A lot of my clients start out with very little colour in their wardrobes - mainly because they don’t know what suits them and are scared of getting it wrong.

And often, if they do branch out and buy something in a different colour, it then sits in their wardrobe unworn, because they don’t know how to combine that colour with the other things they have..

Hence this guide for men on how to put colours together, which I hope will get you started on being braver in your colour choices.

And if you don’t have any idea of what suits you then I have a Colour Consultation included in both my Style Review service and the Wardrobe Edit service where I’ll discover which colours suit you the best.

Neutral colours are a good place to start

These are the building blocks of your wardrobe….and probably what most men stick to. They’re great basics to have in your wardrobe as they’re super easy to put together with other neutrals or brighter colours.

• Neutral colours: navy, black, grey, white, beige, and olive.

• You can easily combine these with each other, plus they make a good basis for bolder colours too

• Be careful of how you pair black up. It’s a harsh colour so can suck the life out of other colours, and it can look cheap when paired with bright colours. I think it’s best worn with other neutrals like camel, grey, and white.

• Navy works better with bright colours.

Tip: Navy and dark brown is a very elegant and modern way to combine neutrals - see above

Use the 60-30-10 Rule

I’d use this rule as a rough guide - you don’t have to be exact in your percentages!

• 60% of your outfit is your dominant colour (eg. your coat, suit or trouser colour)

• 30% is your secondary colour (eg. your shirt or sweater colour)

• 10%: is your accent colour (eg. your scarf, socks or other accessory)

• So to simplify it even more, just think about your main colour, adding in some contrast, and a highlight.

Tip: You might need to add in another colour for your shoes like the guy in the image on the right above

Stick to 3 or 4 colours in an outfit

Sometimes when I've tried to put an outfit together with just 2 colours it all feels a bit too studied (unless it’s black and white) - just by adding in a 3rd colour - whether that’s a touch of white or a brighter highlight, everything looks more balanced.

• I find that 3 -4 colours in an outfit is a good rule of thumb.

• 2 can sometimes feel too ‘matchy matchy’ and more can get too complicated.

• Choose 2 neutral colours and complement them with 1 or 2 other colours.

• Think of denim as a neutral.

Tip: With the guy in the picture on the left, I’d put black Chelsea boots with his outfit…..it’d be a bit much if he tried to match the colour of his shoes with the jacket, and the black is a darker version of the grey sweater. White trainers would look unbalanced as all the light colours would be on the bottom half, he could have some multicoloured trainers though with a touch of the rust colour in them.

Go for varying tones of one colour

Think about the base colour and if it has more white or black added to it to make the various shades.

• Take one colour and wear a light, medium and dark version of it in one outfit.

• You can use any colour for this but the easiest will be neutrals like cream, beige and chocolate, or white, grey and black. See the examples at the top.

• If you’re confident, then you could go for a more unusual or brighter shade and wear different shades of it like they have in the second set of pictures above.

• If you love the look of this but don’t feel brave enough yet, then just try wearing the 2 toning colours on the top, and a neutral on the bottom.

Tip: You can also wear the same colour head to toe - usually a neutral. Add interest by using different textures - eg. if you were dressing all in navy then go for a navy cashmere sweater, indigo jeans, and a navy tweed overcoat.

Earthy tones look more casual

The “no brown in town” saying has definitely been relaxed, but earthy tones do tend to look more casual. There’s definitely been a growing trend towards dark brown suits though which can look great.

• Natural muted colours like khaki, olive, and tan lend themselves easily to casual looks

• If you want to use them for smarter looks counteract the colour by going for smoother fabrics and tailored shapes, or you could go for a pattern like the guy in the middle image above.

• Cooler tones like blue, white and grey are traditionally used for business, so if you mix in one of these cooler colours with the earthy one it’ll add to the formality - eg: tan with grey

• Plus if you have a higher contrast between the colours eg: a white shirt and dark brown blazer - then it also makes it look a little more formal

Tip: Most people suit either warmer earthy tones or cooler ones - wear whichever suits you most closest to your face and you can use the others for trousers or shoes or in smaller quantities.

Add accents of brighter colours

You might prefer to stick mainly to neutrals but it doesn’t mean to say you can’t add some colour in your accessories.

• Use scarves, hats, socks, pocket squares etc to add some personality to your outfit.

• You could choose a random colour that you like to add some interest, as you can see in the examples above

• Or if you’re wearing a pattern you could pick out the colour from that, or from another item in your outfit

Tip: Uniqlo have some great coloured socks if you want to start small!

Patterns bring colours together

Often people tend to shy away from patterns and they think they’ll be difficult to wear but sometimes they can help bring everything together

• Have one pattern and use the colours in that to inform the other solid colours you’ll wear.

• Don’t forget you can go for a shade or two lighter or darker

• Wearing similar coloured patterns can help to make them look more cohesive

• For more advice on pattern mixing, have a look at this blog post and this Instagram post.

Tip: Hold things up and look in the mirror at them - it’s easier to see which colour stands out than when you’re looking at them directly!

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