What Colour Cravat Should I Wear? A Complete Matching Guide

Choosing the right colour cravat can transform an outfit.

Whether you're dressing for a wedding, pairing a cravat with tweed or simply looking for something that works with your favourite blazer, the good news is that you don't need to find a perfect colour match.

In many cases, complementary colours and contrast look better than matching everything exactly.

Here's how to choose a cravat colour that works with the rest of your outfit.

What Colour Cravat Goes With a Navy Suit?

Navy is one of the easiest suit colours to work with.

Excellent choices include:

• Burgundy

• Gold

• Silver and grey

• Pink

• Pale blue

• Green

• Purple

• Paisley designs containing blue

A burgundy cravat creates a classic contrast against navy, while gold can produce a warmer and more traditional appearance.

For weddings, pale pink, sage green and lighter blues can create a softer look.

If you'd prefer something more distinctive, choose a paisley cravat containing navy alongside one or two contrasting colours.

What Colour Cravat Goes With a Grey Suit?

Grey provides an almost neutral background, giving you plenty of freedom.

Try:

• Burgundy

• Navy

• Purple

• Pink

• Blue

• Green

• Black

• Silver

• Patterned designs

With a charcoal suit, brighter or lighter cravats create more contrast.

With a pale grey suit, richer colours such as burgundy, navy and dark green can provide greater definition.

For a very understated outfit, a silver or grey cravat can also work, although choosing a slightly different shade from the suit will prevent everything blending together.

What Colour Cravat Goes With a Black Suit?

A black suit gives you a clean background against which almost any colour can stand out.

Burgundy, silver, gold, purple and deep blue are all classic choices.

For weddings, lighter colours such as blush pink, champagne or sage green can soften the overall appearance.

A patterned cravat is another good option because the simplicity of a black suit gives you considerably more freedom to introduce detail around the collar.

What Colour Cravat Goes With a Brown Suit or Jacket?

Brown works particularly well with warm and earthy colours.

Consider:

• Burgundy

• Dark green

• Olive

• Gold

• Rust

• Navy

• Cream

• Paisley patterns

You don't have to restrict yourself entirely to earth tones.

Blue can contrast particularly well with brown, while burgundy provides a rich combination that works especially well during autumn and winter.

What Colour Cravat Goes With Tweed?

Tweed gives you plenty to work with because the fabric often contains several colours.

Instead of simply matching the dominant colour of the jacket, look closely at the smaller threads running through the fabric.

A brown tweed jacket, for example, might contain subtle green, blue, red or gold detailing.

Choosing a cravat that picks up one of those secondary colours can tie the entire outfit together.

Paisley cravats are particularly well suited to tweed because their multiple colours and traditional patterns complement the texture of the fabric.

Burgundy, green, gold, navy and rust are all excellent starting points.

What Colour Cravat Goes With a Blue Shirt?

With a pale blue shirt, consider:

• Burgundy

• Navy

• Dark blue

• Gold

• Grey

• Green

• Pink

• Purple

A darker blue cravat can create a tonal look, while burgundy or gold provides stronger contrast.

If you're wearing a patterned blue shirt, keep the cravat relatively simple unless you're comfortable mixing patterns.

What Colour Cravat Goes With a White Shirt?

Almost anything.

A white shirt provides a neutral background, which is one reason it's such a useful choice when wearing an ascot or cravat.

Plain colours stand out clearly, while paisley and floral designs have plenty of room to become the focal point of the outfit.

If you're unsure where to start, combine a white shirt with your jacket first and then choose the cravat based primarily on the jacket colour.

Should Your Cravat Match Your Pocket Square?

It can, but it doesn't have to.

Matching sets create a coordinated appearance and can work particularly well for weddings and formal occasions.

However, your pocket square can also simply share one colour with your cravat.

For example, a burgundy and navy paisley cravat could be paired with a plain burgundy or navy pocket square.

This creates a coordinated outfit without making the accessories look overly matched.

Should Your Cravat Match the Wedding Colours?

For the groom and groomsmen, using the wedding colour palette can help create a coordinated appearance.

However, don't worry about finding precisely the same shade.

If the wedding colour is sage green, for example, a cravat containing sage, olive or complementary green tones can work beautifully without being an exact colour match.

Patterns are particularly useful here because they can incorporate the wedding colour alongside colours from the suit or waistcoat.

For more wedding-specific advice, see our How to Wear a Cravat for a Wedding guide and browse our Wedding Ascots & Cravats collection.

Plain or Patterned?

The rest of your outfit should help determine this.

If you're wearing a plain suit, white shirt and simple waistcoat, a patterned cravat can provide an attractive focal point.

If you're already wearing patterned tweed, checks or a decorative waistcoat, a plain cravat can provide some visual balance.

A useful rule is:

Simple outfit = more freedom to choose a patterned cravat.

Busy outfit = consider a simpler cravat.

It isn't an absolute rule, but it's a good starting point.

What If You Can't Find an Exact Colour Match?

Don't worry.

Accessories don't need to match perfectly.

In fact, combining slightly different shades often creates a more natural and sophisticated appearance than attempting to make every element identical.

Think about the entire outfit rather than one individual colour.

Your jacket, shirt, waistcoat, cravat and pocket square should look as though they belong together – they don't need to be the same.

Choosing Your Cravat

Ultimately, colour guides are just that: guides.

A cravat is an opportunity to introduce some personality into an outfit, so don't be afraid to choose something you simply enjoy wearing.

At The Ascot Shop, you'll find ascots and cravats across a wide range of colours, from understated navy, burgundy and grey to brighter greens, pinks, purples and golds, alongside paisley, floral and other patterned designs.

If you're choosing neckwear for a wedding, you can also browse our Wedding Ascots & Cravats collection for styles suitable for grooms, groomsmen and guests.

And if you're new to this style of neckwear, our guides to How to Wear an Ascot and How to Tie an Ascot will help you get started.