How to Match a Tie to Your Shirt and Suit

Learning how to match a tie with a shirt and suit comes down to three rules: contrast, color and pattern scale. Get those right and the combinations follow. Most men need only two suit colors, navy and gray, two shirt colors, white and light blue, and a handful of ties to dress correctly for almost any occasion.

The three rules: contrast, color and pattern scale

1. Contrast: darker than the shirt, different from the suit

The tie sits between the shirt and the suit, and it should separate from both. In practice that means a tie darker than the shirt, so it reads as a clear stripe down the front, and a tie that differs from the suit in color, shade or texture. A light blue tie on a light blue shirt disappears; a charcoal tie on a charcoal suit looks like part of the jacket.

2. Color: borrow from what is already there

The easiest way to make a tie look chosen is to repeat a color already in the outfit. A navy tie picks up a navy stripe in a shirt; a tie with a small blue dot ties back to a light blue shirt. When there is nothing to borrow, choose colors that sit well with the suit: burgundy, navy, green, brown and silver work with both navy and gray.

3. Pattern: vary the scale

Two patterns of the same size fight each other. Two of different sizes coexist. A shirt with a fine stripe needs a tie that is solid or carries a clearly larger pattern; a shirt with a bold stripe needs a solid or a small, quiet pattern. Changing the type of pattern helps too: stripes with dots, checks with stripes.

Five combinations that always work

These five cover interviews, offices, weddings and most evenings. If you own nothing else, own these.

What color tie goes with a navy suit?

Almost any color except navy in the exact shade of the suit. Burgundy, red, silver-gray, bottle green, brown, rust and gold all work, as does a darker navy in a textured silk. Navy suits are the most forgiving background for ties, which is one reason navy is the usual advice for a first suit. Our guide to navy suit combinations goes further.

What tie goes with a charcoal or gray suit?

Charcoal is the more formal gray and suits darker, richer ties: burgundy, navy, silver, deep green and purple. Mid and light gray suits are more relaxed and take a wider range, including brown, rust and lighter blues, as long as the tie stays darker than the shirt. Black ties with charcoal suits are best kept for funerals. See our guide to gray suit combinations for more.

What tie goes with a brown, tan or blue suit?

Warmer suits want warmer ties. A brown suit sits well with bottle green, rust, burgundy and navy ties, and with knitted or wool textures in autumn and winter. A tan or stone suit, usually a summer suit in cotton or linen, suits navy, brown, green and burgundy ties and looks best with white or light blue shirts. A brighter mid-blue suit behaves like navy but reads less formal, so it takes the same ties with a little more color. In each case the three rules still hold: darker than the shirt, distinct from the suit, patterns at different scales.

What tie goes with a white shirt?

Nearly any tie. A white shirt is the most versatile background there is, because every tie is darker than it and nothing clashes. For formal occasions, choose dark, quiet ties: navy, burgundy, silver-gray for weddings and black for funerals. For everyday wear, anything from green to rust works. Pale ties are the only ones that struggle, because they lack contrast against white.

Should your tie be darker than your shirt?

Yes, in almost every case. A tie darker than the shirt reads as a clean line down the front and looks deliberate. A tie lighter than the shirt, such as a white tie on a black shirt, reverses the usual contrast and reads as a costume or a fashion statement rather than tailoring. The exception is casual: a mid-blue chambray or denim shirt can take a slightly lighter knitted or wool tie, but never in a business setting.

Can you wear a patterned tie with a patterned shirt?

Yes, if the patterns differ in scale and ideally in type. A fine pencil stripe shirt goes well with a tie in a larger dot, a paisley or a bold stripe. A bold Bengal stripe shirt wants a solid tie or a small, quiet pattern. Avoid stripes of the same width on shirt and tie; at a distance they blur together. With three patterns, suit, shirt and tie, make them small, medium and large, or keep one of them plain.

Combinations to avoid

Matching by formality and season

Color and pattern also set the formality. Darker colors, smaller patterns and smooth silk read as more formal; lighter colors, larger patterns and textured fabrics such as wool, cashmere and knit read as more relaxed. For an interview or funeral, choose a dark solid or small pattern. For a summer wedding, lighter colors and linen or cotton ties fit the season. In winter, wool and cashmere ties suit flannel and tweed suits.

Building a tie wardrobe: the first five ties

Five ties, chosen with the rules above, cover nearly every combination of navy or gray suit with white or light blue shirt. Buy them in standard widths that suit your lapels, and add color and pattern only once these are in place.

1. 1.Navy grenadine or textured silk. Works with every suit and shirt here and is formal enough for anything short of black tie.
2. 2.Burgundy silk, solid or with a small pattern. The most dependable color for interviews and offices.
3. 3.Silver-gray silk. For weddings, ceremonies and formal daytime events.
4. 4.Navy with a small white or light blue dot. A quiet pattern that pairs with striped and checked shirts.
5. 5.Green or brown knit or wool. The relaxed option for odd jackets, flannel suits and days without meetings.

Where the pocket square fits

A pocket square should complement the tie, not copy it. A plain white linen square goes with everything and is the safe default. A patterned or colored square should pick up a secondary color from the tie or shirt, never repeat the tie's main color in the same fabric. Our guide to folding a pocket square shows the folds.

The tailor's view

A good tailor treats the suit as the background and the shirt and tie as the parts that change. That is why the usual advice is a first suit in navy or charcoal: both take almost any tie. When you choose a fabric from a swatch book, bring the shirts and ties you wear most and hold them against the swatch, ideally by a window. Shop lighting changes colors, and a tie that matched under spotlights can look wrong in daylight.

For more on building the wardrobe behind these combinations, see our guide to suit, shirt and tie color combinations. And once the tie is chosen, tie it properly with our hub on how to tie a tie.

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