Photo: Henry Poole Alan Flusser wrote that he likes to first teach a man how to dress all in blue, to which I will add that knowing how to dress entirely in blue is really all that's necessary.
Not that I am proposing that we need no more than blue, for surely Duchamp owners everywhere would rebel before they abandoned their neckties, but it is a foundation that a man can use to build combinations upon.
If there are secrets to wearing blue it is that most elements of the day's clothing should be varied in shade and include white, whether that latter be in the form of a shirt ground, suit stripe, pocket square or all of them. And either two or three items worn above the waist should have patterns of different scales, like the clothing dummy in the photograph (remain humble and leave four patterns for advanced dressers). His hose can add another if he likes.
These changes in pattern and tone in a man's dress are really all that are necessary for successful combinations. The day's clothing might not leap off a magazine page but it will more than suffice to frame a man's face and make a good impression without leaving too vivid an impression.
And that, of course, is the point of the thing.
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8 comments:
Will:
1. That post inspires what I think I will wear tomorrow. If you take that as a compliment, I mean it as one. I have a shirt similar to the one in this illustration. I usually wear it with a khaki suit. But I've been looking for alternatives and haven't throught up one I like enough to wear until I saw your post today. Thank you.
2. Did you write this post in haste? Is there a "not" missing from the first sentence? I find other parts of this post difficult to follow. Far from the usual eloquence of your prose. I venture that you must have written rapidly and that the quality of your pen (keyboard) has not declined.
Fixed. I probably should have waited to write until I was awake.
Well, the thick'n'thin shirt with the white collar is a kick start for this look sure; but,I think my monitor is showing that there is a charcoal gray,or black line in the stripe. This creates havoc, albeit a mild sort, if one ventures forth most traditionally in choice of neckwear, as is it very unexpected to use this shirt with anything other than shades of gray.
No matter though, as Will has shown that even a shirt with those mildly distracting black notes may be teamed with a tie that helps one to forget this little irritating fact.
This allows, of course, the choice of dressy black shoe, once almost a cause for "la nausee" when teamed with so much blue. So there is strength in the unexpectedly maudlin after all.
Well done, Will
My favorite look is that of James Bond in a navy suit, light blue shirt and solid darker blue tie. It's simply perfect.
Mmmh...even when not following Flusser's comment about mixing three patterns religiously, I wonder whether the pocket square pattern together with two other patterns of quite unequal width creates a combination that is somewhat too busy, especially given the additional presence of the charcoal/black line in the shirt... On the other hand, the white collar is an inspired touch that lightens up the picture elegantly.
Richard, if the dummy had prominent jowls the handkerchief would be a god send. Simply place your finger or pencil over the pocket and you'll see why.
For a slimmer frame I'd agree, leaving the pocket free would create a sleeker style.
I see no charcoal or black in the shirt on my monitor, only white, navy and lighter blue. I find it very nice pattern matching.
If I had to pick two colors for the rest of my life, they would be blue and white. A navy double-breasted suit for the wedding, midnight blue for black tie, blue blazer and white trousers, navy dot tie, white shirt with blue pencil stripe, light blue button-downs...and if one goes into music, "The Man in Midnight Blue" is nearly as cool as "The Man in Black."
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