Photo: Von Span
It was once common to see well dressed men in strongly patterned suits but by today's "Don't take a chance or it won't sell at retail" standard this blue flannel is pretty bold. Improperly accessorized, the suit could easily look as though it's wearing me. I want to be able to walk down the street without turning heads, a trick that will require melding the pattern into the rest of the day's clothes.
A successful blend combines elements of dress so that none of them stands out. Each element in an ensemble must relate to the other so that the viewer's eye keeps moving and doesn't linger on the suit. In this case, that calls for a solid necktie in similar tones, a complementary shirting, and inconspicuous shoes.
Photo: Von Span
Photo: Von Span But before I begin I need to throw the suit itself against the wall a few times to get some of the stiffness out of it. Heavy cloth takes a while to mold itself to the body and though the pattern may be strong, as Fred Astaire said, "You have to teach it who's boss."
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17 comments:
Beautiful suit. Thanks for the suggestions on matching bold pattered suits to more subtle shirt/tie combinations. Very helpful.
I'm thinking of having some flannel trousers made up for the winter here in Chicago. Is 14 oz. flannel the standard for most applications? I don't want to be too warm, but would like good durability and reasonable insulation for the Fall-Spring season.
will,
you look great in blue. your more winter tones shine in this suit. sometimes the warmer choices wash you down a little. think blues!
ESM, flannel is not the most durable of weaves but 14 ounces drapes well and is wearable in heated office buildings. If you'd time outdoors you could go as heavy as 17 ounces for trousers and still be able to wear them indoors. Just give any woolen flannel two days rest between wearings.
That’s a beautiful suit, Will! It couldn’t be more handsome. And the shirt and tie are perfect. Especially like the DB shawl collar (?) vest. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Great suit! I remember seeing the discussion on the London Lounge and the AA/Esky picture it was based on.
I hope you eventually post a Part II showing us some combinations you come up with. It would be very useful. It's a looker, but I can see how the suit can wear the person.
Beautiful suit Will. It looks great.
I really like this suit. Perhaps it's my young idealism (brashness, insert adjective), but I don't find it to be that strong. Your combination choices do succeed in keeping it subdued, especially sticking with a single hue. Very nice.
Now that's a suit.
Cheers
Gorgeous suit, Will, the pattern matching is particularly impressive.
It seems to me this post could also make a great study in the East Coast vs. West Coast norms for suiting. As someone who is based in New York, I strongly suspect you'd be viewed as an eccentric dandy if you were to wear that pattern to work in a typical NYC office environment, but I bet it's just about perfect for San Francisco. Cheers!
Really nice suit, Will. Love the haircut too.
Your suit looks great! But I agree that the cloth is rather stiff out of the box and needs some breaking-in.
Will,
I will gladly wear that suit about for you to break it in. My fee for doing so is quite reasonable.
Andre, what was the temperature there Saturday? It's 75 here today and too warm for a 13 ounce worsted let alone a 14/15 ounce flannel.
I suppose you wore the vest too?
BDC, that flannel is not office garb in any city of my experience. The best suits are the ones that can't be worn to offices.
Will, it was mid 70s and sunny, and felt comfortable, but there was a nice wind blowing, too. I think 50s to 60s would be the perfect temperature range for it.
I only wore it as a 2-piece yesterday, and it would have been much warmer had I used the vest.
I love playing around with patterns and colors, and since I’ve no prospect of a suit like yours, I hope you forgive me for contemplating combinations that might be pleasing. You’ve explained before that you often enjoy more enthusiastically patterned shirts in exchange for more sedate ties. I think that’s an interesting way in which to dress. However, it might be a little more problematic with this suit.
I do see a marvelous opportunity for small-scale checks with this; hairline stripes would be great and perhaps some pencil stripes too. Colors of red, wine, yellow, silver and pink suggest themselves. And there are many solid, and solid and white collar/cuff combinations that would be terrific.
AA/Esky has quite a few illustrations featuring champagne and yellow shirt bodies with W/C&C’s. I think those would look magnificent with your suit, though I realize they might be more problematic with your coloring. (However, they would work great for me!)
Perhaps as something simple I’d love to see a fine spread collar solid blue broadcloth with a wine/maroon crochet knit silk tie and either white or wine tipped linen, or a complimentary patterned silk. Many stripe ties will work with solid shirts, as well as any smaller scale pattern. Paisley is a favorite of mine, and I’ve got lovely aubergine paisley that I think would look fantastic. While I’m generally not fond of floral motifs for men’s ties, I think a very well done version of the right scale could be very good with this fabric. One possibility with it might be a very small-scale check. Yes, I will mix three patters, and sometimes even get them right!
Again, please excuse my vicarious pleasure, but it’s a lot of fun to think of accessorizing such a beautiful fabric.
This suit is a stunner. As far as the stiffness is concerned, apparently it used to be one of the butler's jobs to wear a suit a few times to 'break it in'. In absence of a butler my grandfather used to do this himself by sleeping in a new suit overnight. Nowadays those long transpacific flight sectors are good alternative occasions...
I've stopped by your blog a few times, but never commented. I'm compelled to now as this suit is one of my single favorite garments I've seen color and pattern wise. I've always liked blue on black like you've chosen here and here it's beautifully done. I hope to have something similr some day.
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