Navy suit
Deep enough to read formal, coloured enough not to read as severe, and light enough that it retains shape detail in a photograph where black does not. This combination is why navy is the default business suit almost everywhere.
Covers business through formal comfortably. Below business it needs the tie removed; above formal it is outranked by black or midnight blue.
Shirts
- White — Maximum lightness contrast against the jacket, which is what gives a tailored outfit its structure. The most formal and the most photographable option.
- Pale blue — Same hue family as the suit at a much lighter value — a tonal relationship, which reads slightly softer than white while keeping the contrast.
- Pink — Warm against a cool suit, which is a temperature contrast rather than a lightness one. It reads less formal than white and more considered than pale blue.
- Cream — Warm and slightly deeper than white, which reduces the contrast a little and warms the whole outfit. Better in daylight than under artificial light.
Ties
- Burgundy — Deep red-purple sits opposite navy on the hue circle, and its depth means it contrasts in hue without out-shouting the suit. The most durable tie pairing in tailoring.
- Deep green — Also opposed to navy, slightly less conventional, and equally well behaved at depth.
- Silver or pale grey — Near-neutral and much lighter than the suit, so it works purely on lightness contrast. Reads formal and slightly ceremonial.
- Gold — Warm and bright against a deep cool suit — the strongest contrast available in a tie, and correspondingly assertive.
Shoes
- Dark brown Conventional Warm against a cool suit and deep enough to terminate the outfit properly. The old rule that brown and navy do not mix was a British formal-dress convention that has not applied for decades — dark brown with navy is now the more interesting default, not the risky option.
- Black Conventional Deeper than the suit and hue-neutral, which reads as maximally formal. The one caution is indoors: black and navy adjacent can land in near-miss territory, so a clear break at the trouser hem helps.
- Oxblood or burgundy Conventional Deep warm red against deep cool blue is an opposed-hue pairing at matched depth, which is why it works and why it looks deliberate.
- Medium brown Works with care Lighter than the suit, which draws the eye downward. Fine in daylight and for less formal settings; less good under evening light where the contrast becomes stark.
- Tan Depends on the setting A large lightness gap that reads distinctly casual. It works with a navy suit in summer and in relaxed settings, and it reads as a mistake at anything approaching formal.
- White trainers Depends on the setting Now an established combination in creative and casual-professional settings and still out of place at a formal one. The suit has to be unstructured enough to support it — a stiff business suit with trainers reads as a mismatch rather than a choice.
Dressing it down. Remove the tie first, then swap the shirt for a knit or a plain crew neck, then change the shoes. Each step moves it roughly one level. Splitting the suit — jacket with different trousers — is the last step, not the first, because a navy jacket and non-matching navy-ish trousers is the most visible near-miss in tailoring.
How it goes wrong. Trousers that are almost the suit's colour. A navy blazer with charcoal or another navy trouser is the classic error, because it looks like a suit whose halves do not match.