In the menswear regime, a brown suit is rebellious. It’s vibrant and breaks the tedium of wearing navy and charcoal.
Brown suits also have a history. They evolved from being country wear to one of the most appropriate business suits.
Matching brown with other colors, at first, might seem tricky. But If played right, the brown can even be an alternative to the navy suit.
This guide is about wearing a brown suit and helping you look dapper in brown.
How to Wear a Brown Suit: The Basics
The fashion-forward approach and resurgence of vintage fashion made brown suits very popular.
Also, due to their harmonious nature, the brown color feels timeless.
Daniel Craig’s brown suit in the Quantum of Solace is an example of brown suits touching new heights. Such suits can be a statement-making choice for celebrities.
That’s because brown has a natural and subtle casual flavor, making it a perfect routine-wear suit.
Also, with its muted shade, there are myriads of matching color options.
But wearing a brown suit wrong can question most people’s fashion sense.
Therefore, knowing the ground rules for wearing brown is ideal for a broad fashion horizon. If the basics are correct, you can pull a brown suit practically any occasion.
The Suit Should be Well-Fitted
Brown has a classic nuance and history to them. If the brown suit doesn’t fit the person, it will look like a 70s countryman is time traveling.
The fit should be as good as perfect for any suit, and the same goes for brown.
Generally, the person’s body type determines the cut of the suit. However, the occasion can also impact the fit.
As brown suits are for less-formal events, the regular-fit, notch lapel is the best choice. It will maintain a composed body look and keep you comfortable.
Modern gentlemen often go with the slim fit as well. This cut could be an excellent choice for lean men who want a sharp look.
Overall, the suit’s fit should blend with your body contours to look crisp in brown.
Choosing the Brown Shade
Brown has many shades, from as dark as matching charcoal to as light as tan. Selecting the right shade of brown is as important as the suit’s fit.
Choosing the appropriate shade is tricky, but it’s easy once you know the basics.
Dark colors are for colder months and also for comparatively formal occasions. Оffice and other business-formal events are suitable for a dark brownish suit.
While medium and lighter shades are for summer and slightly relaxed situations.
For a dressy summer look, light brown is the ideal shade. Also, medium brown is a great suit shade for keeping things casual but still dressy at a weekend party.
Ideally, if you want only one shade of brown, go with dark brown. It can easily be worn in most business situations and perfectly merge with gray, navy, and charcoal suit rotation.
Brown Suit Materials
Suit material adds versatility and style options to the suit.
Cotton is a popular option for brown suits. It’s lightweight, on budget, and great for winter and summer. In addition, high-end cotton is excellent for business suits.
Linen is another suit material that goes with brown. But it’s limited to summer and springtime and most casual situations.
Wool is by far the most popular brown suit material. It’s wrinkle-resistant and made for all types of weather.
Also, wool gives plenty of styling options. If it’s your first suit in a brown shade, the material should only be wool.
Brown sharkskin also makes great suits for business attire.
When to Wear a Brown Suit
Most places that don’t have a defined dress code are suitable for gentlemen wearing brown.
These can be semi-formal business meetings, offices, cocktail parties, or similar, less formal occasions.
Due to their inherent casual feel, brown suits are incorporated perfectly into day-to-day wear.
For example, a brown suit is an appropriate choice for a nonchalant and dressy look on a date. Similarly, you can wear a brown suit to dinner at a restaurant.
Young gentlemen also like to spice things up by wearing brown suits to casual meetings.
Achieving a sporty look with a brown makes it perfect for something infrequent like a rave party.
In short, there would be dozens of places to wear a brown suit. Again, play with the details, and the suit befits every situation, excluding only formal events.
Brown Suits for Weddings
If the hosts are happy seeing guests merely in suits, brown will be appropriate for the wedding.
If it’s summer, lighter shades of brown will be as good as beige or tan. For autumn and winter, dark brown with a heavier fabric can be preferable.
A slightly overdressed brown suit is the best bet for the wedding as it imparts a more formal look.
Although patterned brown suits look great, they are not the best choice for weddings.
Similarly, avoid anything that grabs unnecessary attention.
We recommend going with a three-piece suit to keep up with the formal wedding theme. Add some subtle accessories, and you are ready to go.
Shirt Colors to Wear with Brown Suit
The brown suit offers versatility by matching up with multiple colors. It has a humble tone and takes no effort to pair, even with exciting colors like light green.
The shade of brown itself determines the shirt’s colors. White to pink, and even navy shirts can easily pair with a dark brown suit.
Muted colored shirts with some patterns also sink well with a brown suit.
Neutral-colored shirts are suitable with a lighter shade of brown. Complementing the shirt with a dark-colored tie always works great with a light brown suit.
Finally, when matching shirt colors, always align them with the event’s formality and skin and hair tone.
Brown Suit & White Shirt
A white dress shirt is dichotomous, being lively and modest at the same time. It’s the best way to look debonair in a brown suit ensemble.
A white shirt maintains a contrasting tone even with the lightest shades of brown, affirming its versatility.
It also enriches the formality of a brown suit, making it ad rem to business-formal situations. Moreover, a white shirt gives the openness of adding versatile accessories.
There are several neckties to match the white shirt. Solid black and navy ties are the two most classic and formal options.
In addition, burgundy polka dot, olive green silk knit, and blue striped ties look decent on a white shirt.
Try something vibrant, like a mustard yellow foulard tie, for a striking look.
When wearing a lighter shade, we recommend trying a dark-colored brown tie with the shirt.
Brown Suit & Blue Shirt
Different shades of brown and blue pair differently, providing many matching possibilities.
Remember that blue and brown don’t match well for formal events but still give a relaxed and dressy business-casual look.
The best combination will be to match an ice blue shirt with a dark brown suit.
Light blue shirts and medium brown suits also fit likewise. However, try darker shirts such as navy when wearing light to orange-brown suits.
We suggest exploring unique options such as blue denim shirts to take down the formality of the brown suit.
Of course, fabric choice is crucial for such a fashion-forward approach.
For neckties, again, there are plenty of options. The most popular and prominent is the solid navy tie.
Burgundy knit, blue striped, and gray glen checks are some of our recommended neckties with the light blue shirt.
The brown tie can also go with a dark shirt when wearing a light-shade brown suit.
Brown Suit & Pink Shirt
Brown and pink have a lot in common. Both break the repetition of primary colors and easily match each other. A pink dress shirt is a way to look dressed yet distinct.
The way a pink shirt and brown suit complement each other is also unique. The shirt hones the modesty of the suit, while the suit makes the shirt stand out.
For a smart-casual look, both these colors are a pristine combination.
One thing, however, is that a pink shirt is only apt for dark and medium brown shades. For lighter brown, it can’t give contrast, and therefore, we don’t recommend it.
The ideal tie combination is to choose darker tie colors. A solid navy tie is the most suitable option.
Similarly, solid burgundy and sometimes polka dots also pair with pink.
For something vibrant, we recommend choosing an olive green knit or dark-colored patterned tie.
Brown Suit & Patterned Shirt
Mixing patterns with a brown make it apropos of a smart-casual theme. Generally, the smaller the pattern is, the more formal the suit will be.
Stripes and gingham are the two most suitable patterns. However, plaid shirts can also work for a slightly more casual theme.
When wearing a striped shirt, the pattern size plays a crucial role in matching the occasion. Gray block stripe and light brown stripe are also acceptable.
For a gingham shirt, green and brown are two popular colors. Tight dark-colored patterns are acceptable with brown when going with a plaid shirt.
If the tie is on the menu, the dark-color textured tie will match the outfit.
Striped neckties match the patterned shirts, but the tie patterns should be more significant than the shirt.
However, a brown suit with a patterned shirt is for casual scenarios. Therefore, going without the tie is fine as long as you match the theme.
Shoes to Wear with Brown Suit
Following the relaxed feel of the brown, matching the shoes is pretty effortless.
We recommend pairing formal shoes like black cap-toe oxfords with an extremely dark brown suit.
On the other hand, black monk straps are not recommended at all. Instead, dark brown monk straps are better due to their versatility.
With the lighter to medium brown outfit, brown and burgundy match the outfit. Brown oxfords are the most popular and ideal choice.
Burgundy derbies or monk straps are also equally surpassing.
If going without a tie, brown tassel loafers will be suitable for this outfit. A brown suede penny loafer can be a bold move and should only be reserved for casual looks.
If only one shoe pair is what you’ll be looking for, brown oxford is the best choice. It’s versatile and hence matches with plenty of other outfits as well.
Also, regardless of the event, the shoe color should always exhibit some contrast to the suit.
Separating the Brown Suit Jacket & Pants
Many young gentlemen do break the suit up to incorporate it into the routine. The key reason to do this is the ease of matching brown with other colors.
Navy and blue are great partners of brown, and these all look great together.
One of the most popular outfits is alternatively combining a navy jacket and pants with brown. The medium brownish suit jacket also matches the dark jeans.
Similarly, the jacket provides a great summer look with beige pants. With gray, the brown jacket offers a dressier contrast for less formal situations.
The brown pants are even more versatile than the jacket. It matches all the basic dress shirts and therefore makes a great smart-casual outfit.
Similarly, vibrant colors such as yellow or tan also match with brown pants.
In short, breaking the suit is a great way to incorporate brown in a very casual situation.
Accessories to Stylize the Brown Suit
As brown is a versatile suit color, accessories are very impactful in making or breaking it.
These accessories also pave the way to alter the formality of the suit. A pocket square is the most prominent one.
However, belts and watches are also equally important.
Wearing a Belt
Matching leathers in an outfit is among the few fundamental rules of fashion.
A good quality brown leather belt is essential with a brown suit, which should match the shoe.
If getting a hard time matching the belt, especially with burgundy shoes, we recommend trying something of a similar shade.
The rule is that the belt should blend with the shoe color and don’t look too obvious.
How to Match the Dress Watch
A dress watch with a brown leather strap makes a great combination with a brown suit. It also completes the ensemble by matching other darker shades in the outfit.
Steel bracelet enthusiasts also choose to match it with a brown suit.
Generally, such metal straps are acceptable for less-formal situations.
But timeless pieces, even with metal bracelets, could easily be incorporated into business-formal conditions.
Pocket Square
Pocket squares are a great way to complete the suit. Brown is unique as it can handle almost every type of pocket square.
With a business-formal brown suit, a white cotton pocket square is the most appropriate choice.
As things become less formal, you can add colorful and patterned pocket squares.
Keep in mind that the pocket square should complement your tie but never match it.