What I Wore Dec 16th.

I rarely post my looks online. I've been meaning to and here is one. I wore this to see the Nutcracker on a date with my current lady friend. The lapel pin gives off the Christmas vibe.

The suit is a hand me down from my God-Father's friend. It was tailored in the '60s, late '60s mind you. The db vest was imported from an English thrift shop via eBay. The shirt is also importated from Old Blighty via TM Lewin's traders and it is worn with a Donald Trump tie from Marshall's. My pocket square is J-Press picked up at a horrible men's store near Lenox Mall and Phipps Plaza that wont be named. Lastly, I'm wearing Allen Edmond's Park Avenue shoes bulled to perfection. The socks are some simply dotted wool patterned socks from J.Crew I bought a year or two ago.

Dressing With the Color Wheel

We are all familiar with the color wheel yet few of us look to it for guidance. It can definitively give you an answer about what colors to wear and with what. So, this post is all about how I used it today.

Today I used analogous colors, colors that lie next to each other on the wheel. First, let me explain what forced me to use the color wheel. One of the colorful sweaters I received yesterday was a heather dark bluish-green, someone called it peacock although it isn't the color of peacock feathers. Well, what do you wear with it? I had an idea that green and blue look good together but, what else? What tie should I wear? I just didn't know what to wear.

I referred to the color wheel. Now, I drew a line bisecting the wheel; one side is purple all the way to bright green and the other half is yellow to a purplish-red. Since, I dislike yellow most of the time, I ignored the yellow side. Since, I'm focusing on the purple and green side I started to play around with the colors. Since I have a dark green I know, I have to use bright or lighter colors. So what I did was I said I'll try a purple and a light blue. I put on a blue shirt and immediately moved on to the tie. It didn't look good wearing a solid purple tie; my plumb and bright colored purple both looked strange. Next I thought how about a geometric using a purple as a significant color. This approach worked much better because I landed on the tie I decided to wear. It is a checked pattern with a dark purple, a bright purple, a light blue, and a navy repeating check.

Using my methodology wont guarantee success. Like I did, you have to play around with it. You also need to use the basic skills you learned about dressing, such as contrast, scale, and the rules. Also you'll never have the exact colors you have on the wheel. This is neither desirable nor a disadvantage. It just means you have to use your imagination and slant the colors to fit what you have in your closet. Now you have no reason you can't wear something that is a hard color to coordinate with. Seriously it isn't very hard to do.

Good Luck!!!

Colorful Sweaters

As you layer for winter warmth consider brightening up your appearance with a colorful sweater.

Throw on a mid-weight one underneath a casual suit or an odd coat. Either way you can't go wrong. I recently ordered these after the after christmas sales. Lets just say they were the last pickings and because of it I got them dirt cheap.

These were purchased for two reasons:

1. I can layer with them for winter
2. I can wear them on their own for Spring and Fall

Always purchase 1 to two seasons ahead. You can get incredible deals this way and it gives you time to consider how to put it all together.

I plan on wearing these sweaters with my usual blue striped shirts. The greenish one will look particularly well with a purple checked shirt I haven't worn in awhile.

How to wear it? You're on your own for this one! Try out different combinations and try something you like. For a last resort use a color wheel triad, at least I think that is what its called it has been awhile since high school art classes. Make an equilateral triangle and the three points touch will touch three colors that look great together. The brightest color should be your sweater and the next one your tie.

The Sweater as Waist Coat

Hybrids are interesting creatures they usually don't work. Take the mule, for example. Yet, when they do they really push the envelope.

Here I have a sweater vest that is made like a regular waistcoat. It has the peaked bottom, buttons, and even is pinstriped. This waistcoat although a sweater vest, it is still a waistcoat. I plan on wearing it like a waistcoat. So, that means I'll be wearing it under a jacket and with a pocket watch. The surprise with this garment is that Ralph Lauren could execute something this daring and yet still conservative in nature especially with their Rugby line.

Check it out.

My Wool Bowtie

Ha ha hat hair from the newsboy cap I borrowed from the sister.

I'm an avid bow tie wearer. I typically only wear silk in very eccentric designs. I only have 3 in conservative design and don't really plan on taming my rotation of bows any time soon.

Recently, I've noticed that bow tie makers are experimenting with pretty interesting designs and are staying away from the regular designs. They usually seem to just be adapting straight tie designs or using the same fabrics from straight tie designs. Well, I wear bow ties to make things more interesting and change my look. Even though I have plenty of bow ties, I'm usually wearing a straight tie.

Now that you know of my bow tie preference let us consider this bow tie. I really enjoy wearing my conservative blue striped shirts and then throwing on a crazy colored bow tie over the collar. The clash is an instant expression of my personality. I adhere to tradition but have no issue with improving or evolving it. Sort of a respect for the past and a desire to make history of my own.

Cricket Bat Shaped Bow Tie about 2 inches wide all the way through

Collar detail shot. I'm wearing a medium spread collar. Most wouldn't but I like it to wear medium spreads instead of BDs, button downs, with bow ties.

As always I like to leave something for you to chew on. Here is some food for thought. The bow tie is a tweed tartan. Tweed is more appropriate fabric for winter because it is warm wearing. To be honest with you, it doesn't really make a difference for the bow ties; my neck is no warmer just because of a 3 inch strip of wool instead of silk. Also the dullness of the fabric is in line with the less than bright conditions of Fall and Winter.

*Note ignore this paragraph if you just want some style tips and don't care for the nuances of mens classical attire. Some will harp on and on about the correct fabrics for ties according to the seasons. Know that they are mistaken or quoting sources that are not accurate. For instance Winston Churchill wore a silk bow tie pretty much his entire premiership. I will save you other examples and get to the point. The only difference is that silk fabrics were worn in town or the metropolis, as Jeeves would put it, and rougher fabrics were country attire. For examples of both watch Jeeves and Wooster on you tube. Jeeves adhered to traditions and held his charge to a higher standard than he himself, Wooster of course, cared to do.

I wore it with today with a cardigan(old worn in cardigan with massive piling) and a blue ground shirt with pink, white, and tan stripes in a fairly large scale. This is a common combination for me. Conservative until you see the tie, square, and socks on me at the time. I maintain a rather dandy set of accessories.

Allow me one more short paragraph and a moment of nostalgia. I chose this particular tie because it reminds me of simpler times. When I was younger we lived in apartments, in Fall we would await the leaves falling on the ground. Why, well we raked them and played in the piles. We would throw each other in the piles. These leaves were similar to the tie; some were orange, yellow, red, maroon, and green. Just like the tie the two sides of the leaf could be different colors depending on the way you look at it.

Farewell and I hope your enjoying your Fall!