Men's Gray Suits

Charcoal, Medium or Light: Picking a Gray

Gray is the most useful suit color after navy, and the gap between a charcoal suit and a light grey suit is the gap between a funeral and a garden wedding. Pick the depth first and the fit second.

Charcoal

Charcoal is the dark end of gray, and it is what most men mean when they ask for a dark grey suit. It is also the closest thing to a suit that does everything. It works for interviews, funerals, courtrooms and evening weddings, and unlike black it does not look severe in daylight. The Charcoal Gray Suit is the entry point. The heavier charcoal and the Charcoal Shawl Lapel Tuxedo cover formal evenings.

Medium and Sterling Gray

Medium gray is the business shade. It reads lighter than charcoal under office lighting and is the one to own if you already have navy and want a second suit that is not another dark one. See the Charcoal Medium Gray Suit, the Medium Gray Suit and the brighter Sterling Gray Suit.

Light Gray

Light gray is a daylight color. It is the standard choice for spring and summer weddings, especially outdoors, and it photographs better than white without the risk of reading as the groom when you are not. The Light Grey Suit is the two-piece, and the Light Gray Tuxedo with a satin peak lapel is the formal version.

Texture: Tweed, Linen and Pattern

Once the shade is settled, texture is what separates one gray suit from another. The Tweed Three Piece is an autumn and winter suit with the vest included. The Light Grey Linen-Look Suit is the opposite, built for heat. For pattern, the Charcoal Navy Plaid and the Gray Double Breasted both read as a deliberate choice rather than a default.

Gray Suits for Weddings

Grey wedding suits split cleanly by time of day. Light gray before sunset, charcoal after. If the wedding is outdoors in summer, light gray and blue are the two colors that hold up in photographs, because charcoal absorbs light and can look like a block of shadow at noon.

For a wedding party, gray has an advantage over black: the groom can wear charcoal and the groomsmen medium gray, and the difference shows in photographs without anyone looking out of place. The groomsmen suits page explains how to order for a group, and wedding suits covers the other colors.

Gray for Business and Interviews

Charcoal and medium gray are two of the safest interview suits made. Gray carries less weight than black, which in an interview is an advantage: it keeps the attention on what you are saying. White shirt, dark tie, nothing shiny.

What Comes in the Box

Each suit is sold as a full bundle with jacket, pants, shirt, tie and socks included, not as a jacket with the rest added at checkout. Gray suits here start under $200 and most sit below $280. A rental for one evening lands in the same range, and you return it the next day.

Shipping is free over $99 and exchanges are free.

Jackets and Trousers on Their Own

Gray is the color men most often need to replace a single piece of, because a gray jacket gets worn with other trousers and gives out first. Suit jackets start at $149.99 and trousers are $79.99. The Charcoal Gray Suit Jacket, the Gray Suit Jacket and the Light Grey Suit Jacket are listed above with their matching charcoal, gray and light grey suit trousers. For black tie, the Light Gray Tuxedo Jacket is sold on its own.

The Gray Check Blazer is a sport coat rather than a suit jacket, meant to go with trousers in another color.

Getting the Size Right

Jacket sizing is where most online suit purchases go wrong. Our suit size estimator takes height, weight and build and gives you a jacket and pant size in about a minute, which beats measuring yourself with a tape. If it still needs changing, the exchange is free.