Couple Questions with a new suit (colour matching etc.)

[walkms00]

Hi, I'm getting a bespoke suit made for me now, it's a "midnight blue" suit (dark navy). So far I've bought a light blue shirt and navy tie combo, along with an aztec print white/black shirt. Firstly, I'm wondering what colour tie will match the aztec shirt (I'll upload a picture of the shirt in question).

My other question regards the light lube shirt I bought. Is it possible at all to INCREASE the arm width of a shirt at all? By this I mean making the shirt slightly looser around the arms, it strains quite a bit when i bend my arms or reach upward.

Cheers!



The aztec print shirt


light blue shirt and tie combo (which I'm planning to wear with the midnight blue suit to an upcoming event)

 

[mensimageconsultant]

No, it's not possible to increase a shirt's arm width (maybe a sweater's, but that is another story).

Blue suit, blue shirt, and blue tie is too much blue.

The "aztec" shirt looks like the kind that isn't meant to be worn with a suit or a tie. Nevertheless, if trying to do that, the tie probably is best as black knit silk or grenadine.

 

[walkms00]

Ok so midnight blue suit, light blue shirt.... How about a red tie for a bit of contrast?

 

[mensimageconsultant]

That depends on the shade of red and personal coloring. It might look good.

 

[archibaldleach]

Midnight blue suit, light blue shirt and darker blue tie can be done, but it's difficult to get right; I've seen some versions of this look that are very nice but most of them are not great. You're better off with some contrast in the tie. If you are going to go with a reddish tie with the midnight blue suit and light blue shirt, you should go with a burgundy colored tie. Most ties in the true red range are not good choices. Brown or pink are also excellent choices.

 

[mensimageconsultant]

Pink tie is highly dependent on unknown factors. Brown is quite limited based on circumstances. True, burgundy probably is the best choice among reddish ties.

 

[archibaldleach]



Pink tie is highly dependent on unknown factors. Brown is quite limited based on circumstances. True, burgundy probably is the best choice among reddish ties.

What unknown factors are we talking about here? We know he has a light blue shirt and dark blue suit; a pink tie is just fine with that and even better with a grey suit IMO if he were to get one. Brown may not be the world's most versatile color, but I'm not sure I'd call it limited. Perhaps it depends on the brown, but seems fine for a light blue shirt. Agree on Burgundy.

 

[mensimageconsultant]

Brown traditionally is considered wrong for evening events. Also, not great for formal business, which probably is irrelevant here.

Some people don't like pink, people with very pinkish skin tend not to look good in pink, etc.

 

[archibaldleach]

I think the effect from a pink tie on skin tone in most cases is not a big deal, though I could see some more extreme cases where it would matter. If OP does not like pink, he won't buy the tie; the question was about what tie colors would work with a midnight blue suit and light blue shirt.

I'd agree with you on brown if we were talking about wearing a brown suit out at night, but we're just talking about a tie here. This seems like even less of a crime against tradition than brown shoes in the evening, which is commonly done by a decent amount of well dressed men. It seems strange to me to decide that one particular color of ties does not work at night regardless of what else one is wearing. Maybe if OP were going to a black tie optional event, but even so. I've also seen plenty of well-dressed men wear brownish ties to the office. If you are wearing a nice suit and shirt that fit, nice shoes and a nice tie, you are light years ahead of most men out there. A tasteful brown grenadine tie isn't going to make the fashion police come after you if you wear it after 6:00PM.

OP, if you want to be super careful and conservative, you can avoid brown in the evening or the office, though I really don't think this is necessary. Skin tone is good to note re: the pink, but you can pretty easily tell if you (a) like pink and (b) whether it looks bad on you. If you like it and it looks good, go to town. I'd also consider the right shade of yellow or green. Really, a light blue shirt is a pretty great background for a lot of ties.

 

[mensimageconsultant]

That raises the issue of the rarity of brown ties at night, because it does seem a rarity (less common than maybe even green). In any case, if brown, it should be dark, and auburn would be better than pure brown.

Also, it's not just about whether he likes pink, it's about how aquaintances would react to it. Some men give others [bleep] for wearing pink.

 

[TM79]

Burgundy grenadine tie with the navy suit - stay away from shiny and true reds because they look clownish/bad.

You could also do a repp tie with some other colors in there. Don't do navy/blue/navy - it's too monotone and boring.

Depending on the event you may want to do a white shirt in lieu of light blue.