Navy suits are an extremely popular choice for good reason - they can be worn with ease effectively in both very formal and more casual settings (and look damn good while they’re doing it). Moreover, their versatility allows them to be paired with a variety of shoe choices - including both black and brown styles. But what socks should you be slipping on to best compliment your navy suit look?
Well, that depends on several factors, but colour is your best friend here. The golden rule is to never pair black with brown -and we will be sticking to that like a bug on flypaper over here because you do NOT want to mess up your super sexy navy look.
So, let’s press on and discover which socks you should be pairing with your navy suit this season.
Choosing socks to wear with navy blue suit
Navy suits are well-suited (pun intended) for both formal and more casual occasions, so it’s important to get your sock pairing right depending on the occasion you’re attending - colour plays a big factor here, with both grey and brown socks coming top of the pile.
Colour
If you remember one this after reading this article today, make it this:
NEVER wear black with brown when it comes to a suit. Don’t wear black socks with brown shoes. Don’t wear brown socks with black shoes. And please, for the love of all that’s holy, match your belt with your shoes - this isn’t amateur hour over here!
Now we’ve got that out of the way, you’ll actually be surprised at just how versatile navy is as a colour for pairing. It goes with black. It goes with brown. It goes with grey. Red. Deep green… hell, it’ll even go with yellow if you’re feeling brave.
The trick is to match your socks to three things:
- The shade of navy your suit is
- The colour of your shoes
- The type of occasion you’re attending
You match these up right and you’ll be styling that navy suit just right.
Style
Along with colour, you NEED to be paying attention to style when pairing socks with your navy suit. And style can be broadly be broken down into 2 categories for the sake of simplicity: formal and casual.
Formal socks are the most versatile as you can totally get away with wearing dress socks in a casual situation - they’re designed for elegance and understatement. But you probably won’t get away with casual socks in a formal setting - it will be a very strong look that, most often, simply won’t go.
So bear style in mind. If it feels wrong, it probably is wrong.
Best socks to wear with navy and blue suits
So, without further ado, let’s get into some of our top recommendations for socks you can pair with your navy suit today:
1. Calvin Klein Eric socks
Calvin Klein is one of the biggest names in pants and sock-dom for a good reason: this is quality underwear. And the Eric socks are right up there with the best.
Top of this list for a reason, these are the socks that we would most recommend for a pairing with a navy suit because they will honestly cover all the bases. They can be worn on both formal and casual occasions without issue. They come in a variety of muted and elegant colours to make your life easier. They’re comfortable as hell and strong enough to see you through many, many wears… they just have all the qualities you need from a fantastic pair of socks.
Moreover, they’re available as a 3-pack. And the one that we would actually suggest picking up is the 3 shades of grey (for when 50 is just too many). The reasoning behind this? Grey is the best colour to wear with a navy suit.
Not only does it flex for both casual and formal occasions, grey is also the most neutral colour on any palette - which means that, yes, it can be paired with both brown AND black… mind=blown, right?
Simply pair the shade of grey with your shade of navy (and shade of brown if you’re wearing brown shoes and belt) and you’re good to go. Remember, you want to off-set the shade of your other items slightly, so if you’re going very dark navy and dark brown, choose a slightly lighter grey to set the outfit off.
2. FALKE Walkie Light socks
For a more casual pairing, you should be checking out FALKE’s Walkie Lights TODAY.
Yes, they’re at the upper-end of sock costs, but they’re just… worth it.
They’re available in 4 muted colours that should compliment your more casual choice of shoe for a navy suit perfectly - again, for ultimate versatility, we’d recommend going with graphite - but, where these socks really win is the material and construction.
FALKE’s signature anatomic fit ensures that these socks will be your new best friends. They’re reinforced in the major stress zones, so will last you for many, many wears and crafted from luxurious merino wool - which is not only incredibly strong and breathable, but also fantastically soft. Like, REALLY soft.
So, while these were originally designed for those who enjoy long walks in the countryside or a spot of hiking, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t or couldn’t be paired with your navy suit in a more casual setting.
If you value comfort and quality, you should have a pair of these amazing socks in your drawer TODAY.
What socks will you wear?
So, navy is a really versatile colour choice and can be paired with almost any colour - just make sure to match your socks to the tone of the navy suit and, of course, the colour of the shoes that you’re wearing with it.
The best all-round choice for us has to be Calvin Klein’s Eric socks. They’re just the bees knees when it comes to understated elegance and the colour choices perfectly compliment a navy suit in every situation. Formal or casual, these babies will get you there.
If you want something that’s a bit more casual and aimed at delivery the very best in comfort, then choose FALKE’s Walkie Light socks. They’re top-quality socks and the shades will go well with almost any black or brown shoe (though don’t pair the ‘sand’ colour with black shoes - just don’t). The merino wool just makes these a winner whatever the season, so pick up a pair today.
If you need more info on everything ‘sock’ then get over to our Below the Belt Blog and take a gander through the rest of our selection of articles, offering tips, tricks and insider knowledge on how to ‘sock’.
Otherwise, get yourself onto our main sock page and browse at your leisure - we’ll find you the perfect pair for sure.
Enjoy your newfound knowledge and get to looking sharp in that navy suit. You got this.