I have had today's image, a scan from the Sotheby's catalog of the auction of the posessions of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, for more than a decade and I still learn from it. The photo shows the Duke's odd jackets in his closet at his country home.
First off, all but one jacket, excluding the two tartans and a central European hunting coat, have four buttons on the sleeves, either conventional, leather or, on the tan coat near the back, what appears to be gold (at least I hope those buttons are gold as I used them as justification for my own tan jacket with gold buttons some years ago). That says much about his opinion of one, two or three buttons on an odd jacket sleeve.
Second, again excluding the tartans and the hunting coat, eleven of the twelve are in shades of tan and light to mid brown. The exception is a near-solid light gray. The late Duke was blond, and his coloring appears to have influenced his choices. Blonds look best in low contrast colors just as black haired men look great in high contrast combinations, most brown haired men fall in between and red heads are better off in a palette of fall colors.
The lessons? One legendary dresser preferred jackets that were compatible with his coloring (perhaps that had something to do with his becoming a legend in the first place). And four buttons on the sleeves please.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Complementary
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3 comments:
"Compatible with [one's] coloring." I think that is as important as the fit of one's clothes as a key to looking good, regardless of what you wear.
There are blondes, and there are blondes. Blondes with light eyebrows (like the DoW) are usually Springs, which means that they look best in tan, warm browns (especially the lighter shades), and golden tones of blue and pink, as well as colors like peach and ivory.
On the other hand, blondes with dark eyebrows (including me) are often Summers. Summer's browns are either grayed, or with pink undertones (like cocoa). Harder to find, but essential to looking good in brown. All Summer colors are cool, and most are blue-toned, including pink, lavender, and blue-gray.
Then there are those few blondes who are Autumns; they tend towards being strawberry blonde. They look good in the same colors as their red-headed brethren: rich, warm, deep, golden earth tones.
There are no Winters who are natural blondes--at least not as adults. A very few may start with white-blonde hair, but most towheads are another season.
My observation is that there are varying sleeve lengths on a number of those jackets. Are some of them odd jackets for the Duchess?
Very interesting! I would love to read more of your thoughts on how to match one's clothes with one's complexion. It is something that I've only recently started paying more attention to.
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