The American saying that a man should wear no white after Labor Day has somehow come to be applied to all clothing, which makes no sense, instead of shoes (the original target), where it does. For one thing, it contradicts the more basic rule that one's clothing should reflect one's surroundings, which is how we came to wear grays in the city and brown or green in the country in the first place.
The white to which I am referring of course is cream, that classic yellowed white that looks nothing like snow. Cream trousers have been worn by well dressed men for at least 80 years (they are shown with some frequency in Apparel Arts and Esquire illustrations from the 1930s). Patterned wool jackets make the best pairings, since cream trousers and a navy blue blazer are just a tad too nautical unless one is watching the America's Cup. Try mid-weight wool jackets with gabardine trousers and tweed jackets with flannel so the finish of the trousers relates to the coat. But wear cream year-round.
In the photo, cream flannel trousers with a gray glen check jacket, gray cashmere necktie, paisley silk pocket square and Russian calf cap toes.
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6 comments:
Will,
Is that a white shirt? This is my struggle with cream trousers, choosing a shirt. White makes me feel like an ice cream vendor and other colors have to so subtle as to hardly be a color. I have settled on Lilac most often but I am curious about your thoughts on the shirt pairings for cream trousers.
Cheers,
CFC
Tan actually. Blame the cell phone camera.
Can you elaborate on Russian cap-toe or are you just referring to an unnamed Russian manufacturer
The jacket looks like it might be navy in the small photo, but resolves to its gray patterned self in the large one.
What other color shirts would you choose besides tan?
Also, I'm sure your socks don't match your pants. What color and pattern are they?
Russian calf is the century-old leather salvaged from a wreck off the coast of Wales. The shoes were made by Cleverley.
The socks are a black and brown birdseye.
I have not experimented with other shirts and that jacket as of yet.
I have never heard this saying...in the south the rule only pertains to white shoes.
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