Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette! In today's video, we discuss how to
pair two classic colors in menswear, brown and gray. Both gray and brown are
foundational colors in a classic man's wardrobe, they're less conventionally
paired together. By the way, if you want to learn more about how to pair neutral
colors such as brown and gray including others such as khaki green and blue
please check out this video here. and for comparison, you may also want to check
out the video of how to combine brown and blue shades together. So why would
you pair brown and gray together, in the first place?
Well, brown is generally a warmer tone whereas gray is generally a cooler tone. Under
normal circumstances, these two shades are combined with more contrasting and
sometimes also more vibrant shades rather than with each other. But honestly,
there's no reason why you can't pair them together especially because brown
comes in so many different shades, all the way from a very light beige or tan,
dark chocolate brown over medium tans and browns. The same is true for gray, you can
find it in mottled knit ties or two toned knit ties. In suits, you can have dark gray
flannels or light grey frescos, you can have gray sweaters such as turtlenecks
or scarves, for example, gloves or boots. Because both colors have so many shades,
it's very easy to find a combination that provides enough contrast and even
if the tones are rather similar, you can add a pattern to mix everything up. Now,
this is just a general overview. So how can you pair brown and gray together,
specifically? Here are six tips. One, always pay attention to contrast because
there has to be a lot. The issue is if there isn't enough contrast between your
brown and your gray, it all looks muddy, it looks very close
in color but not quite the same, and it looks weird. For example, look at this
combination of a gray turtleneck sweater
with a houndstooth jacket, even though the jacket has this pattern, if you step
further away, it just looks like a solid color and because it's not the same
color as the sweater, it looks off. The same is true in this outfit,
you have a Glen check jacket with a houndstooth pair of pants, both colors
are almost the same tone and they're just too close.
There's not enough contrast in terms of pattern and color. Now, a good combination
would be to pair a softer gray with a richer tan. Likewise, you could pair a softer
gray with a darker brown. Just look at all the options you have here, it's
really incredible, isn't it? Like I said, it is okay to pair two lighter shades as
long as there is enough contrast. For example, look at this light brown twill
overcoat with a light gray sweater and a brown hat. The sweater and the overcoat
are both light in color but there's still enough contrast. Also, if your
brown and gray are similar in color, you can still create contrast with a texture.
Just look at this white herringbone suit with a stripe compared to the very fine
herringbone brown tie, even though the colors are not as contrast ing,
it works really well together. So to come up with incredible outfits, keep in mind
that the closer the gray and brown are together in color and the less contrast
there is, the better you're off in having different patterns. For example, look at
this outfit here. There is a herringbone overcoat and brown with a gray suit and
a brown windowpane paired with a white and brown striped tie. Overall, it works
really well together for this gentleman. Just think about the endless
combinations of gray pants such as gray flannels and brown shoes.
Two, if you pair brown and gray, make sure there is a match in seasonality and
formality. You want to combine an overcoat with flannel, not with fresco or
seersucker. You also don't want to wear brown loafers with a dark gray flannel
suit without any socks, that wouldn't work together. Traditionally, even
loafers were too informal for a double-breasted suit. In this day and age,
you can pull it off but make sure you have a pair of socks and maybe not a
woven leather pair of loafers but maybe just a plain leather pair of
loafers. Three, consider adding colors as an
accent to make your whole outfit pop. Now frankly, while both colors aren't a
neutral family and can just be worn together without any other colors, I find
a little splash of color can sometimes really make or break the outfit and it's
very easy to use all the brown and gray basics in your wardrobe and make it look
like an entirely new outfit. Good places for colors are accessories such as
ties, bow ties, and pocket squares, maybe your shirt. Or for example, look at this
full gray suit paired with dark brown shoes, a blue
striped shirt, and a green tie. For example, look at this darker gray suit
with brownish undertones and a reddish brown stripe paired with brown shoes as
well as a light green shirt and a green tie. Brown and gray also work well
together if you add tones of red or burgundy. For example here, you can see me
wearing light gray slacks with a charcoal brown jacket and a red
houndstooth tie as well as burgundy red shoes. One of my favorite colors to
incorporate into a gray and brown outfit is off-white. Why? It's another neutral tone
and it just looks very harmonious, not flashy but very elegant together. For
example, look at those off white slacks paired with a gray turtleneck, a brown
jacket and tan monk strap shoes. It's unusual, it's neutral, and it's really
classy. Another color I like to add is petrol. For example here, I am wearing a petrol blue
fresco jacket paired with a white shirt and a gray mottled knit tie from Fort
Belvedere which you can find in our shop just like many other accessories in this
video here. I pair it with a light almost beige brown seersucker pair of pants,
dark brown penny loafers with a woven leather that underline the summery
character of the fresco and the seersucker. Now, in this
outfit, if I would have swapped the jacket for a light gray fresco one, I
would have a perfect summery combination of just brown and gray. A very easy color
to incorporate with brown and gray is blue. For example, if you have a brown
corduroy jacket and a gray tie, you can have a blue and white striped shirt. For
example in this outfit, you see the gray overcoat and a brownish paisley tie just
paired with a denim shirt. Of course, the overcoat has to be a
darker shade of gray so there's enough contrast between the suit, the tie,
the overcoat, and the shirt. The fourth tip is to utilize the optical
illusion of gray. What do I mean by that? Well, for example, look at this
houndstooth suit. If you look at the individual colors, it's kind of a beige
off white tone and a dark brown tone, so it is technically a brown but when you
take a step back, it looks like a gray suit from afar. So if you combine it
with a brown turtleneck sweater and suede boots, as well as a pocket square
in brown, you always have that mix between gray and brown depending on how
close you are to the garment, looks like a very harmonious fall winter season like
combination that is elegant but not over-the-top. There are also other colors
such as charcoal brown which consists of gray and brown in the weave so they're
both in there so they easily combine with brown tones and gray tones that
always looks well put together. Likewise, let's say you have a suit or pants with
a black and white houndstooth, from afar, they look like a solid gray and you can
easily pair them with shades of brown. For example for your shoes, I
particularly like the look with dark brown boots and black and white
houndstooth. Which brings us to tip number 5, instead of wearing black
shoes with your gray suit, think about wearing dark brown shoes. They just make
the entire outfit softer especially if you decide to wear suede shoes rather
than regular leather shoes. By doing so, you'll still have a formal outfit that
is slightly more casual and just great for fall/winter ensembles.
I mean don't get me wrong, a pair of black and white pants will always look
great with black shoes but if you compare it, here we have a black pair of
double monks and here is the same pair of pants with some chocolate brown boots.
Also, a flannel is generally more casual than a worsted and so a slightly more
casual shoe which is a dark brown works better versus black.
Our sixth combination tip is to pair gray gloves with brown outfits and
overcoats or brown gloves with gray overcoats and suits.
Traditionally, well-dressed men would not wear black gloves. They would have a
chamois yellow tone, maybe something in cognac or in a brown or of course, with
other suits, they would wear a pair of gray gloves and you can find all these
colors in gloves in our shop here. Alright, now that you know the basics of
pairing brown with gray, let's look at some specific outfits and how you can
learn from them. If you don't know where to start, having a
gray suit with brown shoes is the easiest and simplest way and chances are
you already have both of them in your wardrobe. For example, here is that brown and
off white houndstooth suit that looks like gray paired with a reddish brown
shoes or I always like to pair my light gray fresco suit with dark brown suede
shoes, I might wear boots are just regular derbys. Another cool outfit consists
of classic gray flannel pants paired with a brown sport coat. It can be something
lighter like this herringbone jacket or it can be something that has other
colors just in brown but gray flannel is very easy to pair not just with your
navy blazer but with all sorts of brown shades. Another great way to pair the
colors brown and gray is to have a brown overcoat paired with a light gray scarf
and then you can choose the tie you can either have a gray tie or a brown tie, it
will always look very harmonious especially if a contrasting shirt in
white or light blue. When it is colder outside, think about wearing a tan turtleneck
with a gray suit, that way, you can skip the neckwear,
it's a little more casual but still a very nice combination and of
course, if the suit is too much for you, you can always just wear a sport coat
and have a non matching pair of pants. Look at this gentleman, it's a light gray
quilted jacket, a slightly darker pair of gray pants, chocolate brown shoes paired
with a beige cardigan and a darker brown tie. If you have a darker brown suit, such
as this charcoal brown suit, you can just add gray accessories. It's a little
harder because you need something like a white shirt to create some contrast,
otherwise, the outfit can look a little dull so it may help to add a dash of
color in other parts of your outfit. Of course, when it comes to overcoats and
gloves, you're a bit limited to what you already have. Personally, I have a bunch
of different overcoats in brown, I also have some in gray, and I always play with
the color combinations and I am not so dogmatic that I must wear brown and gray
together but sometimes, it's really fun to force yourself to do it because you
come up with new combinations that you would have otherwise missed. Probably my
favorite brown and gray summer combination is my light gray fresco
jacket which is part of a suit paired with brown seersuckers. I like to
combine them with those brown penny loafers from Scarosso which have a
woven leather which is very summery and very contrasting to the pants but
overall, it just looks very elegant. If you already have a lot of gray suits, an
easy way to add brown into your wardrobe is by using ties. Now, you can go
with something like a grenadine tie which is great and we offer them in our
shop but what's even better is a knit tie because it has more texture and it
just creates that lovely more casual effect and you can wear a brown knit
tie with any other color too so it's not just limited to your gray wardrobe.
No matter if you get something, let's say in brown, which is more of a medium
brown or let's say in a two-tone brown like the tie I am wearing here right now,
it's just a wonderful accessory to have into your wardrobe that you can
pair with gray garments. In today's outfit, I am wearing of course a combination
of brown and gray with little hints of blue to make it visually more
interesting. My jacket is a medium brown herringbone jacket, which is part of a
suit. It's very warm in its tone and so I'm pairing it with a white shirt and a
brown two-tone tie because you see flecks of white and
brown. From afar, it could be mistaken as gray. My cufflinks are brown tiger's eye
with gold from Fort Belvedere and you can find it in our shop here. Just like the
tie the pants are gray striped and have flecks of blue, which is also picked up
by the dark brown and light brown paisley pocket square, which also has elements of
blue. The socks are brown solid color with clocks that pick up the color of
the pants and tie over elegantly to my medium brown shoes, which is a mix of the
colors that I have in my tie and my jacket. If we take a closer look at the pocket
square, it has elements of brown that are very close to the jacket. So, in theory,
it's not a good fit. However, the blue tones and the dark tones create enough
visual contrast so it all works together.