Blazers are a simple way to add a touch of sophistication to even the most casual of outfits. But what color pants should you wear with a grey blazer?
A grey blazer can be worn with navy blue or black pants in formal or business-casual settings. When dressing more casually, consider pants in colors such as maroon, forest green, or plum purple.
As you can see, you definitely aren’t short of options.
But knowing which one you should wear for any given setting does depend on a few crucial factors. We’ll be going through those first.
Then, we’ll go through some examples of combos you can try out for yourself.
Color Matching Pants With Grey Blazers: Guidelines
The grey blazer is incredibly versatile.
But be careful with the color of pants you choose to wear with it.
While color-coordinating is easy with neutral colors such as grey, the setting you’re dressing for should determine the pants color you choose.
1. Dark Neutrals For Formal Events
In more formal settings, go for a dark grey blazer with a dark and neutral pair of pants (eg. black, charcoal grey, or navy).
However, it’s important to note that in truly formal settings there’s a good chance you’d be expected to wear a 2-piece suit in any case. In other words, a non-matching blazer and pants combo won’t cut it.
But if you do think a blazer and pants combo would be OK, stick to dark and neutral pants in dressier settings.
While navy blue technically isn’t a neutral, it could be labeled one given how muted it is.
2. Light Neutrals And Non-Neutrals For Casual Events
Light and neutral-colored pants include those in white, off-white, beige, tan, and khaki.
Non-neutral colors are those you’ll find on the color wheel (see next section). They include reds, yellows, oranges, blues, greens, and purples.
The grey blazer is neutral enough to combine with any of them pretty easily.
However, light neutrals and non-neutral colored pants will always look more casual than wearing dark and neutral pants.
Light neutrals could be worn in business-casual or smart-casual settings, while non-neutral colored pants should only be worn with a grey blazer in smart-casual settings.
3. The Color Wheel Is Helpful
Although it isn’t essential, the color wheel can be helpful when choosing a pair of pants to wear with your grey blazer.
You don’t need it for the purpose of color coordination here, as grey is neutral enough to easily combine with anything.
But looking at the color wheel can be useful for figuring out what kind of vibe you want from your blazer and pants combo.
The colors on the “warm” half of the wheel such as reds, yellows, and oranges would look more vibrant and eye-catching when worn with a grey blazer.
The colors on the “cool” half of the wheel such as blues, greens, and purples would look more relaxed and laid back.
We’ll refer back to the almighty color wheel as we run through the combinations below.
Grey Blazer And Pants Combinations
Here are some great combos together with their ideal dress code(s), as well as other potential items you could wear them with.
Grey Blazer With Navy Blue Or Black Pants
Dress Code – Formal Or Business-Casual
Color Scheme – Dark Neutrals
Other Potential Items – Dark brown or black Oxford/Derby shoes, white dress shirt.
Dark neutrals such as navy blue orf black pants are very easy to wear with a grey blazer, especially in dressier settings.
It’s important to bear in mind that if you do feel as though an event is more formal, consider wearing a blazer in a dark shade of grey as well.
Stick to black or dark brown dress shoes – ideally Oxford or Derby shoes. Black would be the more formal option, but dark brown would be a very effective alternative if you wanted a bit of contrast.
Remember, if you felt as though an event was truly formal, avoid the blazer and pants combo altogether and wear a 2-piece suit instead.
Grey Blazer With Grey Pants
Dress Code – Business-Casual Or Smart
Color Scheme – Monochromatic
Other Potential Items – White or light blue dress shirt, tan brown dress shoes
A monochromatic outfit is one where you combine items in different shades of the same color.
Here, you’d combine a grey blazer with pants in a different shade of grey.
For example, a light grey blazer with dark grey pants, or vice versa.
While you don’t need this much contrast, it’s important to ensure that the blazer and the pants aren’t too similar in shade.
Doing so would risk making it appear as though it’s a bad attempt at a 2-piece suit, almost as if you grabbed the wrong pair out of your wardrobe.
The contrast between light and dark you’d achieve would be striking and effective.
However, it would usually look more casual than going for a dark grey blazer with a dark and neutral-colored pair of pants instead (as per the previous combo).
Because of this, the monochromatic combination works better in business-casual and smart-casual settings than it does in formal ones.
Grey Blazer With Khaki, Cream, Or White Pants
Dress Code – Business-Casual Or Smart-Casual
Color Scheme – Light Neutrals
Other Potential Items – White or light pink dress shirt, suede dress shoes
Light neutrals work well in business-casual settings where you want to dress up but not too much.
The contrast between the grey blazer and the pants will be striking here, but keeping everything neutral should make it perfectly acceptable for business-casual events.
You could go for a dark grey blazer if you wanted more contrast with the pants, or a light grey blazer if you wanted less contrast.
Light and neutral colors include beige, off-white, khaki, and tan. White is possible too.
Given you’re dressing down a little here, consider going for a more casual pair of dress shoes.
Suede is a great option – it’s dressy, but the napped texture makes it appear more laid back than shinier grains of leather.
Grey Blazer With Blue Or Green Pants
Dress Code – Smart-Casual
Color Scheme – “Cool” Colors
Other Potential Items – White shirt, T-shirt, or turtleneck sweater. Suede shoes or white sneakers.
The color wheel is split into “warm” colors and “cool” colors. The half with cool colors consists of blues, greens, and purples.
They have a more relaxed, laid-back, and winter/fall-friendly aesthetic.
Pants in any of these colors would work perfectly well with a grey blazer.
Sticking to muted shades of these colors would be best, however. Avoid the fluorescent lime green pants, for example.
Think forest green, hunter green, olive green, plum purple, and medium shades of blue.
Wearing a grey blazer with non-neutral-colored pants like this will lead to a more casual outfit. Reserve it for smart-casual settings, just as you would with warm-colored pants.
In addition, let the pants be the most colorful aspect of the outfit and keep the other items neutral.
So, avoid wearing a colorful shirt – go for something light and neutral (ideally white) instead.
Too much color can be overwhelming and distracting.
Grey Blazer With Dark Red Or Burnt Orange Pants
Dress Code – Smart-Casual
Color Scheme – “Warm” colors
Other Potential Items – White shirt or T-shirt, suede shoes or white sneakers
Referring back to the color wheel, you’ll see that the “warm” half consists of reds, yellows, and oranges.
They’re eye-catching and energetic.
Wearing pants in one of these colors works great during the warmer months. Grey blazers do work exceptionally well with them given how neutral they are.
The darker and more muted shades of these warm colors do tend to work better. They may be less striking, but they’re easier to pull off without drawing too much attention.
Maroon, burgundy, crimson, mustard yellow, burnt orange – they’re all great options for pants when wearing a grey blazer.
However, much like with the cool-colored pants, stick to wearing white dress shirts here. Let the pants be the one pop of color in your outfit and go for neutrals for everything else.
Conclusion
It’s hard to comprehend just how versatile a grey blazer really is. Technically, you can’t really go wrong with it.
However, the color of the pants you choose to wear with it is important and should be determined by a variety of different factors.
Think about the dress code, as well as the other items you’re planning on wearing with it.
Sticking to basic principles should ensure you don’t go wrong.
Enjoy.
Ready Sleek founder. Obsessed with casual style and the minimalist approach to building a highly functional wardrobe. Also a fan of classic, vintage hairstyles.
