Kind(s) of Blue

A friend of mine mentioned the other day that I was looking a bit “matchy-matchy,” with my blue striped shirt and blue socks. That morning I had been completely unaware of my “matching” when I grabbed my socks and shirt, thinking they both went perfectly with my neutral outfit of creme colored linen trousers, khaki cotton jacket, and burgundy tassel loafers. If I had been wearing a green shirt and green socks on the other hand, I certainly would have noticed.

I don’t think I am alone here in viewing blue as a neutral color, alongside black, grey, white, etc. From the basic pairing of a blazer and chinos or grey flannels to the versatility of a navy rep tie, blue seems to be present in much of classic menswear. This is not to say though that blue is boring or only has one dimension. Robins egg blue is a far cry from midnight blue, and while I would probably throw both of them on without thinking twice, I would gravitate towards each in a different situation.

One of the advantages to blue is that it tends to serve as a great background for other pops of color, such as red, green, or yellow. In the winter, I think there are few combinations better than dark blues punctuated with vibrant purples or burgundies, and come the summer (spring has already passed us by, sadly), a flash of yellow or green in a tie or pochette livens things up a bit.

While I have no intentions of casting off blues as an essential part of my wardrobe, I might try this week to switch things up and use blue as my accent color instead of the opposite. A pink shirt with bright blue tie, or a pair of green trousers accented with sky blue socks – who knows, this is about throwing caution to the wind, right?