# New Suit advice for a Ginger



## MrMatchstick (Apr 19, 2015)

Hi all, I am looking into purchasing my first 'proper' suit. As you can no doubt tell from the title, I have red hair. I was wondering if there is any advice you could give as to what to look for/avoid. I am aware that the norm for a business suit is navy or grey, but with my hair and fair skin is there anything that would suit well or look particularly bad? I'm pretty tall with a thin frame so should I also look out for fit and what options are there out there for that? I haven't got a load of money so I am primarily looking at the company 'SuitSupply' (As recommended by a friend) or around the £250 - £300 mark.

Any advice would be great,

M.


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## SG_67 (Mar 22, 2014)

I wouldn't worry about the navy or gray. Either is fine.


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## ytc (Mar 20, 2012)

Who cares? Ginger here, wear pretty much everything except yellow and orange.


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## CLTesquire (Jul 23, 2010)

Opt for a suit with soul...since the rumor is that gingers don't have one. :biggrin:

But seriously, grey or navy can't be beat.


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## Spex (Nov 25, 2012)

I'll echo the above, but add that you likely want to avoid black and I feel that a mid grey may work better than a charcoal grey...but that's splitting hairs, really.


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## Tim Correll (Jul 18, 2005)

ytc said:


> Who cares? Ginger here, wear pretty much everything except yellow and orange.


Actually, there are a lot of colors that redheads should avoid in addition to orange and yellow. Other colors for redheads to avoid are amber, aubergine and purple (excluding dark shades), beige, brick red and red (excluding dark shades like burgundy for red and a mix of charcoal and burgundy for brick red), mauve (excluding darker shades like mixes of dark and medium brown and dark purple), mustard, lighter shades of light olive, peach and yellow-green.


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## Tim Correll (Jul 18, 2005)

I second gray and navy for the original poster's suit color choices. However, unless the OP is less or not prone to spilling beverages and food, I would advise him to avoid light gray.


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## Matt S (Jun 15, 2006)

The best colour for you would be brown, but brown isn't a particularly versatile colour. Black is the worst colour for gingers. Grey in any shade will be okay, but lighter shades of navy would be ideal. Also, avoid white shirts. Light blue and cream will suit your complexion much better. The American talk show host Conan O'Brien often wears black suits to emphasise his paleness, but he looks great in blue.


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## Oldsarge (Feb 20, 2011)

Blonds and redheads actually have more options than their dark haired colleagues. One of the things about the traditional British tweeds is their vast use of earth tones and one of the reasons they look so good on their native wearers is that fair-haired and -skinned chaps are flattered by them. Whereas those of us whose complexions are more Mediterranean will look better in the navys and greys that the Italians so favor. That doesn't mean a ginger won't look good in grey or blue. Far from it. And if this is the OP's first serious suit my recommendation would be to choose one of them. I'd favor medium to charcoal grey. I'm merely pointing out that for his third or fourth suit, he can happily wander away from the two basic shades and do so more successfully than I might.


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## Tim Correll (Jul 18, 2005)

Oldsarge said:


> Blonds and redheads actually have more options than their dark haired colleagues. One of the things about the traditional British tweeds is their vast use of earth tones and one of the reasons they look so good on their native wearers is that fair-haired and -skinned chaps are flattered by them. *Whereas those of us whose complexions are more Mediterranean will look better in the navys and greys that the Italians so favor.* That doesn't mean a ginger won't look good in grey or blue. Far from it. And if this is the OP's first serious suit my recommendation would be to choose one of them. I'd favor medium to charcoal grey. I'm merely pointing out that for his third or fourth suit, he can happily wander away from the two basic shades and do so more successfully than I might.


FWIW, the French, Greek, Portugese and Spanish (all of whom are also Mediterraneans) each favor the grays and navies as much as the Italians do.


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## Matt S (Jun 15, 2006)

Audi S5 TC said:


> FWIW, the French, Greek, Portugese and Spanish (all of whom are also Mediterraneans) each favor the grays and navies as much as the Italians do.


As do the English, for city wear. Pretty much everyone wears navy and grey primarily, except the Japanese who favour little else than black.


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## CornoUltimo (Mar 8, 2015)

I'm a redhead and I've found that the suit colors that fit me best are in the mid navy and mid grey range. Nothing too terribly dark, but not too light either. Just make sure not to wear most shades of red, orange, or yellow. IMO they almost never look good on redheads, unless it is a pocket square or something minor.


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## Oldsarge (Feb 20, 2011)

CornoUltimo said:


> I'm a redhead and I've found that the suit colors that fit me best are in the mid navy and mid grey range. Nothing too terribly dark, but not too light either. Just make sure not to wear most shades of red, orange, or yellow. IMO they almost never look good on redheads, unless it is a pocket square or something minor.


Greens, on the other hand, are dynamite.


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## Tim Correll (Jul 18, 2005)

Matt S said:


> As do the English, for city wear. Pretty much everyone wears navy and grey primarily, except the Japanese who favour little else than black.


Actually, all of the Asians favor little else than black, not just the Japanese. The Africans, OTOH, equally (and significantly) favor black, grays and navies.

The Africans and Asians have the same disdain (which is significant) for Earthtones other than beiges, lighter shades of light olive and peaches (which the Africans favor as much as black, grays and navies). The Asians equally (which is little) favor beiges, grays, lighter shades of light olive, navies and peaches


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## Tim Correll (Jul 18, 2005)

Matt S said:


> As do the English, for city wear. Pretty much everyone wears navy and grey primarily, except the Japanese who favour little else than black.


Black is just as favored by the French as grays and navies each are (which is significant). Other Mediterranean Europeans, however, only favor black for formal wear.

All Mediterranean Europeans (as well as Asians and Africans) have an all around disdain for midnight blue (which these people think is so dark you might as well wear black instead).


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## Tim Correll (Jul 18, 2005)

Matt S said:


> The best colour for you would be brown, but brown isn't a particularly versatile colour. *Black is the worst colour for gingers.* Grey in any shade will be okay, but lighter shades of navy would be ideal. *Also, avoid white shirts.* Light blue and cream will suit your complexion much better. The American talk show host Conan O'Brien often wears black suits to emphasise his paleness, but he looks great in blue.


I used to think so, too. But I was wrong.

Black, blue (all shades), gray (all shades) and white look good on everybody (regardless of their natural coloring).


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## Matt S (Jun 15, 2006)

Audi S5 TC said:


> I used to think so, too. But I was wrong.
> 
> Black, blue (all shades), gray (all shades) and white look good on everybody (regardless of their natural coloring).


Conan wears black a lot, and I really don't think it looks good on him. I think he wears it to emphasise his paleness.


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## AFCForever (Sep 26, 2013)

There is a decent book I read called Color You Style by David Zyla. It's written for women but it's main point is that you have colours in your natural palette and you should run with them.

Basically they are the darkest and lightest tone of your hair, the ring around your iris, the lightest and darkest colour in your eyes, the colour of your veins and your flushed skin. There is also a nebulous one about a white variant that flatters your skin tone, but that is hard to nail down. I think one of the reason darker complexioned people avoid brown is that that tone really doesn't show up for them like it does for Caucasians.

In your case you likely want to look at that dark tone in your hair and the ring around your eye and I suspect navy will be the tone in your eye.

For me the colours are dark brown, silver grey and navy - I focus my jacket purchases on them.


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## johwal (Apr 21, 2010)

As a ginger, you probably look best in earth tones. How about a charcoal brown?


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## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

MrMatchstick said:


> Hi all, I am looking into purchasing my first 'proper' suit. As you can no doubt tell from the title, I have red hair. I was wondering if there is any advice you could give as to what to look for/avoid. I am aware that the norm for a business suit is navy or grey, but with my hair and fair skin is there anything that would suit well or look particularly bad? I'm pretty tall with a thin frame so should I also look out for fit and what options are there out there for that? I haven't got a load of money so I am primarily looking at the company 'SuitSupply' (As recommended by a friend) or around the £250 - £300 mark.
> 
> Any advice would be great,
> 
> M.


Earth tones are your friends ! :icon_saint7kg:

Medium or light grey, rather than charcoal.

Blues can be tricky. Stick with softer blues to avoid unwanted contrast, and navy may not work for you.

First suit? Medium grey should be most versatile.

Edit: Some day, when you've fleshed out your wardrobe, get an olive suit. You'll look *SNAZZY!*


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## ilikeyourstyle (Apr 24, 2007)

MrMatchstick said:


> I haven't got a load of money so I am primarily looking at the company 'SuitSupply' (As recommended by a friend) or around the £250 - £300 mark.


SuitSupply makes some nice suits, and your thin frame should mean the trim fit pants will fit you well. If it doesn't work out for you, Charles Tyrwhitt suits offer similar value in that same price range.

Blue or grey, it does not matter, but I would strongly suggest your first (and second) suit to be solid/unpatterned.


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## Tim Correll (Jul 18, 2005)

johwal said:


> How about a charcoal brown?


They call that dark taupe (which is a mix of charcoal and dark brown or charcoal and medium brown depending on the shade).

FWIW, what most people think is light brown is actually light taupe (which, depending on the shade, is a mix of beige and light gray or light gray and tan) while what most people think is medium brown is actually light brown.

Also, FWIW, lighter shades of dark brown are actually medium brown while darker shades of dark brown are actually dark brown.

Oh, medium red is actually bright red (primarily known as red) while lighter shades of dark red are actually medium red (primarily known as crimson). Darker shades of dark red are actually dark red (primarily known as burgundy).

Medium brownish red is a mix of crimson and medium brown (not lighter shades of dark brownish red). Darker shades of dark brownish red are dark brownish red (a mix of burgundy and dark brown).

Light brownish red is a mix of bright red and light brown (not medium brownish red). There is also reddish tan (which is a mix of bright red and tan; this is as light as earth toned red gets).

A mix of fuschia (also known as magenta) and light brown is brownish pink (not a mix of fuschia and medium brown; this is as dark as earth toned pink gets). A mix of fuschia and tan is pinkish tan. There are also lighter shades of pinkish tan that are not a mix of fuschia and tan. And, there is pinkish beige (which is mix of beige and light pink; this is as light as earth toned pink gets).


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## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

Audi S5 TC said:


> They call that dark taupe (which is a mix of charcoal and dark brown or charcoal and medium brown depending on the shade).
> 
> FWIW, what most people think is light brown is actually light taupe (which, depending on the shade, is a mix of beige and light gray or light gray and tan) while what most people think is medium brown is actually light brown.
> 
> ...


Without contesting any of your other assertions, Paul Stuart who has often featured it, has always referred to charcoal brown, *as* charcoal brown. But there's no reason you may not be correct concerning the shade's proper name.


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## Matt S (Jun 15, 2006)

Traditional names for suit colours don't always match up to what the proper name is.


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