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What Color Blazer Goes With Grey Pants? (Pics)

December 22, 2022
What Color Blazer Goes With Grey Pants? (Pics)

Grey pants are very neutral and easy to combine with other items. When wearing them, you’ve got plenty of choices when it comes to your blazer color, but some will look better than others. 

So, here are some great blazer colors you can wear with grey pants: 

  • Blue
  • Black
  • Navy
  • Brown
  • Grey
  • Tan
  • Red

That’s the short answer, but there’s more to it. 

After going through a couple of key tips for coordinating these two items in the best way possible, we’ll run through that list of blazer colors in more detail. 

Let’s get to it. 

What Color Blazer Goes With Grey Pants Infographics

How To Color Coordinate Blazers With Grey Pants

Consider both of these tips when putting your outfit together. 

navy blazer grey pants and brown shoes
Image From Deposit Photos

1. Dark And Neutral For Dressy Settings  

Firstly, it’s important to note that a blazer and grey pants combination should never be worn in truly formal or business-professional settings. 

It works well in business-casual and smart-casual settings. 

When dressing the combination up (eg. for a relatively dressy business-casual event), go for a dark and neutral blazer color such as navy, black, or charcoal whenever possible. 

The same would go for the grey pants. Consider a pair of dark grey pants (eg. charcoal) instead of light/medium grey alternatives. 

In more casual settings, feel free to go for light and even non-neutral blazer colors. 

Referring back to our list of blazer colors above, you could consider a light blue, light brown, light grey, tan, or red (eg. burgundy or maroon) blazer in more casual settings. 

You could also go for a pair of light grey pants instead of dark ones. 

Ultimately, you’ve got more options when dressing down for a casual or smart-casual event. 

But if you feel as though there’s a risk of underdressing or you’re simply attending a business-casual setting, strongly consider going for dark neutrals. 

Remember, in formal or business-professional settings, a 2-piece suit would be required. A blazer + grey pants combo of any variety wouldn’t be acceptable. 

2. Be Cautious With Contrast

Consider how much contrast you’re hoping to achieve between your blazer and your grey pants. 

A low-contrast combination would be one where the blazer and pants have a similar level of brightness. For example, a light color + light color combo or a dark color + dark color combo. 

A light grey pair of pants worn with a light brown, light blue, or tan blazer would lead to low-contrast combinations. 

light blue blazer and grey pants
Image From Deposit Photos

A light grey pair of pants worn with a dark brown, navy, or charcoal grey blazer would lead to high-contrast combinations. 

High levels of contrast can be striking and bold. They’re more attention-grabbing than the more understated appearance of low-contrast combinations. 

Both options can look great, but it’s worth considering what aesthetic you’re looking to go for. 

The low-contrast appearance of a dark + neutral blazer worn with dark grey pants will be your dressiest and most “formal” option. 

If, on the other hand, you were looking for a more attention-grabbing and eye-catching alternative, consider a high-contrast pairing instead. 

7 Blazer Colors You Can Wear With Grey Pants  

Here are those color combinations described in more detail. Notice how the dark + neutral combos look dressier than the lighter/non-neutral combos. 

Grey Pants With A Blue Blazer

Grey pants can easily be worn with a blue blazer in smart-casual settings. In general, the lighter the shade of the blue blazer you choose to wear with grey pants, the more casual the combination will look. 

Slate grey pants with light blue blazer
Images From Deposit Photos

We’ll be talking about dark blue blazers (eg. navy) later on. They’ll always be the dressiest option when wearing grey pants. 

Here, we’re talking about blazers in lighter shades of blue such as admiral, aquamarine, steel, cyan, and even aquamarine. 

There’s a wide range there, but you can rest assured that any of these light or medium blue blazers will look more casual than darker alternatives. 

So, reserve the combination for smart-casual settings and avoid it in dressier business-casual ones. 

When worn appropriately, it can look great. 

Consider the contrast. 

When wearing a light blue blazer, consider a pair of dark grey pants for a high-contrast aesthetic. 

Alternatively, consider a light blue blazer + light grey pants when going for a more subtle and understated look. 

Ultimately, the grey pants are neutral enough to wear blazers in any shade of blue. 

Grey Pants With A Black Blazer

Grey pants can be worn with a black blazer for a relatively formal aesthetic in business-casual or smart-casual environments. The greyscale appearance will have quite a “professional” appearance to it, so consider adding some color in more casual settings. 

Dark grey pants and black blazer
Images From Deposit Photos

This is one of those combinations you don’t have to put much thought into at all. It’ll always work. 

Both black and grey are as neutral as you can get. It’ll coordinate effortlessly. 

The main risk here is that the color scheme comes across as too plain or bland. It’s one reason why the combination does suit a business-casual environment more than it does a smart-casual one. 

Having said that, it’s definitely possible to dress this combo down by adding some color or visual interest using your shirt. 

You could, for example, wear grey pants, a black blazer, and a pink OCBD shirt. 

The pop of color produced by the pink shirt would make the entire outfit more eye-catching. 

In addition, going for an Oxford Cloth shirt instead of a dress shirt would also make it appear more casual. 

Of course, you could also dress this combination down by simply going for more casual blazer + pants fabrics. 

Consider relatively casual blazer fabrics/weaves such as tweed, linen, serge, flannel, and hopsack. 

In addition, instead of going for grey dress pants, consider a pair of grey chinos or smart jeans. 

Grey Pants With A Navy Blazer

A grey blazer can be worn with a navy blazer in business-casual and smart-casual settings. 

Dark grey pants and navy blue blazer
Images From Deposit Photos

You can appreciate just how much dressier a navy blazer worn with grey pants looks compared to a blazer in a lighter shade of blue. 

Navy, black, and charcoal are arguably the most versatile blazer colors, simply because you can wear them to practically any business-casual or smart-casual setting you can think of. 

They’re incredibly neutral, making them effortless to combine with other colors. 

Out of all of them, however, navy may be the most versatile. This is because it’s a little more eye-catching and striking than greyscale alternatives such as black or charcoal. 

They’re dressy, but don’t have the overly “professional” look that grey or black blazers do. 

Sure, they can be dressed up. But they’re generally easier to dress down than black or charcoal blazers. 

Grey Pants With A Brown Blazer

Brown blazers can be worn with grey pants in a variety of different smart-casual settings. Dark brown blazers may also be appropriate to wear with dark grey pants in more relaxed business-casual settings. 

Slate grey pants with brown blazer
Images From Deposit Photos

While it’s true that brown is a “menswear neutral” and very easy to combine with other colors, it won’t ever look as formal or dressy as navy, charcoal, or black. 

Brown blazers have a more casual and laid-back appearance to them. 

But dark brown blazers will always look dressier than light brown blazers, especially when pairing one with a pair of pants in a relatively dark shade of grey. 

So, it may be appropriate to wear to business-casual settings where there isn’t that much of a risk of underdressing. 

But it’s hard to deny that the combination will generally be better suited to smart-casual settings. 

Brown blazers, especially those with more rugged fabrics and weaves (eg. tweed, herringbone), look great when wearing grey pants during the winter and fall months. 

Grey Pants With A Grey Blazer

Grey blazers can be worn with grey pants for a subtle and monochromatic aesthetic. Try to ensure the two shades of grey are noticeably different from each other, however. 

Slate grey pants with dark grey blazer
Images From Deposit Photos

You don’t want to wear pants and a blazer that are so similar in color that it looks as though you’re wearing an unmatched (or poorly matched) 2-piece suit. 

You want to make it clear that the blazer and pants are entirely separate items and that the unmatched appearance is entirely intentional. 

Get this part right and it’s hard to go wrong with this combination. 

For a high-contrast combination, consider a light grey pair of pants and a dark grey blazer (or vice versa). 

This is often recommended because it makes it clear that you’re not wearing a 2-piece suit. 

For a low-contrast alternative, consider light grey pants + light grey blazer or dark grey pants + dark grey blazer. 

Just make sure the shades are different enough to be distinguished from each other. 

Grey Pants With A Tan Blazer

Tan blazers look great when wearing grey pants in smart-casual settings. The earthy tone of tan looks great with grey, especially during the fall and winter months. 

Slate grey pants with tan blazer
Images From Deposit Photos

Tan is a light/medium shade of brown with a noticeably yellow hue. 

While it’s relatively neutral (i.e a menswear neutral), the yellow hue does give it a nice sense of warmth. 

A tan blazer will add some vibrance to the truly neutral appearance of the grey pants. 

While you could wear a tan blazer in more relaxed business-casual environments, the warm undertones and relatively light color are usually more appropriate for smart-casual settings. 

Grey Pants With A Red Blazer

Grey pants can be worn with red blazers, with dark and muted shades of red (eg. burgundy and maroon) usually being the most appropriate options. 

Slate grey pants with burgundy blazer
Images From Deposit Photos

The eye-catching boldness of the red blazer would usually make the combination inappropriate for business-casual settings. 

Instead, reserve it for smart-casual settings where you’re looking to make more of a statement. 

While you could go for a blazer in a light shade of red such as scarlet, dark/muted shades usually have a more sophisticated and elegant appearance to them. 

You want it to be eye-catching, but not too in-your-face. 

Dark shades of red such as burgundy, maroon, or even crimson would achieve this for you. 

Conclusion 

Grey pants are neutral enough to give you a wide range of options when it comes to blazer color but stick to dark neutrals when you’re looking to dress up. 

In more casual settings, lighter and less neutral blazer colors can be worn with grey pants to good effect. 

Enjoy.