Men generally have some limitations when it comes to formal attire, but you can still wear your slacks, shirt, tie, and jacket. All of these might seem uninteresting, but they are surprisingly versatile when combined to produce a variety of outfits for various occasions.
Understanding what colors complement one another and which ones you should avoid putting together is the first thing you should do before trying to combine your shirt and tie in different colors and patterns.
A good visual contrast would be achieved by pairing a “cool” blue shirt with a “warm” tie, such as a burgundy red one. Speaking of which, what shade of tie should you pair with a light blue shirt?
There is actually more to it, even though it is a short and quick answer. In this article, we’ll go over a few wonderful combinations that you can use.
Matching Blue Shirts With Ties – The Rules
Having a set of “rules” makes everything simpler. It makes making decisions much easier.
Whatever you call them, “rules”, “guidelines”, or “principles”, these four should help you get through every time.
1. Keep your tie darker than your shirt
Choose a tie that is somewhat darker than the blue shirt that it will be worn with. This advice is the most crucial since it significantly reduces the possibility of something going wrong.
It just seems more traditional to have the tie be a noticeably deeper hue or shade than the shirt making it stand out from the whole outfit. This is certainly a nice thing if you are going for a formal look.
However, even if you were aiming for a more laid-back or casual combination, it will typically still look better if the tie is darker than the blue shirt. Choosing a light blue shirt would be the simplest way to do this (eg. sky blue or pale blue). If you do choose a darker blue shirt, such as navy, try to match it with a darker tie.
2. Think About The Formality
You’ll see that some of the six blue shirt and tie outfits I’ve suggested below look more formal than others as you browse through them.
The key factors to keep in mind are as follows:
- Greater contrast between the color of the shirt and the color of the tie will make it appear more relaxed.
- Colors that look formal are always neutral.
This means that if you want to wear a blue shirt and tie combination that looks more formal, you should either choose a monochromatic color scheme (such as a light blue shirt with a navy blue tie) or a tie that is a neutral shade (eg. blue shirt with grey or black tie).
3. One Pattern Only
It is certainly possible to match a patterned blue shirt with a patterned tie, but it takes a little more finesse and effort to pull off.
As a result of the two patterns perhaps disagreeing, there is simply more of a chance that the combination may appear overly “busy” and cluttered. Choose a patterned tie or a patterned blue shirt if you want to keep things simple when wearing patterned clothing, but not both.
The reason the color wheel sometimes gets a poor rap is that people overthink it and make it into a tedious, long lecture. The color wheel can be helpful when it comes to color-coordinating men’s clothing, but only in select ways.
Here are the key points:
- The color wheel exhibits the interaction of colors.
- It is divided into two sections: “warm colors” and “cold colors.”
- “Cool” shades are connected with winter/fall and offer a peaceful, relaxing effect Blues, greens, and purples are a few examples.
- “Warm” hues are connected with summer and have a vivid and happy appearance and vibe. Reds, oranges, and yellows are a few examples.
- The wheel is useful because it allows you to blend shirts and ties of similar colours to create less contrast or shirts and ties of different hues on the color wheel to make greater contrast.
After looking at the blue shirt and tie combinations below, the color wheel and color “temperatures” (warm and cold) should make even more sense.
6 Blue Shirt And Tie Combinations
Observe how the first two—monochromatic and neutral—have the most formal appearance, whilst the other three have a more smart-casual appearance.
This basically has to do with how strikingly contrasted the blue shirt and tie are.
Monochromatic Blue Shirt And Tie
Monochromatic doesn’t necessarily mean wearing a blue shirt and a blue tie that is the exact same colour. The tie should be considerably darker than the shirt to create enough contrast to visibly separate the two. However, because the shirt and the tie alike remain on the same “blue” spectrum, there isn’t really much of a difference between them.
This should simplify decision-making on your end. Any blue shirt with any blue tie will usually look good together, as long as one is darker than the other.
Returning to our list of key “rules”, wearing a shirt that is lighter than a tie makes for a more suave look. All of this combined makes for a fantastic monochromatic look. Wear a light blue shirt (like sky blue) with a dark blue tie (like navy blue).
It has a casually formal vibe because there isn’t much contrast between the two items. The perfect shirt and tie combination for more formal or business-casual occasions where you don’t want to stand out or be too obvious.
Blue Shirt + Neutral-Colored Tie
Any genuinely “neutral” colored tie, such as grey, white, and black, would look good with a blue shirt. However, there are some hues that are viewed as neutral but aren’t. Since they are so subdued, delicate, and very simple to match with other colors, they are regarded as neutrals. Khaki brown, olive green, and navy blue are examples of these “fringe” neutral colors.
It’s still generally a good idea to explore introducing these extra neutral colors when color matching blue shirts with ties. But let’s simply use grey, white, and black as examples here to make things straightforward. You could wear any of these colors with any color of shirt and they would all look good.
It truly takes the thought out of your selection, much like the monochromatic color approach in the first option. Any blue shirt would work; all you’d need to do is match it with a grey, white, or black tie.
In this case, a darker shade of grey (like charcoal/slate) or black would typically be preferable. This is in keeping with the important rule of choosing a shirt that is lighter in color than your tie. The (sort of) neutral hues of khaki brown and olive green for ties would often work well also if you did want to try them out
Blue Shirt + Cool-Colored Tie
Here, we take advantage of the fact that blue is a cool hue. It has a relaxing and calming vibe to it. It’s also on the “cool” portion of the color wheel. Cool hues go well with other cool colors.
The result will be a shirt and tie set that has more contrast than a monochromatic or neutral color scheme but is still modest enough to suit brilliantly in more formal events. It’s a fantastic choice, although it does need a bit more preparation than the two prior options.
A light blue shirt and a hunter-green tie are seen in the above example. The “cool” colors in both objects result in a calming and relaxing aura. Although well-coordinated and fashionable, it is not meant to be overly bold or stunning.
It may not be appropriate for truly formal or business professional attire. However, it would perform great in business-casual and smart-casual environments.
Blue Shirt + Warm-Colored Tie
This is where things become even more fascinating. By now, it should be clear that blue is a “cool” color. It offers a beautiful sense of balance and contrast when paired with a “warm” toned tie. The contrast, however, will make the attire appear more relaxed than the other three blue shirts and tie combinations.
Reds, oranges, and yellows are included in the “warm” half of the brilliant color wheel. You can look terrific wearing a tie with a blue shirt if you choose a color from one of these palettes. A light blue shirt and a burgundy red tie serve as an excellent example.
Because it is obviously “warm”, but is also fairly dark to be darker than the majority of blue shirts you’ll pair it with, burgundy red will always look good in most situations. Given the stark contrast, a smart-casual or business-casual dress code, as well as more laid-back environments, would be best suited for this combo.
Blue Shirt + Complimentary Tie
On the color wheel, colors that are immediately across from one another are considered to be “complementary.” When mixed, these shades will have the greatest contrast and will have a strong bold impression.
The shirt and tie will be noticeably different from one another. It is striking and catches your attention. That contributes to the attractiveness. However, it will appear to be quite informal. It’s a wonderful choice if you want to make a deeper statement. You can see from the color wheel that blue and orange are nearly opposite one another.
Try wearing a light blue shirt with an orange marigold tie, as shown in the image above. It exudes a fairly colorful, sunny vibe. Although not everyone may find it appealing, it will certainly be noticed.
Consider wearing a warm-colored tie that is slightly closer to the color wheel with your blue shirt if you want some contrast between your blue shirt and tie but not quite this much. If this applies to you, the earlier combination would be a better choice.
Pink Tie + Light Blue Shirt
You can add some raw sophistication to your wardrobe by pairing a pink tie with a light blue dress shirt. This outfit is perfectly completed with a pair of black leather shoes. Make sure your shirt is tucked in, and use a black belt with your suit. A simple method to give your outfit a more laid-back feel is to complete it with dark brown leather brogues.
Tip: Regardless of whether you want a casual or formal cut, don’t forget to accessorize with a variety of eye-catching accessories to finish the style.
FAQs
In order to properly wrap up the discussion nicely, here are some FAQs on this subject.
What color of tie goes well with a light blue shirt?
Navy blue, grey, and black are the easiest suit colors to match with shirts and ties. These colors are versatile enough to match any shirt or tie color you can imagine.
What shade of tie is OK to wear with a blue shirt and these particular suit colors?
It actually doesn’t matter as long as you stick to one of the six combo formats we discussed in the previous section.
When choosing a neutral suit color, it does not matter much whether you go for a monochromatic or neutral scheme, match cooler hues, or combine warm and cool colors.
Simply follow one of the six combination styles from the past section, and you’ll be OK. Just keep in mind the formality of the environment you’ll be in when choosing. Keep in mind that the more contrast you have, the more casual it will appear.
Does a light blue dress shirt go with a black tie?
Black is a neutral color that goes well with various colors, so you may comfortably wear a black tie with a blue shirt. Formal and business-professional environments call for a black tie and a blue shirt.
It’s really difficult to go wrong with this pairing. It’s a fantastic choice if you didn’t want to give color matching and coordination too much thought. It’s the only one you can be sure will work.
Conclusion
What do you think? There you got an efficient and simple method for matching the colors of ties and blue shirts. You might need to add some accessories and eye-catching color combinations to successfully mix your ties and clothing.
Although it’s hard to make a mistake, there are always some color combinations that are more appropriate for the environment you’re in. Now, you go and rock, Enjoy!