There’s a good chance that one or two of those colors would be ideal for your specific circumstances, while the others would just be OK.
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Purple, a color regularly associated with royalty and opulence, can be paired well with a wide range of other hues. When wearing bold purple tones, let your purple garment stand out by wearing it with quieter colors that complement without competing. For light purples, choose vibrant, contrasting colors to create a bold look.
Blue & Purple Tones
Take a simple approach and mix different tones of purple together. A deep purple pair of skinny jeans looks super chic with a pastel purple silk blouse. Dark brown high-heel boots worn over the jeans and delicate gold jewelry — think medium-sized hoop earrings and a simple pendant necklace — effortlessly complete the ensemble. For a little variation, pair purple with blue instead. Different shades of blue complement purple well. Wear a navy blazer over a pastel purple sundress, and finish your outfit with white pearl stud earrings, tan leather sandals and a chunky gold bracelet.
Different shades of purple work very well with both gold and silver. Gold creates a warm, regal look, and silver highlights purple’s cool undertones. Wear a gold brocade peplum top with some rich purple slacks for a great alternative to a cocktail dress. Black patent pointy toe pumps and diamond or rhinestone stud earrings are all you need to finish the outfit. If silver is your metallic of choice, wear a light purple cashmere cardigan with a silver sequin miniskirt. Keep the outfit daytime appropriate by adding opaque black tights and dark brown or black riding boots. If you’d like to wear jewelry, choose simple silver or pearl stud earrings, which won’t compete with the sequins on your skirt.
Neutral Backdrops
Use neutrals as a backdrop for your purple garments. Generally, dark neutrals work well with light purple tones, and light neutrals, like khaki, white and tan, complement deep, rich purple shades. A bright purple blouse stands out when worn with classic white pants; team with neutral accessories — think tan leather sandals and a nude patent envelope clutch — to accent the purple without being overwhelming. Or, pair a black silk t-shirt with lavender skinny jeans and pick simple accessories to finish off your outfit — white and gold jewelry and brown leather loafers are chic neutral options.
Although purple can be a very bold color depending on the specific tone, it can still be worn easily with other brights. Red, for instance, looks striking when worn with a complementary shade of purple. Wear bright red skinny jeans with a very dark purple blouse or sweater. Basic accessories — brown leather boots and a chunky gold chain necklace — allow the two colors to remain the focal point of your outfit. Yellow is another contrasting, yet complementary, color to pair with purple. Create a feminine springtime ensemble by wearing a lavender cardigan over a vibrant yellow dress. Nude espadrille wedges and a simple pearl necklace tie the whole look together effortlessly.
How To Color Coordinate Purple Pants With Shirts
Consider all of these factors before putting your outfit together.
1. Consider The Dress Code
First things first – purple pants should never be worn in formal or business-casual settings. They’ll always look too casual for those events.
They should only be worn in casual or smart-casual settings.
While that may sound restrictive, there are a whole lot of settings and occasions that could potentially refer to.
Your shirt color should be influenced by how much you’re looking to dress up or dress down those purple pants.
If you’re dressing for a more “smart-casual” setting, a neutral shirt color would definitely be the easiest option.
These would be white, grey, or black.
If you were dressing down and wanted a more vibrant color combo, you could consider a shirt color such as blue, green, or pink.
But when wearing purple pants, it’s important to choose the right shade of one of these colors or things could go wrong.
Let’s discuss that now.
2. Stick To Neutral Or Muted Colors
Neutral shirt colors (white, grey, or black) would be the easiest and dressiest option when wearing purple pants.
But if you do choose a shirt color such as blue, pink, or green, go for a muted shade.
Muted colors are the opposite of vivid ones and have a dulled, desaturated look to them.
These make for perfect shirt colors when wearing an in-your-face and dominating pants color such as purple.
So, instead of lime green, go for olive or sage green.
Instead of vivid cerulean blue, go for muted sky blue.
The more muted the color, the better.
What you don’t want is a combination of two bold and dominating colors fighting for attention.
While going for a neutral color would be a simple way to avoid this, muted shades of more vibrant colors are also perfectly possible to pull off.
3. The Color Wheel Can Help
So, muted shades of non-neutral colors can work well, but how do you know which colors to go for?
The color wheel can help here.
As you can see from the image, purple falls within the “cool” half along with the blues and greens.
“Cool” colors tend to sync well with other cool colors, which is why a muted shade of blue or green (as mentioned earlier) would be a good way to go.
If you do want to go for a “warm” color such as red, orange, or yellow, be sure to choose a very muted shade.
High-contrast combinations such as these can sometimes come across as over-the-top and “too much color”.
A light and muted pink would work as a reasonable middle ground.
5 Purple Pants And Shirt Combinations
Here are those combinations in more detail. You’ll see how the entire aesthetic can change depending on the color of the shirt.
Some look dressier, while others look very casual.
To keep things simple, go for pants in a muted shade of purple such as muted mauve or plum purple.
Purple Pants With A White Shirt
Purple pants can easily be worn with a white shirt in casual and smart-casual settings. The contrast between the colorful pants and the neutral shirt is subtle but easily noticeable.
This is, by far, the easiest purple pants and shirt option you could go for.
A white shirt brings entirely the opposite vibe to purple pants. It isn’t bold or in-your-face.
It’s subtle, understated, and fits seamlessly into the background of any outfit without the risk of a color clash.
If you were looking for an unproblematic shirt color, this would be it.
It’s even more useful when you’re wearing pants in a more vivid shade of purple.
Purple Pants With A Grey Shirt
Purple pants can be worn with a grey shirt in a variety of different casual settings, but it’s best to reserve the combination for casual and smart-casual events.
Once again, a neutral shirt color such as grey is pretty easy to pull off without having to give it too much thought.
It’s worth considering what shade of grey to go for, however.
Light, medium, and dark shades of grey can work, but will all produce different effects and looks when wearing purple pants.
Consider how much contrast you want between the two items. In general, the more contrast you have between the items in terms of light and dark, the more eye-catching and attention-grabbing it’ll be.
- Light purple pants with a light grey shirt
- Dark purple pants with a dark grey shirt
- Light purple pants with a dark grey shirt
- Dark purple pants with a light grey shirt
It just depends on how subtle or how eye-catching you want the combination to look.
Either way, grey is neutral enough for any of the shades to work.
Purple Pants With A Black Shirt
Purple pants can be worn with a black shirt in smart-casual settings, working especially well for dressy evening social events.
Black has the benefit of being neutral and coordinating effortlessly with purple.
But it also has the benefit of having a sophisticated and elegant edge to it.
While you could comfortably wear a black shirt with purple pants throughout the day, the dark aesthetic tends to look especially good in the evenings.
Of course, the style of shirt you go for will make a difference in how dressy it looks.
If you’re dressing up, go for a black dress shirt. If you’re dressing down, consider a black OCBD or linen shirt instead.
Purple Pants With A Light Blue Shirt
A light blue shirt can confidently be worn with purple pants in casual settings, with the cool undertones of the two colors syncing well.
It won’t ever look as “smart” as a more neutral option (i.e white, black, or grey), but the professional aesthetic of a light blue shirt makes it a pretty formidable alternative.
Here, you’re mixing a “cool” color with another “cool” color.
Referring back to the color wheel, blues, greens, and purples are the most prominent colors within the “cool” spectrum.
Mixing cool colors with other cool colors can work well, but it does need to be done the right way to avoid an excessively vivid outfit.
Here, go for a muted shade of light blue and a muted shade of purple to make it work.
Purple Pants With An Olive Green Shirt
Olive green shirts can be worn with purple pants in a gloriously casual and eye-catching outfit.
What’s great about olive green is that it’s subtle and muted.
In fact, olive green is often considered neutral in the world of men’s style. That’s how muted it really is.
Once again, however, the cool and laid-back undertones of green will be obvious and will always pair well with those of the purple pants.
Conclusion
As you can see, you’ve got options – but not a whole lot.
Purple pants are striking and should serve as the focus of the outfit. Adding other in-your-face colors into the outfit often goes wrong.
If you do want to go for a colorful shirt, stick to muted shades of “cool” shades such as muted sky blue or olive green.
If you’re getting more outlandish with it, consider a light and muted shade of pink.
Ready Sleek founder. Obsessed with casual style and the minimalist approach to building a highly functional wardrobe. Also a fan of classic, vintage hairstyles.
Tags dressy color coordinationpantsshirts
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Lavender color outfit inspiration
Now, Check out some real world style examples!
When to wear lavender
A good rule of thumb for guys wanting to wear lavender but not sure how to work it into an outfit? If you were planning on wearing white, consider subbing in lavender instead this spring.
Translation? The white dress shirt you were going to wear with a khaki-colored suit could easily be swapped for a lavender one. Or maybe you were going to top of those navy chinos with a white pocket tee? How about a faded lavender number instead? The world is your (lavender-loving) oyster.
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