Perhaps the most common sign that a man lacks confidence in his clothing choices is the monochromatic look, where, for example, a blue suit is complemented by a blue shirt and a navy necktie. It's an easy trap to fall into, and just as easy to avoid.
Men who find themselves dressing entirely in shades of a color need only remember the phrase "blue with gray and gray with blue." In other words, choose a necktie with a blue background to complement a gray suit, and one with a gray (ranging from charcoal to silver) ground to complement a blue suit.
Here, a gray nailhead suit is paired with a navy necktie with gold spots, a blue and white striped shirt, and a very dark blue paisley pocket square. Nothing fancy, but nothing to be ashamed of either.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Avoiding Monochrome
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15 comments:
Will, that is a great look. I think the gold in the tie helps a good deal and adds interest.
I am wearing a dotted tie today as well.
Will,
A classic, distinguished combination that would be at home in Milan, London, or Paris.
A fine look and excellent advice!
But on my monitor your tie has white spots and your PS a dark blue/green ground. Guess it's time for a hardware upgrade. Anyone else have this distortion?
Tim, you may need only a simple monitor color calibration (I use several computers and the one I'm using at this moment also displays white spots). Last I looked there were several free programs for this.
Again, a classic.
But considering what I see these days in a famous blog it is better to play safe and go for the blue-blue combination
While the blue/gray advice is good, I don't agree with your assessment that men who choose a monochrome look lack confidence in their clothing choices.
Case in point: Cary Grant.
If chosen deliberately and done well, it can be a very sophisticated and classic look, in my opinion.
Will this looks fantastic. A true classic.
Scott Monty
Here is hopefully a better written comment than the original that I posted.
I like the monochramatic look and CG may have dressed in the monochromatic style more so than others, but not in NXNW with that famous suit. In "Cary Grant and the Secrets of the Perfect Suit" Richard Torregrossa writes according to Martin Greenfield CG wore blue suits with a charcoal background. This does not make sense to me--wouldn' a patterned suit be called a blue suit if only the background were blue? Anyway, the intense lighting used in movies those days made the suit's pattern, especially in long shots, resolve into a mid-grey. I have RT's book "Cary Grant: A Celebration of Style," Foreword by Giorgio Armani, Afterword by Michael Kors (Sept. 2006, Bulfinch Press), and the suit is clearly not a solid in the photo. RT's specific comments on the suit's color and pattern can be found here at http://www.richardtorregrossa.com/Cary-Grant-and-the-secrets-of-the-perfect-suit.htm
Will,
I have a similar (not bespoke either) color suit and am wondering what color shoes to wear with it. Can you help?
Jeffrey, black and dark brown can both work well.
Good to see that there are still numerous gentlemen out there who appreciate the classic, traditional look.
Always a classic. I just purchased a Dark Gray tick weave SB two piece two button suit and was think of a tie choice. What do you suggest? What color shoes would be fitting day time wear? BTW I also see the same colors as tim.
Tony, adjust the color calibration of your monitor and you'll see gold spots.
The pocket square colors include green, burgundy and gold on a navy ground. That's what paisley is for. :-)
Never thought that monochrome meant that you weren't confident but it makes sense.
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