The best interview suit color is the one that helps you make your best first impression, resonates with your personality, and gives you the confidence that comes from knowing you’re dressed correctly for the situation. When you broaden your horizons beyond the standard smattering of off-the-rack choices, you’ll discover a variety of suit colors—and styles, fabrics, and patterns—that would work well for interviews. Even if you opt to stay within the traditional interview suit color range of navy, grey, black, or brown, you have more options than you may realize. Discover the colors that send the right message to your prospective employer and help you present the best possible version of yourself to the world.
Explore Your Interview Suit Color Options
First, some basic advice about dressing for an interview: Standard job-hunting guidelines suggest dressing one level higher for an interview than what you’d wear for a typical day at that job. If you’re interviewing at a low-key startup where jeans and t-shirts are commonplace, wear a casual suit or a tailored blazer and chinos; if you’re meeting with a recruiter for a Fortune 500 company, wear the best suit you own.
One way to make a strong visual impression at an interview is to wear a suit in an unexpected hue. If the company culture at your prospective place of employment is creative and irreverent, the entire world is open to you in terms of color options. If that’s the case, a striking blazer in maroon tweed may be just the thing to earn you some positive notice. Green is a surprisingly versatile color, which has been historically underused in menswear; to grab positive attention at an interview, show up in a green suit patterned in glen plaid. If a nontraditional suit color looks good on you, and if you’re interviewing for a position within a creative industry such as entertainment, publishing, design, or marketing, feel free to go for it.
Dressing in Traditional Interview Suit Colors
However, if you’re interviewing for a position at an office with a more conservative company culture—careers in finance, law, insurance, and government often fall into this category—you may be best served by staying within the conventional grey, black, brown, or navy suit spectrum. Take heart: When you enter the world of custom-made clothing, you’ll discover nearly unlimited variations within those classic colors.
Let’s say you’ve decided to wear a navy suit for your interview. It’s a good choice: Blue is a flattering color on most people, and navy is a universally accepted and uncontroversial suit color. If you visit a high-end department store, you’ll probably find a decent assortment of navy suits hanging on the racks. One of them might be fine for your interview. If not, well, you can move on to your options in grey. Even if you don’t find an ideal suit, you’ll probably find an adequate one.
There’s no need to settle for adequacy, however, especially when you’re searching for a suit meant to impress prospective employers at an interview. When you enter the realm of custom-made suiting, your choices expand exponentially. Bespoke suit designers have access to thousands of fabrics—here at Knot Standard, we have over seven thousand fabrics from the world’s finest mills from which you can choose your perfect suit material. Even within the same color category, fabric makes a world of difference: A Zegna navy suit in 100% Superfine Australian Wool will look very different from a navy suit in Vitale Barberis Canonico Wool. Even if you’re limited by necessity to a few traditional suit color choices, you have plenty of options.
