# Why do blue jeans match with any color shirt? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 9, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936 "2008-11-09T20:16:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/1 "2008-11-09T20:16:30Z")
How is it that blue jeans apparently match with any color shirt? Would the same be true for red, green, or purple jeans? Would they still match? Is this just cultural conditioning? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/2 "2008-11-09T20:19:43Z")
Orange would look pretty bad in general (and red can be iffy.) The fact that it does tend to go well is a bit of a miracle. Possibly it’s simply a matter that we’re used to seeing so much against a blue background (the sky.) Going by the rules, for certain, it shouldn’t be so multi-usable. red - Pretty hard, though it can be done green - Almost as good as blue (which gives the sky theory a boost) purple - Very hard (though again it could be done) ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/3 "2008-11-09T20:25:55Z")
Blue jeans and a blue shirt can look pretty bad. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/4 "2008-11-09T20:38:24Z")
Moving to IMHO from GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/5 "2008-11-09T20:43:28Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Blue jeans and a blue shirt can look pretty bad. Unless the shirt is also made of denim, then it’s awesome. If both shirt and pants are also acid washed well… I would cite a CIA study from 1987 that showed that this outfit has the power to devirginize at fifty paces, but it’s classified. ---
**Author:** ![Unsquare\_Dance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b3f665/32.png) [@Unsquare\_Dance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unsquare_Dance)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/6 "2008-11-09T20:50:35Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > Blue jeans and a blue shirt can look pretty bad. Gee, I hope not, 'cause I’m planning to wear a blue sweater with blue jeans to our Thanksgiving dinner. :o I think, like **Tenebras** said, it would only look bad if the shirt were also denim. It’s why I hate denim shirts. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/7 "2008-11-09T20:59:54Z")
There’s nothing hotter (on either sex) than a long-sleeved white button-front shirt worn with blue jeans, but ya gotta tuck in the shirt and roll up the sleeves. I haven’t seen much of this look since the 50’s. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/8 "2008-11-09T21:00:15Z")
according to queer eye, when wearing jeans and a denim shirt the colour of the denim should not match. i think it is because the dark indigo and the washed out light blue are as close to black and white as blue can get. ---
**Author:** ![Unsquare\_Dance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b3f665/32.png) [@Unsquare\_Dance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unsquare_Dance)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/9 "2008-11-09T21:10:28Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > There’s nothing hotter (on either sex) than a long-sleeved white button-front shirt worn with blue jeans, but ya gotta tuck in the shirt and roll up the sleeves. I haven’t seen much of this look since the 50’s. Mmmm, I convinced my fiance to wear such an outfit to a dinner date. It was, in a word, _delicious_. He also did the rolled-up sleeves dress shirt with a pair of gray pants to a wedding. I was with the best looking (and best dressed) man there. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/10 "2008-11-09T22:44:43Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Orange would look pretty bad in general (and red can be iffy.) I do dark blue jeans with my orange zippered hoodie all the time. I think I look cute. I do try to avoid the orange hoodie with black, though. ---
**Author:** ![Karyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/fbc32d/32.png) [@Karyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karyn)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/11 "2008-11-09T23:07:42Z")
I think that blue denim is considered to be a neutral color like black, white and gray so that anything goes with it, except orange with black denim unless it’s halloween as Zjestika mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/12 "2008-11-09T23:07:43Z")
> [@Cagey\_Drifter](#): > > How is it that blue jeans apparently match with any color shirt? Would the same be true for red, green, or purple jeans? Would they still match? Is this just cultural conditioning? It’s mostly cultural conditioning. We see blue denim as a “neutral.” The only shirt that looks bad with blue jeans is one that is a similar shade. Other blues look fine. Khaki is a similar neutral in this regard. But even though it’s cultural conditioning, it’s also true that grayish blue in general doesn’t clash with much. And this doesn’t hold for red, green, or purple jeans, because nobody would see them as “neutral.” ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/13 "2008-11-09T23:19:56Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > green - Almost as good as blue (which gives the sky theory a boost) I have a celadon green pair of jeans. Wearing this with a dark purple or dark red shirt looks pretty awful, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2008, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/14 "2008-11-09T23:33:06Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > It’s mostly cultural conditioning. We see blue denim as a “neutral.” Navy is considered a neutral in “regular” clothing as well. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/15 "2008-11-10T00:28:28Z")
I think a big reason may be that blue jeans really aren’t blue at all, they’re indigo–more of a bluish violet. If you think about it, in terms of things that we call “blue” in English, the color of jeans is an outlier. And there must be something about this particular frequency that is restful to the human eye, making any outfit that contains it more acceptable from the perspective of color aesthetics. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/16 "2008-11-10T12:24:24Z")
The only color that doesn’t go with denim blue is denim blue. Denim only disagrees with itself. So as long as you’re not wearing a blue denim shirt with blue denim jeans, you should be okay. (I would actually discourage anyone from wearing any color denim with jeans, because it’s a terribly dated look, but I digress.) If I had to speculate I would assume it’s the same reason that khaki goes with everything; it’s a neutral color that doesn’t argue with anything other than too much of itself. I was in the market last winter for a black coat, because I only had a navy blue one…which goes with everything but black…and then I realized that I could buy a tan-colored coat which would be just as neutral but not quite as boring. Funny, though, how navy blue has nothing in common with denim blue as far as its versatility. Denim blue goes with black; navy blue does not… ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2008, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-blue-jeans-match-with-any-color-shirt/471936/17 "2008-11-10T12:47:14Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > according to queer eye, when wearing jeans and a denim shirt the colour of the denim should not match. > > i think it is because the dark indigo and the washed out light blue are as close to black and white as blue can get. Absolutely. In my opinion, blue jeans were divinely inspired. I believe a good, well-fitting pair of jeans and a nice shirt should be worn everywhere and at any time, provided the shirt is of a color that does not match the jeans. Worn with boots, the effect is enhanced immeasurably. _Forever in Blue Jeans_ sums it up for me; I wear them on a daily basis and I’m 68 years old. I hope to be clad in jeans on my dying day. ETA: cowboy boots, that is.