Another Pair of Socks!

These socks aren't just interesting because they are my favorite color but also because they are textured. The pattern is sort of like a crocheted sweater. It is called seeded by the sock department at American Apparel. I'm loving there socks over there. On sale I picked up 2 for a $10er.

Enjoy!

By the way, I don't only wear Bill's Khakis even though it seems like it.

Orange & Gray

Tonight, I was browsing a few ties after work and stumbled upon a a bow tie in oxford gray at BB. It was interesting and It reminded me of this orange striped shirt I've been waiting to wear for sometime now.

Now, this got me thinking what exactly can you wear with, tie wise mind you, with an orange shirt. Orange is a pale enough color so I thought I could pull off a dark green. For some reason I just wasn't feeling it. I let my mind blank and grey came to me. I think I got this idea that I could treat it like pink and it would pop out at me against a grey.

I was really right. The darker grays such as charcoal make it seem brighter. Oxford and medium grays make the orange appear normal; not too bright and not too pale. Light grays or gray patterns on a white ground make the orange look like a pastel or pale color. Take a look and my photos. The bow tie was purchased today and the straight Glen Check patterned tie I've had for at least a year.

With the darker gray the shirt appears to be brighter.

With the white ground underneath the stripes this appears to make the orange a pastel almost a salmon pink color

See what I mean. Play around with this and discover what you like and what looks good with you. Also, know this, depending on the seasons you can use this to play on the suit you are wearing. In Winter and Fall, darker colors are worn more frequently so, we could use a darker tie and contrast with a brighter orange shirt. The reverse is true for Summer and Spring so, a lighter tie will bring the color down and let you play with a pocket square or lead with some go to hell pants.

What I Wore Today: "60s Bow tie Edition

Here I am on an errand day, I dislike these mornings so, I take it as a chance to wear something I normally don't. I find it really hard to wear this particular bow tie. I decided to let it take center stage. It is a slim, '60s bow tie and therefore hard to wear with most colors I
own. Also you have to wear a particularly high v-neck collared sweater or a crew neck sweater. If you have a particularly high closing vest or waistcoat you could wear this.

So, here it is:

Vintage, yellow bow tie with my Aeropostle multi stripe shirt and an argyle, Perry Ellis sweater

The side view shows that it really is a high v-neck.

Close-up of the stamped patterned belt against my shirt and some Bill's Khakis

Happy Socks in a staid blue pattern

New saddle shoes thrifted from the Salvation Army. Pebbled like textured leather on the vamp in a dark brown and regular brown leather on the rest of the shoe with a rubber brick sole

Flecked Socks

As a lover of colorful socks and a member of the group of gentlemen that display their socks prominently, I've found that I'm always keeping an eye out for interesting socks. These I accidently ran into at American Apparel when I was looking for a present for my younger brother. He loves some of their printed shirts. They have some really nice socks. Most of them are made from cotton blends and wool blends. They make use of recycled materials and their are made by immigrants in L.A. Overall a very well run outfit in the sock department.

These particular ones are made from cotton and feature recycled wool as the flecks on the socks. I wanted the socks because they remind me of fleckled tweeds. I only have one tweed jacket and this is a nod to it. By the way, Atlanta rarely gets cold enough to warrant tweed plus we drive everywhere. I used to make use of it when I was still in University because walking to class was at least a 10 minute affair. Anywhere there you have it a rare sock find at an unusual source.

What I Wore Today: Career Fair Edition

Today I attended a career fair and got to have a little fun in the wardrobe department. They were telling us to keep it semi-business formal. What does that mean. There really is no such thing as semi-formal. You can't straddle the fence in matters formal.

I and most people took it to mean you can wear a suit but your only expected to wear an odd jacket and dress pants. As usual I prefer to wear suits when most dress down. I also wanted to send an informal tone yet business. I ended up wearing my lucky suit with my new sweater vest. The rest was just plain fun. I stuck to wearing stripes and didn't really consider the colors I was wearing. I just made sure the colors didn't fight each other.

Sometimes it is easier to avoid consciously choosing the colors you wear. I just went with my mood. This can lead to discoveries of color combinations that work for you. A recent one I discovered was pink and darker oranges. Another is dark green can match most colors, stick to the hunter green-ish colors. Chew on that for awhile and see where it takes you!

Here are the photos: