Question from Joe

Hey guys,

Since I get a lot of emails with questions I figured I’d share my answers with all of you. Who knows, maybe you have the same question on your mind but didn’t take the time to ask it.

Let’s start with a question form Joe:

Hi George,
I have a question ……
Just recently I purchased a grey sportcoat. It has a slight sheen and subtle weave pattern. Nice. I also purchased three pairs of pants, one blue, one black and a brown pair that I needed but did not intend to wear with the grey sportcoat. When I went to the register, the stylish salesman “approved” of my selection of pants to wear witht the sportcoat INCLUDING the brown pants. I stated that I was too conservative to be comfortable wearing the combination but he suggested that I “Go for it!”. Later, when I brought the items to my tailor, he also recommended that I combine the brown pants with the grey coat.
George, can you help me to be comfortable with this combination by offering your selection of shirt and tie combinations that will coordinate these seemingly mismatched colors so even I could feel good about the ensemble?? (Your photos would be helpful.)
Thanks George.

Hey Joe,

So, let’s see what we have here: a grey sports coat with a sublte pattern on it and 3 pairs of pants: blue, black and brown.

Let’s start with the sports coat. Since gray is netural, it does indeed work with every color, includinb black and white. THis means you can safely wear it with all 3 pairs of pants.

You said you feel too conservative wearing brown pants with a gray sports coat so let’s do sometihng about that, shall we?

I’m guessing you want to stand out more, so my advice will be geared toward that.

Here are a few suggestions:

Wear a t-shirt with the two of them. How about yellow? This will achieve several things. First, it will balance the outfit towards casual since we usually wear sports jackets with shirts, right?

Make sure you don’t have any logos on the t-shirt. Thin horizontal stripes, maybe, but not think stripes.

As for the color you can go for yellow if you feel up to it or a shade of brown that complements your pants.

Wear a color that works with both

I spoke about yellow earlier but what if it’s too much? THe solution would be to choose a color inbetween yellow and brown, to tie the two together.

This color is actually called “taupe” and looks like this:

Let’s talk a little about shirt and tie combinations, since you specifically asked for that.

If you don’t want a yellow shirt and you can’t find a taupe one, I recommend dark blue. Not really dark like navy but dar enough. Blue works well with brown and, as you may have guessed, with gray as well. The tie can be either gray, brown etc.

One last important thing: you need color repetition. This is what makes a good outfit look awesome. So houw about a brown leather bracelet with those pants? Or maybe a brown pocket square?