only. In daylight black reads flat, flatters few complexions, and gives a camera almost nothing. Charcoal does nearly every job it is bought for.

Does a tan or stone suit work in Los Angeles?

Very well, from about May to October, in an open-weave cloth. It is cooler in direct sun than anything dark and it suits the light here.

How many suit colors does a man actually need?

Three cover almost everything: navy, charcoal and mid grey. A fourth in tan or light grey takes care of the summer. After that you buy for pleasure.

Come and look at cloth in daylight

Twenty minutes at the window with the bolts against your skin will settle it. The consultation runs an hour, costs nothing, and you will sit with Robb or with Ben at 221 Culver Blvd, Playa del Rey, with free parking. Book a consultation, telephone 310-503-3592, or see custom suits Los Angeles.