Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette. In today's video,
we'll discuss nine ways to incorporate earth tones into your day-to-day outfits.
In the current trends of modern menswear, monochromatic looks of gray, black,
and blue are becoming increasingly commonplace. While there can be a certain chic element to many
of these types of looks, they aren't the only options for you when trying to look stylish.
Now, when we look at the color schemes within nature for inspiration, we find a variety of hues
which we can use to help us create certain outfits. Colors like orange, yellow, or the
brown of an autumn tree or a crisp blue lake surrounded by pink, green, and purple foliage;
you can find numerous color schemes which can be incorporated into a
variety of outfits on all levels of formality. Now, while some might write these colors off as
being drab or uninspiring, we can't find this to be further from the truth. In fact, these looks
will inherently carry a lower contrast to them and will work with any skin tone. They also allow
you to stand out from the crowd with bold color statements, which are usually avoided in menswear,
without looking out of place. Now, to learn more about how to match outfits to your skin tone,
check out our video here.
Before we learn about how to include earth tones into our outfits let's learn about what
they actually are. Now, while this answer can vary slightly depending on who you might ask,
the most widely seen answer is that it's usually something associated with brown and something
that's also associated with plants and soil. This creates a subconsciously inviting situation for
the onlooker and puts anyone at ease with their surroundings. And to learn more about color
theory and how to incorporate different methods within your outfits, check out our video here.
Now, these colors will be in either saturated or neutral-based color tones. This means that
they'll be a bit more muted and flat. If you imagine an autumn tree's color scheme,
you'll see very rich yellows and oranges. They're sharp in color, but they don't overpower the
brown intent of the bark. To learn more about what neutrals are, check out our video here.
Now, as far as what hues make up earth tone's color palette, the most obvious ones are going to
be shades of brown or tan and colors like umber or sienna. But, they can also be variations of blue,
green, yellow, orange, red, pink, or purple. Now, these colors will often be more rich and
somber in the fall and winter seasons and carry a more pastel and lively tone in spring and summer.
Now, the greatest strength of this color palette is that it's incredibly versatile. It provides a
number of ways in which you can bring flashes of color into your outfit and it can give a much more
casual feel than the more industrial grays and blacks found in many men's wardrobes. And now
that we've discovered what earth tones are, here are nine ways we recommend you explore when trying
to include this color palette in your wardrobe. Number one: Wear a sport coat or leather jacket in
a shade of tan or brown. Now, since brown is the
anchor of the earth tone color palette, it makes sense to have your larger garment
be the foundation to anchor it all together. This color palette is inherently more casual,
so it makes sense to include it in ensembles that are more casual by design. Tweed was created as
outdoor clothing meant to be worn on the British countryside and certainly as a form of camouflage
during activities like hunting. This means most tweed sport coats have elements of brown, red,
green, or blue built into them by proxy. And to learn more about tweed, check out our video here.
There are also fabrics like camel hair, which are naturally a brown color which further helped to
reinforce this color scheme. Now, leather jackets are often dyed a variation of brown ranging from
a deep umber to a bright rust color. Now, this makes them an easily accessible layering piece
and either a casual or even a business casual setting. Now, with this brown base,
you can wear shirts that are variations of light, dark blue; shirts with yellow, green, pink,
or orange bases and pants that can either be tan, olive, or navy in complexion.
Number two: Wear a brown or olive suit. Taking this a step further would
be to have a full suit ensemble consisting of either brown or olive. Both of these colors were,
at one point, commonplace during The Golden Age of Menswear, but have since become much
more obscure in most modern men suiting today. Now, wearing a brown suit and either a charcoal
brown, a pinstriped, or a tobacco brown, or even an olive suit will carry a much more rustic
nature. This will serve you well in creating lower contrast looks consisting of earth tones. Now,
these can also be paired with blue, cream, and off-white colored shirts and can pair with green,
purple, and orange accessories particularly well. The earth tones create that harmonious look where
elements of the colors are found within the brown itself. To learn more about pairing brown suits,
check out our video here. Number three: Wear brown or khaki outerwear.
Now, another element from the golden age of menswear that's slightly unusual today
is to have overcoats consisting of earth tones. Now, this can include some that are
made from a tweed fabric, a camel hair, or the khaki color often found in trench coats. Now,
to see several examples of these in action, check out Raphael's collection here.
Now, these would work well with the alpha combinations we've mentioned before,
and a camel hair can also help to liven up a charcoal or a gray colored suit when on the move.
Now, the only downside with owning outerwear in this color is that it can show dirt and wear from
the elements much more readily and can cost a bit more to maintain. Just something to keep in mind.
Number four: Bring in accessories with earth tones. Now, a more affordable way to start incorporating
earth tones into your outfits is to focus on the accessories that have a lot of earth tones
within them. Now, this can be done with outfits that might not seem like they have a lot of room
for earth tones to begin with; for example, adding a green tie to a navy or gray suit
or an orange tie, for example, can make an outfit look a little less formal. Other elements that can
create this effect are pairing elements of purple and green, yellow and blue, red, pink and green.
Now, brown ties are also a very underrated accessory and can work incredibly well
with gray, navy, and brown colored jackets. Number five: Look beyond white dress shirts.
Now, while white dress shirts are incredibly useful and deserve plenty of space within a
classic wardrobe, relying on them too much can stagnate an outfit. Try using a lower contrast
shirt to bring the ensemble together. For example, using a light blue or cream colored shirt can
lower the contrast of an outfit. This will help mesh together color schemes which would otherwise
be too dark when using just a plain white shirt. Now, brown jackets can be better served with
shirts and colors like blue, cream, and green as opposed to white. Now, this will help
catch the primary colors that create brown. This makes the white shirt less important
in a wardrobe that incorporates these colors.
Number six: Instead of just wearing jeans casually and gray dress pants, look to include brown or tan chinos
or dress pants. While most jeans are blue, depending on their distressing, they can help
create earth tone-based outfits. There's a greater variety that comes from wearing tan chinos and can
cover a multitude of different formalities. Now, while wearing chinos. it's much easier
to create business casual outfits when wearing boots and dress shoes. They can also be worn in
more casual situations where jeans might often be worn. Now, more often than not,
many of us gravitate toward worsted and flannel dress pants in various shades of gray.
Now, while these are a great choice and serve as a wonderful neutral backdrop to most outfits,
it can prove to be not so optimal when trying to create a more earth tone-based palette.
Brown dress pants aren't seen as frequently but can serve as a positive alternative to this,
especially if you are one who enjoys a much more lighter brown dress shoe. The contrast against the
dark brown pants will look seamlessly together.
Number seven: Look into getting newsboy caps. Now, another area that gets overlooked in most men's wardrobes is
hats. Now, if you're someone who has any interest in exploring them, an easy entry hat would be the
newsboy cap. Most of these will be made of tweed for the outdoorsman origin, and inherently will
also include many earth tones. They mix well with most business casual ensembles and mesh
well with the theme of this video. Now, to learn more about newsboy caps, check out our video here.
Number eight: Opt for brown dress shoes over black. Black dress shoes work best for
dark worsted suits and look off when trying to be paired with more of an earth tone-based outfit.
This is due to the fact that there usually isn't as much contrast between the black and the brown.
Mid-brown dress shoes will have the largest amount of variety followed right behind by
light brown dress shoes. You could also explore getting suede dress shoes in brown or blue
if you frequently wear more casual ensembles.
Number nine: Look to include sweaters and vests in earth tones. One underrated element where you can
include more earth tones is in your sweaters. This can include something like a crew neck
or v-neck sweater or even a turtleneck. This works well since they serve as a
neutral base to help tone down any louder patterns and help ground your outfit. A
light brown or a buff vest can create a similar effect for more formal outfits.
Today, I'm wearing a green vest and a tan wool turtleneck paired with dark blue denim,
and brown dress shoes. And then, I'm tying it all off with a pair of brown shadow-striped Fort
Belvedere socks. For accessories, like the socks you see today, check out the Fort Belvedere shop.