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Fit, fabric and quality are all yardsticks for good men’s fashion, but color is very rarely a strength of men’s wardrobes. Your own repertoire is most likely limited to blacks, whites, grays and that occasional shot of red or blue. As you very well know, the color spectrum has a far wider range than that, and so should your sense of style. It’s time to stand up, dress up and show that the ladies don’t have the monopoly on colorful, vibrant fashion.

Expanding Your Closet
Before you get all fashionable with color, you have to get some colorful items in your wardrobe first. Start with basic items like polos, shirts and neckties because they’re the easiest to work with, and because they make good style investments. No matter how cheap or tempting it might be to get that fire engine red pair of jeans, the difficulty of wearing it has a greater cost.

Don’t panic if you’ve never tried playing with colors before. You don’t have to go all out on your first try with some kaleidoscopic outfit. The cool thing with men’s fashion is that even the smallest touches can have a huge effect on your look. Start small if you’re not confident with carrying colors just yet.

Basic solids are the best place for you to start. Stock up on shirts, neckties, pocket squares and other style pieces in colors like red, green and blue. Opt for deep and dark shades like burgundy, olive and navy, respectively, if you go for versatility in your fashion. Keep in mind that the closer a color is to pure black or pure white, the more it’ll have the flexibility of style of that color.

Learn Your Colors
Not all colors will suit all men equally. Some guys gain much from shocking shades of orange, while others might do better with subtler hues of blue. You have to find out which colors work with you and your skin, and then stick with those colors when you begin planning out styles

Generally, brighter and louder colors work better with fairer skin tones like the ones Caucasians have. Conversely, subtler and more muted colors like earth tones tend to work better for darker complexions. Just because you’re playing around with colors now doesn’t mean you have to get every color out there. Choose strategically and get the ones that work for you.

There could be other factors to consider when you’re choosing the colors for you to wear. A dark shirt could be used to set off platinum dyed hair, while an emerald green could really bring out similarly verdant eyes. Look in the mirror and see what you have to work with.

Use in Moderation
Not everyone – yourself included – can probably go the way of Cojo and don an outfit made entirely of brightly colored pieces. Aside from the look itself being hard to carry, chances are good that you’d be stepping on a few style rules in the process.

The trick to adding color to your fashions is to use it in moderation. Too much color and you’ll likely end up looking like some crazed crayon, while too little is exactly what you’re trying to avoid. Go with an outfit that’s predominantly in a muted color like navy or khaki, and then insert up to two colorful pieces. You keep away from the Lady GaGa look, but will still seem fashion-forward.

It’s also a good idea to learn how different colors can come together. A truly stylish man knows which ties go with which shirts, which shirt with which pants and so on. Knowing some of the secrets of color matching, such as that of choosing from a single family, lets you wear several different colors without seeming like you’re wearing too many.

Colors are all about visual impact. They can amplify the effect of even the most boring of styles without your adding a single layer of extra clothing. Good use of colors, however, requires a certain set of skills with regard to fashion and aesthetics. Feel free to play around and experiment with this aspect of your clothing, but think twice about doing so without someone to guide you.

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Hendrik writes articles for online fashion blogs. To date he has over a hundred tutorials published teaching men of all ages how to dress well. He is also the founder of: http://ties-necktie.com/ – a website with a huge selection of ties, bows, Kids Ties, and even XL sized ties.

Tags: best, colors, fashion, kids, mens, neck, ties