I have a dark blue shirt and blue and black tie and need to know what pant color i should wear with it. I will be wearing a suit jacket some of the time. It's a formal dinner.
Oh my, where to start? Are you trolling? At least tell us the color of the jacket (dont call it a suit jacket unless it is part of a suit, ie has matching pants) and also be more specific about what you mean by formal.
This combination is way out of the ordinary for classic menswear and is not formal at all. So whatever anyone recommends won't pull the dark blue shirt and navy/black tie into something classic...ever, especially without a jacket that matches your pants (in other words a suit). At best, what you'll get is a coordinated semi-dressy fashion-forward outfit that's still not appropriate for a formal dinner (and by formal I'm assuming black tie tuxedo). So to do this right, invest in an actual suit and wear this: 1. Solid Charcoal/dark grey dress suit 2. White dress shirt 3. Burgundy tie 4. Black belt 5. Black dress shoes 6. Charcoal/dark grey dress socks The above is classic and while it's not exactly formal, it will get you by. I would recommend a black suit, but it doesn't sound like you wear suits very often. At least a dark grey suit will serve you well for many other occasions including job interviews, wedding, anniversaries, etc.
Dark shirts should never be worn with ties, they are casual only. Invest in a white or a light blue shirt. And the other posters are correct- if it doesn't have matching pants, it's not a suit jacket- it's a sportcoat. If it does have matching pants, wear those with a white shirt and a tie. If it doesn't, the tan pants and a navy jacket would be excellent- with a better shirt.
@magnanimist okay so I used formal in the wrong way haha. It's a dinner with my freshman High school class mates through our school
I was wondering about those dark shirts that some actors wear with their suits. It doesn't do any justice to the suit, the suit stands out more with a lighter colored shirt.
OK, high school freshman class. Nice dinner. You want to look good. Here are some solid options: 1. Grey suit ensemble as mentioned above. 2. Everything the same except a navy suit. 3. Everything the same except navy sport coat and grey dress slacks. Either way ditch the navy shirt/tie and black pants.