How to Make the Blue Suit/Brown Shoes Combo Look Stylish, Sophisticated and Sharp as Hell

Brown is unquestionably the best color shoes to wear with blue suit, but before we get into the specifics of how to rock the look, it’s worth taking a minute to discuss why you should.

Let’s go over a few of the elements that make this such a classic – and indisputably dapper – combination.

Blue & Brown Are Complementary Colors

As I mentioned above, one of the main reasons the blue-suit-brown-shoe combo works is because it combines two colors that bring completely different, but totally complementary, impressions to your overall look.

Blue can convey a lot of different things depending on the shade.

Dark blues like midnight blue and navy immediately convey depth, expertise and sophistication.

Meanwhile, lighter blue shades suggest trustworthiness, reliability and tranquility.

Either way, blue is a color that speaks to a man’s mind and character.

Brown, on the other hand, speaks to a man’s physical presence.

Brown is obviously an earthy color – it’s literally the color of dirt, earth and autumn – which gives it a rugged, and therefore masculine, appeal.

By combining these two colors with your suit and shoes, you get the best of both worlds:

The blue helps you convey a strong sense of confidence and character.

And the brown sends the message that while you may be suited up at the moment, you’re not afraid to roll up your sleeves and get down in the dirt when you need to.

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It Works with (Damn Near) Every Skin Tone, Body Type and Hair Color

Another advantage of the blue suit brown shoes combo is that it works well on basically every guy.

Few color combos are as versatile as blue and brown.

It doesn’t matter what color or shade your skin is, what color hair you have or what your body type is:

Blue and brown work for just about everyone.

Here’s a perfect example. The two guys below could hardly have different body types and skin tones—and yet they both look great in the royal blue suit brown shoes combo.

On the left is talk show host James Corden:

Pasty, pudgy, reddish brown hair (and at the moment this shot was taken, unfortunately open-mouthed).

On the right is a model for Suitsupply, one of my favorite suit stores.

He’s slim, black, has a chiseled jaw. In terms of body type, he’s practically the exact opposite of Corden.

And yet both guys look dapper as hell rocking their blue and brown combos, which demonstrates just how versatile the look can be.

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Wide Range of Shades and Options

The blue-brown combo doesn’t just work with a wide variety of skin tones and hair colors.

It also comes in a wide variety of color tones, shades and patterns, which makes it even more versatile.

Blue suits come in a wide range of shades and hues, from very dark shades like midnight and navy to lighter hues like sky blue or baby blue.

While each shade conveys a very different message and feeling, pretty much all shades work with brown dress shoes.

And speaking of brown shoes, dress shoes are definitely the best – though not the only – type of shoes to pair with your suit.

Fortunately, even when you stay in the brown color family, you can still find a pretty wide variety of different shades and shoe colors:

From reddish hues like burgundy to lighter, even orangey hues like cognac.

Of course, some blue suit combinations tend to work better than others, and I’ll get into the specifics about how to make each shade look its best below.

But for now it’s worth noting that one of the big advantages of the blue-brown combo is that, no matter which shades you’re rocking, you can rest assured that you’re on the right track.

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Wearing a Navy Blue Suit with Brown Shoes

Brown is One of the Best Color Shoes to Wear with Navy Suit

One of the most suave and unimpeachable iterations of the blue suit/brown shoes combo is the navy blue suit paired with dark brown shoes.

When choosing the best navy blue suit shoes, a good rule of thumb is to avoid lighter shades of brown.

In fact, when it comes to pairing certain shades of blue suits with certain hues of brown shoes, keep this in mind:

Darker shades of blue, like navy and midnight, pair well with richer shades of brown, like deep chocolate, or reddish browns, like a good pair of burgundy shoes.

The dark navy suit brown shoes combo evokes sophistication and class, which is why you see it so often on businessmen, politicians and lawyers.

Of course, just because they tend to wear this combo a lot doesn’t mean they rock it.

Each group tends to violate one (or more) of the most fundamental tenets of how to wear a suit with style.

Businessmen tend to pair it with garishly loud ties (keep reading to find out what kind of ties you should wear).

Politicians tend to wear men’s suits that are one-to-two sizes too big, and lawyers, well…

Despite what Harvey Specter would have us believe, lawyers tend to make even the most classic combos look less than ideal.

But don’t let the fact that this is a business-world staple fool you:

The navy suit dark brown shoes combo can work just as well at weddings and social formal settings as it does for a job interview or business meeting.

The key is to avoid making the same mistakes as the aforementioned groups.

Here are a few tips to make sure you look sharp while rocking navy blue and brown shoes:

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Fit is King

I’ve provided a full, detailed breakdown of exactly how your suit should fit elsewhere, so I won’t go too deep into the details here, but I will say this:

Fit is the single most important factor when it comes to looking sharp.

It doesn’t matter how expensive your suit and shoes are, or how perfectly you’ve paired the colors of each.

If your suit doesn’t fit properly, it won’t look even half as good as you want it to.

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Match Your Belt, Bag and Watch to Your Shoes

Keeping the color of all your leather accessories consistent is one of the top tips I give to guys who are buying their first suit.

But in truth this is one of the most common mistakes made by both novice and veteran suit-wearers alike.

The rule here is simple:

If you’re wearing brown leather shoes, you should make sure that every other piece of leather you might be wearing is a similar shade of brown.

That includes your watch strap, your belt and your briefcase or messenger bag.

They don’t have to match exactly, but they have to be in the same family.

If you’re wearing dark brown shoes and a tan or light brown belt, you’re doing it wrong.

It’s also worth noting that this is one rule that extends beyond just suits and applies to casual looks as well.

Whether you’re wearing brown loafers with a suit or rocking a casual pair of brown leather boots with your blue jeans (one of my preferred, go-to casual looks), you’ll still want to make sure your belt and watch band are in line with the color of your boots.

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Keep the Shirt Color Light

Another big mistake I see far too many guys make, whether wearing navy suits or any other color, is wearing a shirt that’s as dark as the suit itself.

Whether you’re looking at the websites of stylish menswear stores like Suitsupply, Bonobos, or Indochino, or movies and TV shows featuring suit-wearing pop culture icons like Don Draper, Steve McQueen, and Neal Caffrey, you’ll notice something consistent across the board:

They never pair dark suits with dark shirts.

Universally, they almost always pair their navy suit and brown shoe combination with a crisp white dress shirt.

And if they deviate from that script at all, it’s with other light colors that still complement the look, like a light blue shirt.

But far too often I see guys pairing blue, grey and black suits with a navy or black shirt, which just looks amateurish.

If you want to make your navy suit look sharp, keep the shirt light, and preferably white.

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Apply to All Shades of Blue

The three tips I’ve shared here apply not just to navy suits, but to pretty much any shade of blue suit that you might pair with brown shoes.

But when you’re going all the way to the other end of the spectrum and rocking a light blue suit with brown shoes, there are a few additional things you’ll want to keep in mind.

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Wearing a Light Blue Suit with Brown Shoes

One of the reasons why wearing a light blue suit with brown shoes is such a great move is because it’s bold.

As mentioned, a navy blue suit with brown shoes is a staple that you can wear anywhere, and as a result, a lot of guys do.

But rocking a light blue suit with brown shoes is a move you don’t see nearly as often, which is a shame—because it looks sharp as hell.

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How to Rock a Light Blue Suit with Brown Shoes

The light blue suit and brown shoes combo can definitely help you stand out from the crowd.

But one of the reasons why it’s rarer is because it’s a little trickier to pull off.

All of the rules and tips that I outlined for navy suits above apply to light blue suits as well, but suits on the lighter side of the spectrum also have their own unique rules you’ll want to keep in mind.

The first and most important one is that if your suit is light blue, you’ll want to keep everything else light as well.

For your shirt, this means sticking with white.

For your shoes, it means opting for a lighter shade of brown—think “sand” instead of “mud.”

Brown shoes that have more of an orangey color to them, rather than a deep red or purple, tend to work best with light blue suits.

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Where to Wear the Light Blue Suit/Brown Shoe Combo

A light blue suit is inherently more casual than darker shades like navy, which is another reason why they’re not worn quite as often.

While they look great at spring weddings or a cocktail party during the warmer summer months, they’d probably feel a little out of place in a boardroom or a courtroom.

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What Color Tie to Wear with a Blue Suit and Brown Shoes

As mentioned above, one of the ways that businessmen manage to mess up the otherwise unimpeachable blue suit/brown shoe combo is by choosing the wrong tie combinations.

So let’s do them – and any other guys considering the blue suit/brown shoe combo – a public service.

Here are five tie colors that complement blue suits and brown shoes.

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More Resources ↓

More Advice on How to Suit Up in Style From Irreverent Gent:

• How to Buy Your First Suit
• Where to Buy (Affordable!) Suits Online
• In-Depth Indochino Suits Review – Are custom suits worth it?
• In Review: Alain Dupetit’s (Suspiciously Affordable) Suits
• What is Semi Formal for Men?
• How Should a Suit Fit? The Definitive Guide
• The Most Stylish, Stretchy & Comfortable Suits for Men

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