The variety of shirt colors you could potentially wear with a navy blazer is overwhelming. There’s a good chance that one or two of them would be more appropriate for your specific circumstances.
So, here are some great shirt colors you can wear with a navy blazer:
- White
- Blue
- Pink
- Black
- Purple
- Maroon
- Red
After going through a couple of factors to consider when choosing the perfect one, we’ll run through those color combinations in more detail.
Yes, with pictures too.
Let’s get to it.
How To Color Coordinate Shirts With Navy Blazers
These two principles will always serve you well.
1. The Dress Code Is Crucial
When wearing a navy blazer, white, cream-tone, and soft pastel shirts would be more appropriate in dressier and more formal settings.
Examples include business-casual environments and the dressier of those smart-casual settings.
The dressier the setting, the more likely it is that a simple white shirt would be most appropriate.
In slightly more laid-back settings, consider a cream-tone (eg. beige, cream) or soft pastel (light pink or light blue) shirt.
In the more casual of smart-casual settings, you’ve got the option of going for bolder, darker, and more striking shirt colors.
Examples include black, purple, and red shirts.
The beauty of wearing a navy blazer is that it’s neutral enough to wear with practically any shirt color you can think of.
Your selection should mainly be influenced by the dress code.
It’s worth mentioning that a blazer and pants combination (unmatched) should never really be worn in truly formal or business-professional settings, no matter what shirt color you go for.
A 2-piece suit would be required instead.
A navy blazer, shirt, and pants combination should be reserved for business-casual and smart-casual settings.
Here’s a summary:
- Business-Casual And Dressy Smart-Casual:
- Navy Blazer + White, Cream-Tone, Or Soft Pastel Shirt
- Smart-Casual:
- Navy Blazer + White, Cream-Tone, Or Soft Pastel Shirt
- Navy Blazer + Dark Neutral Or Non-Neutral Shirt
2. Consider Your Pants Color
The color of your pants should also be taken into account when choosing a shirt to wear with your navy blazer.
This is mainly important in more casual settings where more colorful items might be considered appropriate.
Ultimately, in business-casual settings, a neutral pants color would usually be required in any case.
But in smart-casual settings, if you’ve gone for a more vivid and eye-catching pants color – eg. burgundy, sage green, or burnt orange – you’ll want to keep your shirt color relatively subtle and neutral in comparison.
Let the pants be the “pop” of color and allow the navy blazer and the shirt to lie in the background forming a neutral foundation to your outfit.
For example, a navy blazer, burgundy pants, and a white shirt.
Or, a navy blazer, sage green pants, and a beige shirt.
7 Navy Blazer And Shirt Combinations To Try
Here are those blazer and shirt combinations listed and described in more detail with pictures to help you choose the right one.
Navy Blazer And A White Shirt
A navy blazer can easily be worn with a white shirt in business-casual and smart-casual settings. It’s arguably the dressiest and most formal option when wearing a navy blazer.
It’s so hard to go wrong with this.
If you’re ever in doubt or if you just feel as though there may be a risk of underdressing, go for a white shirt.
Simple.
It also gives you plenty of flexibility when it comes to choosing the color of your pants.
Going for an extremely neutral shirt color option gives you the freedom to go for a more vivid, striking pants color option if you want to.
Navy Blazer And A Blue Shirt
A blue shirt can be worn with a navy blazer in a variety of different settings. A light blue blazer would be more appropriate in business-casual environments, while dark blue shirts can usually be worn with navy blazers in most smart-casual settings.
Here, you’re going for a monochromatic pairing.
The main question is how much contrast you want between the two items – this should mainly be dictated by the dress code.
Light blue shirts are generally considered “workplace appropriate” and commonly worn in business-casual settings.
A navy blazer + light blue shirt combination would work well here.
Shirts in darker shades of blue will always look more casual but can work well with navy blazers in the right setting.
Just try to make sure that the shade of the blue shirt is different enough from the navy blazer to easily distinguish the two items from each other.
Navy Blazer And A Pink Shirt
Pink shirts look great when worn with navy blazers. In business-casual settings, choose a shirt in a light shade of pink. In more casual environments you also have the choice of wearing your navy blazer with a shirt in a dark shade of pink.
The great thing about wearing a pink shirt with a navy blazer is that you’re combining the “cool” undertones of blue with the “warm” and vibrant undertones of pink.
The two colors work extremely well together, especially when one of the colors is a dark and muted shade (i.e navy).
Light pink is a soft pastel and is often considered appropriate in business-casual settings, although it would never look quite as formal as plain white.
Overall, however, a navy blazer and light pink dress shirt combination would usually be fine for business-casual events.
In more casual settings (eg. smart-casual), you could consider wearing a shirt in a darker shade of pink (eg. salmon) with your navy blazer.
It would work well, although would undoubtedly be more striking and eye-catching than a shirt in a lighter shade of pink would be.
Navy Blazer And A Black Shirt
Black shirts work extremely well with navy blazers in smart-casual settings. The combination is an especially good option for dressy evening social events.
The main thing to note here is that the combination is dark – very dark.
With your top half this dark, you’ll want to be cautious when it comes to the color of your pants.
While you could go for a very light-colored pair of pants (eg. beige, cream), the level of contrast would be so high that the outfit may come across as jarring as a result.
Instead, try to keep the color of your pants reasonably dark. The easiest option would be to go for pants in a similarly dark, neutral color such as black or charcoal.
Alternatively, you could go for a medium shade of grey or brown instead.
FYI – avoid navy blazer + black shirt combinations in business-casual settings. Black shirts are always considered too casual in these environments.
Navy Blazer And A Purple Shirt
A purple shirt can be worn with a navy blazer in smart-casual settings, but the combination would usually be considered inappropriate for business-casual dress codes.
As you can see, purple shirts tend to be more eye-catching and striking than soft pastels, cream tones, and plain white shirts.
They’re less commonly seen and can stick out from a crowd as a result.
They look great with navy blazers, but it’s one of the more casual options on this list. Avoid wearing a purple shirt with a navy blazer if you feel as though there may be a risk of underdressing.
In more laid-back and relaxed settings, however, it can look very effective.
Consider the shade of the purple shirt.
Light purple shirts will look dressier when wearing navy blazers, while darker ones will be more in-your-face and casual.
But they’ll both coordinate seamlessly.
Both navy (a dark shade of blue) and purple are “cool” colors, as you can see from the color wheel:
Combining “cool” colors is easy to do. It often produces a laid-back and calming aesthetic.
Overall, this combination works well.
Navy Blazer And A Maroon Shirt
Maroon shirts can be worn with navy blazers in smart-casual settings. The vibrant and “warm” undertones of the maroon shirt pair well with the “cool” undertones of the navy blazer.
Maroon is a deep, dark shade of red with a noticeable brown hue. It’s a gloriously warm and cozy color.
It pairs very well with navy, but combining these two items would really only work if the setting was casual enough to allow for it.
It’s an eye-catching combination that wouldn’t be suitable in business-casual settings.
But in smart-casual settings, especially evening social events, it can really work well. The same would go for shirts in similarly dark shades of red such as burgundy and crimson.
Consider how much contrast you want between your pants and the dark top half of your outfit.
In addition, keep the pants nice and neutral to anchor the outfit, allowing the maroon shirt to be the “pop” of color.
Navy Blazer And A Red Shirt
A red shirt can be worn with a navy blazer in casual and smart-casual settings where there’s not much risk of underdressing. Avoid the combination in business-casual settings.
Here, we’re talking about shirts in lighter, brighter, and bolder shades of red such as scarlet.
Notice how the combination looks more striking and casual than the dark red shirts of the previous example.
While shirts in lighter shades of red can work well with navy blazers, the pairing can be quite in-your-face.
Keep the color of your pants very subtle and neutral in comparison to offset how eye-catching the top half of your outfit is likely to be as a result.
Ready Sleek founder. Obsessed with casual style and the minimalist approach to building a highly functional wardrobe. Also a fan of classic, vintage hairstyles.
