When it comes to clothing, brown’s name is mud. Brown shoes, fine. A belt, sure. But pretty much anything else in the colour has traditionally been shunned as unwelcome and unflattering. Brown is ugly, they say. It conjures up images of everything regrettable about 1970s style.

That hasn’t stopped the world’s best designers from splashing it all over anything they could get their hands on it recent seasons. Now brown is inescapable. It’s everywhere. And having witnessed its rebirth firsthand, it actually has a lot going for it.

Brown is warm and surprisingly flattering. It also pairs well with a wide array of colours and lends itself nicely to other trends currently sweeping through menswear, particularly textured fabrics and mid-century style.

The issue lies in how to wear brown. For all its plus points, it’s notoriously tricky to get right without looking like you’ve just stepped through a time portal straight from the set of Starsky and Hutch. But it can be done. Here’s how.

How To Style Brown

Pulling off this divisive colour in a way that doesn’t make it look like you’ve started taking style cues from your high-school geography teacher relies on a number of factors. Notably, picking the right shades, knowing what garments they work on, and having a knowledge of how to pair them with a variety of colours.

“Despite being shunned from the fashion scene for decades, brown doesn’t have to be difficult to wear,” says celebrity stylist Harriet Byczok. “There are so many different shades of brown that you can easily find something in your wardrobe to match.”

All those shades, from chocolate to cereal hues, mean that tonal outfits work well. “Tonal outfits are a great way to look fashionable without trying too hard,” says Byczok. “Try wearing a darker, chocolate-coloured suit with lighter shirt and tan shoes. Or, if tailoring isn’t your thing, try a darker brown shade pair of slim fit chinos with a camel coat and knitwear of a lighter shade.”