What colors go with brown?

United States
August 16, 2007 9:13am CST
Lately I've noticed that I've been adding a lot of dark brown (chocolate brown is another way to describe it) to my wardrobe. This is sort of a new departure for me, since it used to be just lots of black. Now I'm presented with the question: what colors go with brown? I'm beginning to think that dark brown is pretty much like black--everything goes with it. But then, I've never been the best person to ask for fashion advice, so I'll ask the myLot community instead! :) What colors would you wear with dark brown? Can you really wear just about any color with dark brown? What about other shades of brown? Or does that get too boring?
5 people like this
17 responses
• United States
16 Aug 07
okay, so I agree with the earlier poster about "What Not to Wear"...I'll follow their advice as I buy new clothes. And yes, TLC can suck you in if you let it :) basically, chocolate is a great neutral and goes with darn near anything except (in my opinion) baby blues and baby pink. Since I think you have absolutely none fo that it your wardrobe or yarn stash, I think you're good. And as long as they aren't too similar in shades, monochromatic isn't bad...just spice it up with fun jewelry or a funky belt.
1 person likes this
• United States
16 Aug 07
Non-fading colors would be awesome! I can't believe that you actually own a baby blue shirt....were you sick when you bought it? I've decided I'm coming to Seattle because my other favorite TLC show, the Take Home Chef. They shop a lot at the Fresh Foods store in Seattle....another good reason to move closer to you guys.
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• United States
17 Aug 07
No, they just didn't have the darker blue one in my size. :) And hurrah for you guys coming out here! I'm totally for it! :)
• United States
16 Aug 07
Actually I do have a baby blue shirt. Only one though, and it's a recent acquisition. :) (And my pink Ozzy shirt... but that's just a bizarre shirt.) I am discovering, though, much like I did with my blacks, that there are multiple shades of chocolate brown, again having to do with fading. :( Whoever invents non-fading clothes will be a genius in my book!
1 person likes this
16 Aug 07
I rarely, if ever, wear anything other than black or purple. However I have seen a lot of outfits int he shops that are brown. It looks good teamed with beige, coffee, tan, cream, plum and gold I think
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• United States
16 Aug 07
Yeah, I similarly have a whole lot of black and purple, but it was getting to the point where all I had was black and purple, and (as most goths know) none of my blacks matched each other! ;)
• United States
16 Aug 07
Yeah, one of my favorite shirts to wear with a cute brown skirt I got is more or less a plum color. I was calling it "grape," but plum is probably more accurate on the color. :)
16 Aug 07
I tend to wear carmel colored items with dark brown. If I wear dark brown jeans/pants, then I may also wear a cream colored or off white blouse. Dark brown goes with most any color. Just try experimenting like I do.
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• United States
16 Aug 07
Ooh, that actually answers a tangental question that I had: what to wear with carmel! I think that's the best word to describe the new skirt that I'm wearing today, and I did almost wear it with a dark brown blouse, but I thought that might be too much brown.
@zeloguy (4911)
• United States
16 Aug 07
With the color brown, a warm color has to go with it... orange/red/yellow or a combination of these colors. "Using Brown with Other Colors: Shades of brown coupled with green are an especially earthy pair, often used to convey the concept of recycling or earth-friendly products. Very dark brown can replace black, adding a slightly warmer tone to some palettes. Brighten brown with a mellow yellow or rusty orange. Go smart but conservative with a mix of brown and deep purple, green, gray, or orange-red." *About.com
1 person likes this
• United States
16 Aug 07
Red is a good idea, though I think for me it works better as a muted red. It could just be that I tend to avoid the warm end of the spectrum, as I look better in the cool end. :)
@wiccania (3360)
• United States
16 Aug 07
I've paired it with tan, beige, pink, green and most of the "white spectrum." I've also paired it with black -- I have a chocolate tunic sweater I wear with black pants all the time.
1 person likes this
• United States
16 Aug 07
Yeah, I've decided that if black goes with everything, that includes brown. :) Luckily, I don't have to worry about the black shoes / brown belt conflict that men have to deal with. I just won't wear a belt! :)
@3lilangels (4639)
• United States
16 Aug 07
i also like the brown clothing too,i would suggest a light pink goes really nice with a chocolate brown and so many accessiorties will match this.also a light blue would compliment the brown shades too.or also a nice emerald green w/brown or a nice cream or vanilla color looks great.or what even about a nice gold color will compliment it too.
1 person likes this
• United States
16 Aug 07
Ah, yes, I should have mentioned my extreme hatred of pink. :) Light pink does look good with brown, but I only own one shirt that is pink, and that's only because it's an odd Ozzy Ozbourne shirt. :) Somehow, putting green with brown just seems really weird... like I'm pretending to be a tree... :)
@Ravenladyj (22902)
• United States
23 Aug 07
I would say that pretty much any other earthy tone or colour would go well with browns..like various greens for example would go well IMO with browns....as would cream colours
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23 Aug 07
Thanks for the best response hun
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@unuzzz (1273)
• Indonesia
19 Aug 07
hi scarywhitegirl ^^ actually i don't go with brown, it's not my favorite colour but trying to match the color would be a nice challenge for me which is your outfit that is brown ?? if it is a brown shirts, the best color for the bottom would be black.. i don't think brown looks good with other colors, and i don't think it would be good with jeans.. so black is my only suggestion if it is a brown pants, it'd look nice with soft colors.. such as baby pink, lemon color, soft green, cream colored, etc i hope this help you.. thanks ^^
1 person likes this
@twilight021 (2059)
• United States
23 Aug 07
I've also been adding a lot of brown to my wardrobe. I find that blue goes really well with it, not navy, but lighter blues. Also pink, though I don't wear much pink. Light green can also go well. Brown in a nice departure from black, my wardrobe is still largely black, brown, gray, blue and green ;-) One of these days I'll add some more color. Earth tones seem to be the eaisiest to coordinate too, which really comes in handy for work.
1 person likes this
• Hong Kong
18 Aug 07
I love chocolate brown in winter time (I don't know why I really love it during winter). I think it's a little different than black (I am a black top person almost all the time). I think for brown, the earth tones go with it the best, like green, beige, gold and stuff like that. I would mix some golden accessories with brown to make it look less dull and boring. My favorite would be dark blue jeans with brown top and golden color accessories (the silver ones are no).
@Nardz13 (5055)
• New Zealand
21 Aug 07
Hi there. I think brown is a match with any colour, its so natural and one of my favourite colours in clothing, mainly T-shirts and Tanks... I find Brown is a nice to wear, I think it goes well with tan and other shades of brown, it also goes well with jeans and khaki green... My views anyway...
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@artemis432 (7474)
• Abernathy, Texas
8 Sep 07
I think any autumny colours would go with brown. Or try lightening it up with a cream shell or tee shirt. Or you could wear all brown but have a colourful accessory. Good luck with your new wardrobe change!
@mykmari_08 (2464)
• Philippines
17 Aug 07
I guess black & brown are some of the colors which you could always interchange. With dark brown, you could pair it with black, light brown, white, off-white, or some light-colored tones for a little conflict. I said a little, okay. You'll only do this to disrupt the monotony of these dark colors.
@sophylline (1041)
• Philippines
17 Aug 07
I also got two new handbags/shoulder bags recently with color brown (dark/chocolate brown) and pair them with dark brown shoes. I agree that brown goes with everything just like color black. I match the brown bags and shoes with jeans and every color top that you can think of. Yup, I wear just about any color with dark brown. But, I don't think I would wear everything brown from top to bottom at once. That just doesn't look appealing to me. I'd like to have colors in my wardrobe.
@Nykkee (2522)
• Canada
16 Aug 07
I really like dark brown and pink together.
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@bluishrose (2289)
• Philippines
16 Aug 07
When it comes to brown i paired it with white or light colors like pink or yellow. But i see some people that oaired it with green and it still looks good. Just to be safe just paired it with like colors, stay away from dark ones.
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