Menswear doesn’t often dally with the fantastical: Some of the most prized wardrobe staples started as highly functional, workaday garments, like the field jacket, blue jeans, or the white T-shirt. There’s not a lot of room for interpretation, at least in the basic truths of these pieces.
This, perhaps wrongly, paints men’s clothing as a bit boring or safe at times. But there’s a whole other world lurking beneath the surface, one of vivid color—one that makes even the most tried-and-true staples just a bit more, dare we say… interesting?
And in 2025, there’s no shortage of handsome hues available for a man’s wardrobe, colors that can breathe new life into the selections you wear every day. “Classic with a twist” needn’t just apply to that new version of a Manhattan you’ve been enjoying.
Don’t get it twisted: It’s not quite fashion that strolls from the runway right off into the street, but designer collections tend to trickle down, leaving us with some of the most on-trend colors of 2025. Those colors can be found across plenty of time-honored brands, elevating even the humble T-shirt or the trusty chore jacket to a more visually interesting realm. We’re talking about picks you can buy now, wear right now and keep close at hand into spring.
It’s still not fantastical, but the most interesting colors in menswear this year certainly are a bit, well, fun.
Warm Naturals
For too long, guys have been taught to stick to clean and classic white in matters of menswear, especially T-shirts and even denim. And while a simple, crisp white T-shirt has plenty going for it (eternally cool, timeless, worn by Steve McQueen), it doesn’t have to stand alone.
The next time you reach for a white T-shirt, work shirt, or pants, opt instead for a softer and warmer white, such as Ecru in its many forms. It’s flattering on more skin types than stark white, it gives you a touch more leeway if you’re prone to spills (guilty as charged), and it plays well with many complementary shades (as you’re about to find out).
On the warmer end of the Ecru/Natural spectrum, consider Pantone’s Color of the Year 2025, Mocha Mousse. You’re bound to garner a few compliments and second glances if you select a menswear essential in this medium-brown shade. It works best in footwear, accessories, and workwear, at least in our book.
Photo via Aether Apparel
Aether Apparel Cashmere Hat
Somewhere between “white” and perhaps beyond “off-white,” but not all the way into “tan” territory, you’ll find shades in natural or Ecru hues. Or as Aether Apparel dubs this outrageously soft, comfortable, and warming cashmere hat: “Oatmeal Heather.” Any way you take it, this color is as versatile as black or dark charcoal in the accessories world – a perfect topper to an #OOTD on a brisk day.
Photo via Buck Mason
Buck Mason Tough Twill Work Shirt
If you’re set on trading in your chambray shirt for a Western shirt a la Yellowstone, you’re not alone. That’d be the Wild West style craze still rearing its head, and it helps that this Buck Mason work shirt features Western heritage detailing. Beyond that though, note its color: An expertly dusty shade of Natural. Giddy up, partner.
Photo via Industry of All Nations
Industry of All Nations Wild Hoodie
Even the unassuming hoodie can nod to fashion’s hottest color trend—it makes for an easy way to dip your toes into the color of the year without going overboard. Plus, this piece gets its color from naturally pigmented cotton, which is both appealing and organic.
Wheat/Dark Yellow
Just like shades of Ecru and Natural, wheat or dark yellow in its many forms paints a slightly softer, less harsh look than bright yellow. It’s making its way into ever-more interesting configurations, from footwear to workshirts and T-shirts.
While there’s nothing inherently wrong with opting for a standout shade of vivid yellow, a darker wheat-esque option offers more depth and can be found in just as many styles of menswear (yes, far beyond your trusty rain jacket).
Photo via Huckberry
Rhodes Footwear Boone Lug Chelsea Boots
The thing with certain trending colors is that sometimes, it feels like they never left – that’s why Timberland’s famed 6-inch “Yellow Boot” appears in droves every year, after all. But when you want something a bit more suave, a bit more toned-down, a handsome pair of lug sole Chelsea boots in a distressed, waxy tan (or wheat, perhaps?) is a surefire style move in any season.
Photo via Y. Chroma
Y. Chroma Apparel Skyline Pants
The trick with wearing shades of wheat or varying hues of yellow is getting the balance just right. Too far, and you veer into highlighter territory – too little, and you might wind up right back where you started with khaki chinos. But Y. Chroma Apparel’s perfectly executed Skyline Pants are the cooler, wiser uncle of your same old chinos, with the vivid color to match.
Olive
Menswear is tricky – the classics can sometimes seem set in stone, and that goes for style and silhouette as well as color. Olive is a shade that’s plenty flattering on plenty of guys, and there’s a far horizon beyond just the trusty olive field jacket to be explored. Yes, olive as a color has been around the block, but if you find just the right swerve from the well-trodden trail—an unexpected cut of jacket or a new variation on a T-shirt—it might just become a new daily go-to.
Photo via Devium
Devium Sidewalk Vintage Pocket Tee
Put on the right T-shirt in terms of fit and fabric, and you very well might end up feeling like a million bucks. Devium’s vintage-inspired tee uses distinctive hash stitching, a double-needle stitched collar, an eye-catching “Seaweed” color, and it’s made in the USA. Suffice to say, it fits the bill perfectly for 2025 menswear.
Photo via Todd Snyder
Todd Snyder Boiled Wool CPO Shirt
Now, no color match is going to be 100 percent perfect. But with a steady eye toward the future and a healthy respect for heritage, Todd Snyder manages to make a comfortable, luxe shirt jacket in an expertly colored shade of “Dark Moss.” It feels and wears like your favorite flannel shirt jacket, but departs from the typical red-and-black check print.
Photo via Mission Workshop
Mission Workshop Quattro Fishtail Parka
The M-51 fishtail parka is sometimes unheralded when one thinks of military outerwear that made its way boldly into civilian life (the field jacket usually gets all the praise). But the eye-catching look of the fishtail parka plays nicely with exceptionally futuristic Mission Workshop construction—and hey, the shade of Olive on display is just different enough from the norm.
