How dark should a navy suit be?

[Leslie Chow Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Leslie Chow]

Just picked up a navy chalk stripe suit off of eBay. (Banana Republic Tailored cut for quite a steal)


Upon receiving it, I put it side by side with one of my other suits, most notably a charcoal pinstripe. I find it quite hard to differentiate the color between the two.


Being as this was my first navy suit, should it be that dark? I cannot picture this suit being worn with dark brown shoes like most other navy suits.

[bruschetta Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close bruschetta]

Leslie, that dark navy is perfectly fine. It's the traditional, conservative shade of navy.

[hornsup84 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close hornsup84]

A majority of navy suits will be nearing the point of black/charcoal dark. Navy blazers occasionally you'll get a bit more in the way of blue hues, and more fashion-forward suits will sometimes go very blue. You're definitely fine if you like the suit.

[Leslie Chow Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Leslie Chow]

I gather that black shoes would be more fitting for the dark conservative navy as opposed to say oxblood or some similar dark brown shoes?

[Sose Varsity Member Find all posts View Profile Close Sose]

I think oxblood is a wonderful option. It will set you apart from the getgo.

[jordan Member Find all posts View Profile Close jordan]

The trend leans to the darker. If you get too bright, you would look like something out of the 1980s.


As an aside, I really want a midnight navy tux.

[hornsup84 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close hornsup84]

I still wear dark brown with my navy, and sometimes even a (little darker than) walnut color shoe I have when I'm going business casual / no tie. I'm relatively anti-black anything, but that's just personal preference and my very small rebellious gesture in my otherwise suited up legal world (sometimes with, gasp, colored/patterned socks!).


Debating my next shoe... I have good brown and black captoes, so I'm thinking either a walnut strand to replace/upgrade the lighter brown shoes I have, or possibly some oxblood color shoes. Maybe both, we'll see about the sales later this year

[kronak Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close kronak]

Darker is the much safer option....that being said, there's room in your wardrobe for a lighter blue suit - I really like this one from TheStyleBlogger - I'd wear it with dark brown shoes instead of black ones though:


http://www.thestyleblogger.com/wp-co...y3-580x871.jpg

[tdig Varsity Member Find all posts View Profile Close tdig]

If you only have one then lean towards a darker shade. I agree with kronak though that a lighter/bluer shade can look awesome. suit supply does a great shade (minus the huge lapel).

[Chareth Varsity Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chareth]

If you can't differentiate your navy suit from your charcoal suit (no matter how dark either one is), then either your navy suit is not really navy, or your charcoal suit is not really charcoal.

[Leslie Chow Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Leslie Chow]

Chareth, it's not that I cannot differentiate. It's that it takes a bit longer to see.


I guess it just gives me an excuse to buy another suit! I feel like Barney Stinson when I go out with friends...