What to Wear

Location, occasion and time of day combine to determine the best color palette and style for a man's dress. We don't dress the way English aristocrats did in the 19th century, but many of the guidelines developed then are still effective in social and professional settings today.

Location boils down to country vs. city. The best country colors reflect the browns, greens and accent colors of the daytime countryside. The closer we get to the center of a large urban center, the more our palette should shift into dark grays and blues. And in suburban areas between the country and the city, the most effective colors are in the middle of this spectrum - mid grays, mid blues and tans.

Time of day, or rather daylight and night (the usual dividing line is 6 PM), also plays an important role. Black and white are problem colors during the day but very effective in the dark, which is why semi-formal and formal evening clothes follow that lack of color scheme.

Finally, location and time of day are modified by the formality of the occasion. A dinner jacket might be the best choice for a charity ball but a polo shirt and trousers are probably better for informal entertaining at home in the California summertime. Even then, black gabardine trousers, black moccasins and a white polo will be an effective look that's based on tested principles of dress.

Similarly, during the day a man can adapt his clothes to his surroundings more effectively by thinking about the occasion. Navy blue pinstripes are perfect for a call on an urban law firm, but won't play as well as a camel hair odd jacket and gray flannels at an office outside the city.

Instead of wondering what to wear, think about the location, the occasion and the time of day.