Shoulder Season Clothes

Most items in a wardrobe should be either fish or fowl, as the saying goes. By that I mean that cold weather clothing should be made of heavier cloth, often with some nap, to keep the body warm. And clothes for warm weather should breathe, to let air pass through to help keep the wearer cool. But most temperate climates have four months of in between days, these warm days of early fall as well as the cooler parts of spring, that call for a third category of intermediate clothing.

Clothing for the days that are neither summer nor winter weighs perhaps ten to 12 ounces instead of 14. But it is the patterns that confound me.  I think most tweed patterns executed in worsted cloth to keep the weight down lack character, and the ones done in lighter colors for summer wear are pallid compared to the real thing. Flannel designs like glen checks and chalk stripes look better in flannel. Perhaps reflecting a lack of imagination on my part, that leaves little beyond simple twills, herringbones and houndstooths for odd jackets, and conventional patterns for suits. Maybe solaro for a change of pace.

In the end I keep coming back to gabardine for in-between temperatures. A tan suit, another in navy, and odd jackets in gray and in brown do the trick with contrasting trousers. Complement it with a ten ounce pick and pick, a navy birdseye and a pin stripe of some sort for a basic shoulder season wardrobe.