A man can never have too many blue suits. And the first suit you buy, should be dark blue. Or dark gray, but I prefer blue. But as there are multiple different shades of blue available and it is important to know how to combine them in the right way.
At the moment I have 7 blue suits in my rotation. A couple of them are appropriate to wear around the year and the rest are more or less seasonal. This week I just ordered one more - a dark / navy blue two-piece suit made of Loro Piana super 120s birdseye wool. But more about that as it arrives after few weeks.
As last week, the post consists of three outfits I wore for work this week. Three blue suits with different shades and different details. I wore a blue suit for the fourth day of the week that I was working as well but of that I unfortunately don't have any pics to share.
Light blue suit with navy grenadine tie
The first suit of the week is made of lighter blue Vitale Barberis wool-silk-linen fabric. I bought it from Vaatturiliike Sauma. It is a sample piece of their made-to-measure suits, so basically it is a ready-to-wear suit to be exact. But I've been lucky as most of the sample suits they get fit me pretty much perfectly on the body. And they only need to alter the sleeves and lenght of the trousers.
The lighter blue of the suit combined with darker navy blue grenadine tie.
As you can see, the shade of the blue is quite light. So this is more a suit for spring and summer season. You can't really wear this kind of blue during the cold and dark winter days. The material of the suit is also more appropriate for warmer seasons. And the fabric actually is one of my favorite mixtures for spring and summer. I'm not that fond of pure linen suits for example, but when you combine the linen with wool and silk, you get a perfect summer season cloth for the Finnish climate.
Due to the light shade of blue and the details of the jacket, you can see that it is a not a suit for the most formal business meetings. But it is a great option for more casual work related occasions and office days.
This combination could be an option even for more casual summer weddings.
Shades of blue and little bit of orange
Most of you know that blue and orange are my favorite colors. Therefore you can find little stitches made with those colors for example on the backside of every DLA tie. Blue and orange also work perfectly together. As you can see here, the navy grenadine tie and the orange silk pocket square create a very nice and balanced match. I chose to wear a white shirt, but for a example a shirt with dark blue stripes would have been just as good option here.
Always remember to keep the weight and texture of the pars of your outfit in balance. Here the silk pocket squares matche the light fabric of the suit.
Royal blue suit with pink striped tie
The second suit of the week is one of my oldest suits. It is a double-breasted piece from Suitsupply that I bought some years ago. And this Madison fit is actually the only Suitsupply model that really fits me. And actually a few weeks ago I bought another one, basically the same suit but made of dark blue pure cotton fabric.
In terms of color I have said that dark shades are preferable as they are more formal and more versatile options than lighter tones. And as you can see, even though this is not the darkest shade of blue you can get, it is obviously more appropriate for formal busines wear than the one above.
Classic with a twist - Royal blue suit with white shirt and striped pink tie.
The suit as the previous one is more appropriate for spring and summer. Mainly due to the royal blue color. The shade of blue and the fabric of this suit is especially beautiful in the sunlight as you can notice in the picture below. But I have also worn this through colder months and it works just fine, no problem. The shirt choice here gives you no surprise. A white DLA oxford shirt with the soft collar brings a little bit of restrained casualness to the attire. Again a shirt with blue stripes would do the job as well.
You don't alway need to wear your white pocket square as tv-fold.
Pink tie - rarity in my closet
Most of my ties are - as you know - plain colored, blue, gray or brown. I rarely wear striped ties and I rarely nowaday wear bright colored ties. But I recently found this old twill silk necktie from my closet at work and decided to give it a try. And I think it works very nicely here. The twill silk fabric matches the fabric of the suit and dark blue and pink stripes also highlights the royal blue of the suit fabric. And well, pink with blue is after all a classic combination.
If you want to see and read more about this particular suit, check the post here.
A double four-in-hand knot with small double dimple.
Dark blue herringbone suit with dark gray wool tie
The third suit of the week is a suit you have seen a lot here lately. You can see more of it for example in the post about business suit with denim shirt. But here you can see it in fully business oriented context. This outfit is the most business formal of these three I wore for this week. A dark navy blue suit, striped shirt and plain dark gray tie with white tv-fold pocket square. For another way to wear this suit for busines, check the post here.
Dark navy suit with dark gray tie and white tv-fold pocket square - appropriate for any business meeting.
Whereas the two previous suits are made for spring and summer seasons, this one is more appropriate for fall and winter. Therefore I think there won't be many opportunities to wear this anymore this season. Despite the fact that we still have snow on the ground. For this attire I chose to wear a striped shirt, even though I could have gone just with the plain white or light blue one. But that's just a matter of taste.
Dark navy with dark gray - you can't go wrong by combining these two colors.
As said, this attire is the most busines formal of these three. And even thouhg the shoes are not visible, I guess most of you would guess that I wore black oxfords with this one. I made a choice between black double monks and black oxfords but ended up going with the oxfords. Black tassel loafers would actually have done the trick as well.
Close-up - Four-in-hand with single dimple.
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