Jacqueline Ames
In 2012, a marketing research company in Australia was tasked with finding the ‘ugliest color in the world’ to be used for cigarette packaging in order to try to deter people from smoking. It was determined that Pantone color 448C was the ugliest… and it’s brown.
What colors go with brown clothes? How do you put outfits together with brown?
While brown is probably not at the top of anyone’s list of favorite colors, it just may be on the top of yours once we show you its versatility and some of the great outfits you can put together with brown clothes.
Once you know how to mix the right colors together and accessorize your outfit properly, brown is surprisingly sophisticated. It makes for a fresh alternative to everyone’s fallback, go-to color, black.
In this article, we are going to show you some color combinations that look great with brown and give a little advice on how to put together and accessorize a brown outfit.
Contents
Can Brown Go With Any Color?
Brown is essentially a neutral color, so regardless of the tone or shade, it goes with pretty much every color.
You can’t really go wrong with brown and any other color. Where it starts to get tricky is when you want to add more colors to your outfit. It’s important that they all go together, not just match with brown.
This is why we’ve put color swatches together for all of the outfits below, so you can see the different combinations of colors that look great together.
What Colors Go With Brown Clothes?
Brown is a bit like black. It’s classic and will never go out of style. But there’s no brown equivalent to the “little black dress”… it doesn’t sing the way black sometimes does.
Brown is incredibly versatile and can take you from casual to professional, and even formal with the right pieces and accessories. This is why brown should be a staple color in every wardrobe.
While brown can be worn throughout the year, it is most often associated with fall colors, like red, orange, yellow and green, which are the colors of the changing leaves as the temperature starts to drop.
It’s no surprise that brown goes amazingly well with these colors. But as brown is neutral, it looks fantastic with a whole host of different colors that you may not have even realized.
We are going to split up our brown clothes into tops, bottoms, and dresses, and give you not only a little inspiration as to what colors go with brown clothes but how to mix and match different brown clothing items, so that your fall wardrobe is on point for this season.
What To Wear With A Brown Top
1. Brown Halter and White Jeans with Brown Snakeskin Print Boots
So the whole ‘no white after labor day’ is an antiquated and outdated notion. White is one of the biggest colors this fall and winter. White, of course, also goes with everything, so it’s only natural that white and brown look great together.
This is a great season transitional outfit. As the temperatures start to dip, you can easily trade the brown halter for a brown top with longer sleeves.
The boots are a great option for capri-length pants so you don’t freeze your ankles!
If you are opting for full-length pants, don’t forget to go with a bootleg cut if you’re planning on wearing boots with them, under the pant leg.
Here’s how you can put this look together:
2. Brown Blazer, White Shirt, Blue Jeans & Brown Shoes
We love a chic, casual look. A brown blazer and white shirt are the perfect way to take a blue jean outfit up a style notch.
Of course, you’re going to want to match your accessories. Brown shoes, a brown bag, and a belt will complete the look.
But just remember, brown is a neutral, and neutrals all go together. So rather than getting too matchy-matchy, you can have different colors of brown together.
It will make for a much more organic, rather than “I tried way too hard” kind of look.
Here’s how you can put this look together:
3. Orange Pants & Bag, Cream Top, Brown Patterned Knee-Length Jacket
When you talk about taking fall colors to the extreme – this is it.
Rich pumpkin orange leather pants and a matching bag are the statement pieces of this outfit. The cream-colored top and knee-length brown patterned jacket (that has all of the colors tied in) are actually the accessories of this outfit that pull it all together.
This is another version of the same outfit in grey, black, brown and beige. As you can see, grey, browns, beige and black look great together.
Also notice that when you change the colors around, now the jacket becomes the statement piece of the outfit and the grey pants and black bag are now the accessories.
Here’s how you can put this look together:
What To Wear With Brown Bottoms
1. Brown Tights & Knee High Boots, Black Mini Skirt, Dark Emerald Green Top, Brown Scarf
Dark jewel tones look great with brown. Emerald green, ruby red, deep amethyst purple, or sapphire blue would all work equally well with this outfit.
Here’s how you can put this look together:
2. Brown Pants, Light Blue Shirt, Beige Jacket, Brown Bag & Ankle Boots
If you are looking for a great work outfit, brown pants go amazingly well with a blue shirt. Add a double-breasted, wooly wrap trench for those chilly days you have to get to and from work. Finish your look off with a brown bag and ankle boots.
Brown can be a softer, warmer alternative to black for professional environments.
Here’s how you can put this look together:
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3. Beige Knitted Turtleneck, Brown Suede Skirt, Brown Boots, Patterned Shawl
We absolutely love this southwestern color palette. Beige, red brick brown, caramel, taupe, and smokey blue all look fantastic together.
This color combo is the pinnacle of comfy fall ‘sweater weather’ dressing.
Wrap shawls are super popular right now and they come in just about every color and pattern. When mixing a clothing item that has a pattern with brown, make sure that one of your other clothing items or accessories is another color in the pattern so your look is cohesive.
Here’s how you can put this look together:
What To Wear With A Brown Dress
1. Brown Dress, Fuchsia Pink Shoes & Handbag
Deep dark pinks and purples look amazing with brown. As a neutral color, a brown dress is a perfect showcase for statement pieces, in this case, the shoes and matching bag in deep fuchsia.
If you are going for matching shoes and handbags, they don’t have to be an exact match. The same color in a shade lighter or darker works just as well. If you are going to accessorize fuchsia and brown, gold is the way to go.
Here’s how you can put this look together:
2. Brown Dress, Dusty Rose Denim Jacket, Off-White Sneakers, Brown Handbag
For a cute, sporty look, you can wear a denim jacket with a tunic dress and sneakers. You already know that blue denim and brown look great together, so why not go for a different color?
Medium and light browns look fantastic with dusty rose because it’s a little bit of brown that makes pink that ‘dusty’ color, which is an infinitely more sophisticated pink than baby or bubblegum pink.
Off-white canvas sneakers and a brown handbag complete this look.
Here’s how you can put this look together:
No products found.
3. Brown Sweater Dress, Dark Purple Coat, & Taupe Thigh High Boots
Sweater dresses are all the rage this year. And why not have one in brown? Deep purple brings out the warmth and richness of dark brown.
Taupe is also a neutral color that goes amazingly well with brown as well as almost every other color, so a pair of taupe thigh-high boots are a great complement to this outfit.
Just add a brown handbag to complete this look.
Here’s how you can put this look together:
Conclusion
Brown is super versatile and goes with just about every color. When styling an outfit with brown and more than one other color, remember: neutrals all go together.
So, if you are having a hard time figuring out what colors to wear, choose one accent color to go with the brown. Then combine those two colors with other neutrals, like other shades of brown, beige, cream, black, white, or taupe. You can’t go wrong!
