Brown suede house shoes worn to entertain the other evening, accompanied by gray cotton and silk socks and gray flannel trousers.
The flannels were part of an experiment to get a little utilization out of my smoking jacket, which had hung unworn for several years since it appeared at a New Year's Eve gala at my club. Instead of trying to convince guests to wear black tie to dinner at my home, I elected to treat it as a green velvet blazer by pairing it with a white dress shirt, an ascot and the aforementioned house shoes.
No-one commented on the jacket but the shoes were a hit.
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I wish I could have seen that. Do you have a post with pictures of your smoking jacket? I am curious about it.
The matching of the socks, trousers to the piping and bow of the shoe is an interesting touch. I sometimes do this trick with the shoelaces of conventional shoes, such as navy with black, or tan with brown. Its subtle discreet presence is there to tickle the eye and amuse the connoisseur.
Nicely done. And I like the description of the total ensemble. I would consider it both smart and proper
I'm curious what your guests did end up wearing and if you've ever successfully convinced people to dress black tie for an at home event (if so, please share your secret).
I love the idea of wearing a smoking jacket more casually. I hope you have a picture to share—I'm sure I'm not the only one who would like to see the top half of your outfit.
Impressive to see that you are already on the 23rd installment of this never-ending series!
I should like to think there are only three & a half options with socks.
(1) First option is to match the socks with the trousers/suit. This is particularly useful for the least tall among us: this does lengthen the silhouette every so slightly - especially when the sock appears while moving or while seating.
(2) Second option is to match the socks with the shoes. This is particularly useful for long-legged men as it breaks the silhouette & gives some emphasis to the shoes (which might be dwarfed by the long legs)
In both (1) & (2), the more exact the match, the clearer the effect. Sometimes the effect needs to be toned down.
(3) Third option is to avoid matching socks with either. Of course, this completely disrupts the silhouette. But disruption can be good - especially for very tall men. The subsidiary question, hence the half-choice is: should the socks match something else in the attire?
(3a) If it does match something else, it is often useful to emphasise the accent colour, more rarely the dominant colour (unelss there is a complex play on pattern & many colours).
(3b) If it does not match something else, it is useful in terms of either establishing colour blocks or creating an accent colour.
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PS. We shan't be able to comment on the green velvet dinner jacket & flannel trousers combination until we see some evidence of the combination, fkoors!
There are 85 ways to tie a necktie but only a few are useable. The same applies to one's choice of socks. I don't think anyone who seriously thinks about his clothes goes out wearing black socks because they match his shoes.
Those slippers are fantastic. The socks are amazing. Well played, well played.
@ Will: in some places (say, the City of London & its ultra-conservative way of dressing), black shoes may only be worn with black socks, you know? Very few people would wear socks which are not black with a dinner jacket.
Having said that, I know American people dislike black socks nearly as much as Europeans dislike white socks!
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Appears your Belgians were a hit, Will. And they do look great I've been a suede/flannel guy since College. Which brings me to my point, here. Your coverage of silk knit ties inspired me to go digging among my 40 year old tie collection wherein I found my favorite college staple--my dark navy blue silk knit. Slightly Stretched but perfectly useable, nontheless. And so, along with a couple of pairs of ancient Peals that I've fixed up a bit, I have reinvigorated a little personal style into my otherwise drab life.
Many thanks, Will, for your inspiration!
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