How to Match Colors for Men: A Masterclass on the “Goldilocks Principle”

My brother-in-law ruined my wedding photos.

When my wife and I got married, we arranged for our photographer to climb a ladder and take an overhead shot of us walking back down the aisle, surrounded by all our guests in their springtime best.

It was the perfect plan: a timeless, elegant photo that we could look back on for years to come. And in many ways, it worked. The guests looked fantastic, and my wife, of course, looked absolutely stunning. But amidst all of the sartorial splendor, my brother-in-law stood out, and not in a good way.

He was wearing a custom-tailored black suit that fit him like a dream. He’s not really much for fashion or clothes, but he had bought a custom suit for his own wedding a few years prior, and it still looked great on him.

He paired the black suit with a black dress shirt, which was a bit aggressive for a spring wedding, but still a bold and respectable choice. If he had finished the look with a black silk tie, or skipped the tie altogether, he would have looked great.

Unfortunately, he chose neither option. Instead, for reasons known only to him (and, presumably, Satan), he decided to accessorize his perfectly fitted black ensemble with a neon turquoise tie. Not a subtle blue. Not a sophisticated navy. A bright, fluorescent, eyeball-offending turquoise.

The result? Every single time I look at my wedding photos, my eyes aren’t drawn to my beautiful wife, or to the sea of well-dressed guests, or even to myself in my midnight blue tux.

No, my gaze immediately locks onto that glowing strip of radioactive sludge slicing through the middle of his torso like a piece of police tape wrapped around a crime scene. One single, ill chosen color pairing made our otherwise color-coordinated photos look kind of ridiculous, and my otherwise well dressed brother-in-law even more so. And he’s not alone.

Screwing up color choices is one of the biggest mistakes I see guys make. Every day I see guys wearing individual pieces that might look great on their own, but don’t pair well with the rest of their outfit. Which is a real shame, because color plays a big role in the way people perceive you.

The Psychology of First Impressions
(Why Color Matters)

When colors complement each other, your outfit feels intentional and well-balanced. When they clash, you not only drag down your overall look, but miss an opportunity to use color to your advantage.

“The impact of color in personal styling goes beyond the aesthetics of fashion,” writes Angela Haynes-Ranger, a graduate of the London College of Fashion and British College of Professional Styling, “it plays a profound role in shaping emotions, conveying personality, and creating a visually harmonious image.”

In the process of writing my forthcoming book Sharp as Hell, I discovered a 2014 paper published in the scientific journal PLOS One that articulates the real-world advantages to crafting a visually harmonious image.

Color plays a profound role in shaping emotions, conveying personality and creating a visually harmonious image

“People want outfits that are maximally fashionable, and this isn’t mere vanity,” the researchers write. “Clothing influences perceived and signaled social identity, employment outcomes, romantic success, and even cognitive processes.”

The good news is that you don’t need an advanced degree to put together looks that are optimally color coordinated. You just need to understand a few key color strategies that will help you build a wardrobe full of complementary colors, and how to pair them in a way that’s visually appealing.

The Goldilocks Principle:
The Secret to “Just Right” Color Combos

In that 2014 paper I mentioned above, a team of psychologists and social scientists set out to see if they could find an objective standard for the most aesthetically pleasing color combinations in clothes, theorizing that the key probably lies within a concept called “the Goldilocks Principle.”

Simply stated, the Goldilocks Principle is the idea that human beings tend to prefer the “sweet spot” in between two extremes, rather than either end of the spectrum.

Evidence of the Goldilocks Principle can be found in a wide variety of domains: infants prefer looking at visual sequences that are neither too complex, nor too simple; psychologically healthy states tend to be achieved in the sweet spot between simplicity and complexity; and your sense of self strives to, as the researchers put it, “strike a harmonious balance between similarity with others and individual distinctiveness.”

When it comes to color combinations, the researchers hypothesized that “the best color combinations are those that are neither too similar (‘matchy-matchy’) nor too different (‘clashing’).” And their experiment confirmed their suspicions.

They showed more than 230 volunteers four different color palettes, two in women’s clothing and two in men’s clothing. Each palette included four colors, which were arranged in various combinations; in some cases all four colors matched, in others they were totally random, in others there was a mixture of matching and random colors, and so on.

They then asked the volunteers to rate the clothing sets on how “fashionable, good, and liked” they were on a five-point scale.

The results were clear: Goldilocks, as it turns out, was onto something.

Just as the heroine of the titular fairytale didn’t want porridge that was too hot or too cold, observers in the study preferred color combos that were neither too “matchy-matchy” nor too clashing.

The highest-rated color combos – the ones that study participants deemed “just right,” if you will – landed in the sweet spot between matching and clashing.

The study provided scientific evidence for something that many of us know intuitively, but may have had trouble articulating:

The best way to use color is to wear a small handful of different colors, some of which might contrast and some of which might match, but all of which complement each other.

To illustrate the point, let’s take another look at the three photos I used in the banner, showing me wearing the same sweater and pants in different color combos:

The one on the left isn’t terrible, but it’s quite bland. The sweater and pants are very similar shades of dark gray or black, so while they work fine together, they don’t provide much visual interest.

The one in the middle is heavy on visual interest because the two colors, purple and green, clash quite loudly. But they don’t complement each other, which makes the outfit look more like one of Batman’s most famous rogues than a roguish and handsome modern man.

But the third outfit, on the left, hits the sweet spot. The brown sweater and blue pants don’t just contrast but complement each other, creating an overall aesthetic that’s pleasing to the eye, and makes the look seem intentional (and even smart).

Which is all well and good, but begs another question: how do you know which colors complement each other, and which ones clash? The good news is that the answer can easily be found by consulting a color-coded wheel. (The bad news is that it has nothing to do with Vana White.)

Using the Color Wheel to Find Complementary Shades

To find out which colors pair well together, all you need to do is consult the color wheel, the tool that artists, creative directors and (most relevantly for our purposes) fashion designers use to figure out which colors work well together.

The color wheel illustrates color hues around a circle, visually demonstrating the relationships between primary colors, secondary colors and tertiary colors.

And the good news is that you don’t have to memorize the whole thing, or consult it every time you get dressed. You just need to understand a few fundamentals that will help you combine colors into outfits that feel intentional and well put together.

High Contrast vs. Subtlety

When you’re looking at the color wheel, the most useful relationship to understand—especially when it comes to creating the kind of “just right” color pairings that were deemed most fashionable in the study—is the idea of complementary colors.

Complementary colors are those that sit directly opposite each other on the color wheel; when you look at the wheel, you can see that blue and orange, red and green, or purple and yellow are all opposite from each other, and therefore complementary to one another.

Because they’re opposites, they create maximum contrast when paired together, which makes both colors appear more vibrant and visually interesting.

But before you go digging through your closet for colors that are the polar opposite of each other, let’s hit pause for a second.

Throwing on a red shirt and green pants may satisfy the “complementary colors” requirement, but it’ll also make you look like one of Santa’s elves, which probably isn’t what you’re going for.

(it’s not, right? Please tell me it’s not…)

Remember, the goal isn’t to clash, it’s to choose colors that complement. And the best way to harness the power of complementary colors without going too loud is to focus not just on the colors themselves, but on what color theorists call their “value.”

The Modern-Classic Contrast Scale

The scale below moves beyond basic color theory by providing a “Visual Volume” metric.

It will help you understand not just which colors go together, but how loud the resulting outfit will be (which is a pretty common pain point for guys who don’t want to look like they tried too hard).

To achieve a timeless, modern-meets-classic look, I recommend aiming for the 4–7 range for daily life, while reserving the 8–10 range for creative environments or bold personal branding.

Level 1–2: Low Volume

Stealthily Stylish

The Base: Charcoal (Dark Neutral) + Light Grey (Light Neutral)

The “Pop”: None. This is a tonal look. By staying within the same “color family” (greyscale), you minimize the visual break between pieces.

Why it Works: The key to making a Level 1 look work without being boring is texture contrast. I paired a fuzzy wool light grey sweater with relatively charcoal jeans made from a relatively smooth cotton. This creates a certain level of tactile depth that keeps the outfit sophisticated rather than flat.

Level 3–4: The Blue Gradient

Subdued Contrast

The Base: Navy (Dark Blue) + Light Blue (Tonal Match)

The “Pop”: Dark Brown. Technically, brown is a neutral, but against an all-blue canvas, the warm leather of the shoes acts as a subtle “anchor” that prevents the outfit from looking like a uniform.

Why it Works: This is a great cheat code for everything from business casual offices to first dates. Navy and light blue share the same DNA, so they create a seamless vertical line that makes you look taller and slimmer. And by keeping the colors subdued, you signal confidence without the “try-hard” energy of high-contrast pairings.

Level 5-6: The Balanced Neutral

Well-Balanced Contrast

The Base: Khaki (Neutral) + White (Neutral).

The “Pop”: Burgundy (complementary to the yellowish undertones in many khakis)

Why it Works: I chose a matte cotton overshirt here. If (for some reason) I was wearing a shiny silk burgundy shirt, the Visual Volume would jump to a Level 8. (And the A Night at the Roxbury vibes would jump to an 11.)

Level 7–8: The Sophisticated Standout

Dynamic Contrast

The Base: Navy (Cool Neutral) + White (High-Contrast Neutral).

The “Pop”: The burnt orange tie. Orange is the direct opposite of blue on the color wheel, but opting for burnt orange gives you use a more sophisticated, muted version of that complement, which pairs well with the navy suit, creating a dynamic combo.

Why it Works: This is a more modern and sophisticated alternative to the traditional “red power tie” move that politicans and business execs have used for decades. Because the contrast between white and navy is already high, adding the warm orange tie pushes the Visual Volume into the upper tiers of the scale.

Level 9–10: Triadic Color Contrast

High Level of Difficulty, Higher Impact

The Base: Navy (Deep Blue) + Olive (Muted Green)

The “Pop”: Mustard yellow. This is a Triadic Color Scheme that plays with three colors on the color wheel. Green is in the middle, flanked by yellow and blue.

Why it Works: The reason this doesn’t look like a costume is the saturation. Notice that I’m not wearing neon green, bright yellow and royal blue (because I’m not insane). By using earthier versions of all three colors (olive green, mustard yellow and navy blue), you can achieve a Level 10 contrast that still feels grounded and masculine.

Mastering Color Value:
The Difference Between “OK” and “Oh my!”

In color theory, “value” refers to a color’s darkness or lightness; for instance, a light, mid-afternoon sky and a dark navy business suit are both blue, but they have different values.

Color value strongly influences the mood and perception of an outfit, even beyond its position on the color wheel. With complementary colors, the key concepts to keep in mind are balance and subtlety.

You don’t want your outfit to scream; you want it to speak clearly and confidently. And the best way to do that is usually by choosing muted, darker, or less saturated versions of complementary colors.

For instance, look at the two photos below.

The outfit on the left with the bright blue shirt and bright red pants, is… ok.

The fit hues pretty closely to the Golden Ratio, and the two colors complement each other, but both colors are quite bright, creating a look that’s a little jarring.

As a result, the guy in that photo looks more like a salesman on the floor of a big box electronics store than a handsome leading man.

Now look at the photo on the right. As with the one at left, the two main colors are blue and red, which contrast nicely.

But here the “value” of the colors has been turned way down, so that bright blue and bright red become navy blue and a deep burgundy—two desaturated, darker shades.

The result is that the guy on the right looks simultaneously more masculine and more sophisticated, even though he’s technically wearing the same two colors as the guy at left.

Choosing complementary colors in muted, darker and desaturated shades lends itself well to crafting stylish, timeless and masculine looks. But if you really want to use color to maximum effect, there’s one other aspect that’s worth considering.

Understanding Color Temperature
(Warm vs. Cool)

In addition to a color’s value (i.e. its brightness or darkness), another helpful way to think about color is in terms of its temperature.

But just as color value has nothing to do with money, color temperature has nothing to do with the weather; instead, it’s about how colors feel.

Colors that are bold, energetic, and expressive—like reds, oranges, and yellows—are considered “warm” colors. They’re great for adding a pop of personality, and tend to evoke a fairly strong reaction from people who view them.

But be warned: these reactions may not always be positive. For instance, while wearing red can provoke feelings of desire, it can also provoke less desirable emotions. As Andrew Elliott, a psychology professor at New York’s University of Rochester, told the BBC, “If it’s a super-bright red it might cue off aggression, which could be negative.”

By contrast, “cool” colors—including blue, dark grey, black and green—feel calm, sleek, and understated.

These tend to be the go-to shades most commonly found in many guy’s wardrobes because, while they may not evoke as strong of an emotional response, the response they do evoke is the kind that most men are going for.

Most of us want to be seen as some combination of rugged, intelligent, sophisticated and powerful, and cooler colors tend to accomplish that more than warmer.

How to Build a Color-Coordinated Wardrobe
(The Grid Strategy)

Color temperature (i.e. warm vs. cool) sets the basic emotional tone, but color value (i.e. lighter or darker shades) fine-tunes that mood.

For instance, bright red is bold and evokes a strong reaction (which will sometimes be akin to desire, and sometimes more akin to aggression, depending on the person seeing it).

But as the two outfits pictured above demonstrated, toning down the value by going from bright red to a darker, deeper burgundy also tones down the color’s emotional valence.

The darker burgundy pants don’t make as strong of an impression, but since dark colors like that are considered more sleek and sophisticated, the impression they do make is one that most guys would consider a net-positive.

One great way to make the concepts of color temperature and color value work to your advantage is to think of a color that’s high on one scale—for instance, bold, bright colors like red or yellow, which are high in warmth.

Then, cool the color down by opting for a desaturated, darker version of it. Bright red could become a deep burgundy, as in the example above, or yellow could become something more like khaki or beige.

The same approach works if you start at the opposite end of the spectrum. Take a cool color like green or blue, then turn the value up a little by opting for a slightly lighter shade, like a mint green or a sky blue, both of which evoke openness and give you a laid back vibe that’s perfect for warmer weather.

The chart below helps illustrate this point.

Cool colors, the ones on the bottom half of the chart, are usually calming and understated. But lighter cool shades, like the ones in the bottom left quadrant, evoke softness, openness, and approachability (think light mint, sky blue or pale lavender).

Darker cool shades, like the ones in the bottom right quadrant, evoke depth, stability, and refinement.

Similarly, the warm colors on the top half of the chart tend to feel energetic and bold. Lighter versions, like soft peach or pastel yellow, feel playful and friendly, while deeper versions, like rust, or a medium-brightness burgundy, feel richer, warmer, and more grounded.

When you’re building your wardrobe, colors in the top left quadrant, which are both warm and light, are best used sparingly; wearing a bright orange tie can add a bold pop of color to a navy blue suit, but wearing a bright orange suit makes you look like one of the guys from Dumb & Dumber.

On the other hand, colors in the bottom right quadrant, which are both cool and dark, are the core colors you should use for the majority of your wardrobe. Pretty much every piece of clothing a man can own looks good in shades like navy blue, forest green, black and dark gray, which makes these colors an obvious choice.

Conclusion:
Finding Your Personal Sweet Spot

Mastering the Goldilocks Principle is less about memorizing strict rules and more about developing an eye for balance.

By grounding your wardrobe in a foundation of cool, dark colors like navy, charcoal, and forest green, you create a stable canvas that naturally conveys refinement and masculinity.

When you do choose to experiment with high-contrast complementary colors or bold, warm tones, remember the lessons of the Grid Strategy:

After aiming for that “moderately coordinated” middle ground that scientific research suggests is the peak of fashionable appeal, cool the temperature or lower the value to keep the look sophisticated rather than jarring.

Color is a powerful tool for shaping first impressions and influencing how the world perceives you. Use it well, and you can convey a sense of poise, polish and even power.

But use it poorly, and years later your (admittedly snobbish, but not incorrect) brother-in-law will publicly call you out in a blog post for your f—ing turquoise tie.