Changing Seasons

We've entered the final weeks of summer in the Northern hemisphere and our active wardrobes will change with the new season. Autumn's country clothing, like Spring's, takes its coloring cues from nature. Tweed jackets were woven to blend into the terrain during the stalking season in Scotland, and sweaters and corduroy trousers share that same palette.

Shetland sweaters, like these Jamieson's at Ben Silver, are one of the reasons that Fall is my favorite time of year. Wear them over a checked flannelette shirt.

Men with compatible coloring who haven't already taken advantage of rust and orange in their Fall wardrobes should trying adding an item or two to their closets. As the photos illustrate, either color will complement sky blue, bottle green, or mustard corduroys.

I've always enjoyed the way city clothes reflect the colors of man, while country clothes blend with nature. Autumn sends me to the country side of my closet.

Fall Cottons

Beazley's package of Holland & Sherry cottons arrived today. Clockwise, from the top:

• Moss 9 oz 16 wale needlecord
• Fawn 14 oz 11 wale cord
• Navy 16 oz 7 wale cord
• Rust (dark red, really) 14 oz moleskin

As soon as Martin Greenfield's shop re-opens after their Summer vacation, the cloth will be made into high waisted pleated trousers for Fall, with side adjustors and 1 3/4" cuffs. I hope to have them about the time the temperature is cool enough to wear them. They'll be paired with sweaters, tweed jackets, half boots and Norwegian lace-ups.

Some Trouser Details

In 1923, according to a survey of 300 men in Palm Beach, Florida by the now-defunct Men's Wear, 76% wore white odd trousers or plus fours in flannel or linen, 21% wore suits, 1% wore gray flannels and 2% wore knickers in other fabrics. Trousers, particularly the gray flannel variety, have covered a lot of ground in the intervening 85 years, and we've substituted shorts for plus fours and knickers along the way.

But this essay is on trousers and there are two basic types with countless variations. For my taste, the dressier of the two are high waisted English style trousers cut to be worn beltless, with side tabs or braces (the straps that Americans call suspenders), and pleats in the front and cuffs on the bottoms. Braces let trousers hang straighter and don't require adjustment during the day. They are dressier because the high waist sits above a mature man's paunch and lets the trousers hang in a straight line to the shoe. Needless to say, this allows for a sleeker appearance than does a suggestion of stomach protruding over a belted waistline. The negative is that they should be covered by a vest or jacket at all times even if your name is Larry King.

The back in the photograph so eloquently illustrating trousers with a English, or fishtail, back, is provided by critic Francis Bown, whose website Bown's Bespoke periodically covers aspects of the bespoke tailoring arts. The fishtail originated with Scottish trews (trousers that may be worn with a short jacket) and keep a man's shirt covered below his waistcoat when he leans forward (shirts are underwear, after all).

The other principal type of trouser is flat fronted, cut to be worn belted on the hips, and usually without cuffs. This style was originally laborer's garb but it's been elevated to the status of art by continental tailors who prefer it for suits cut for men with trim figures. It's a fine look as long as the wearer is careful that the open quarters of his jacket don't expose his belt buckle and blind pedestrians with the flash.

I prefer high waisted trousers with suits but either belted or beltless trousers are reasonable choices with odd jackets and for more casual wear. There are several options for keeping up beltless trousers, including side straps instead of tabs, and the DAK waistband, however these are usually difficult to find ready to wear.

Button cuffs may be the most obscure trouser detail. Instead of stitching the turned-up cuff to the trouser leg, the tailor sews a button to the inside of the cuff and a buttonhole on the seam of the pant leg. Each cuff has two buttons, one on each side. This feature can safely be left to men who commonly need to brush debris out of their trouser bottoms.

Finally, we should consider the fly, and that's usually closed by a zipper, a relatively modern invention that no longer jams like it used to. The older alternative is the button fly, normally eight buttons that pretty well guarantee that a man will be fumbling with himself at a urinal long enough to draw nervous glances from those around him. The Duke of Windsor preferred the zipper and that's good enough for me.

Trouser fabrics are widely available in much more variety than was seen in Palm Beach those many years ago. Flannel, linen, corduroy, cotton drill, and fresco are some of the common odd trouser types. For some thoughts on an odd trouser wardrobe, see my January essay here.

Essential Odd Trousers

An odd trouser wardrobe should be a mixed lot of fabrics and weights that suits every season. Depending on how often you wear them, you'll need at least five, and more likely ten, pair for warm days and the same for cooler weather.

I've divided the essentials into casual and dress trousers with the idea being that casuals can take a little dirt. You might wear them with a jacket but they'll be paired with a sweater or a polo more often than not.

Casual Trousers
-Khaki cotton drill. Gentleman's jeans for weekend wear. Olive is another classic color.
-Cotton moleskin. Soft and warm trousers for the cold.
-Cords. In moss and mouse, for cool weather from Fall to Spring, with sweaters or odd jackets.
-Poplin. Spring casuals for golf and similar pursuits. Try a soft pink.

Dress Trousers
-Gray flannels. Every wardrobe needs at least two pair, in mid-gray and charcoal. Aficionados also like them in light gray for Spring (like the hatted fellow in the illustration) , and in weights from medium to heavy. As Alan Flusser wrote, "If you are considering a new sport jacket and are having difficulty visualizing it with a medium gray trouser, move on."
-Fawn and cream flannels. A change of pace from gray.
-Gabardines. Silky smooth trousers are ideal for much of the year in California and similar climates. Wear them in cream, brown and olive.
-Tan cavalry twill. With a navy odd jacket it's the English uniform.
-Linen. Linen breathes, so it's a good choice for hot weather. Get the heaviest linen you can find, because heavier fabric will drape better and rumple rather than wrinkle. Think in terms of half a dozen pair in cream, tan, brown and mustard.
-Light gray and tan fresco trousers. More summer wear. Fresco doesn't wrinkle like linen and it holds a crease. Wear them on unrumpled occasions with a tan or navy odd jacket.

Odd Jackets

I don't believe that a classic wardrobe requires many odd jackets. They are very useful when you need something to throw on above a pair of cords, but a flannel, tweed or linen suit looks as good or better at other times.

That doesn't mean odd jackets are not perfectly acceptable for lunch at the club, Sunday worship and any business trip where you'll arrive too late for a meeting. It just means that they are a discretionary purchase once you have a few of them. I think four or five of them cover the basics, with two or three pairs of trousers that you can wear with each jacket.

For spring and summer, you should have a navy blazer of 10 oz. fresco. A tan linen or fresco jacket makes a good change of pace. Complementary trousers could include tan and cream linen, light gray and tan fresco, and tan and khaki cotton drill.

For fall and winter you’ll want to start with a blazer of blue flannel or serge, and one or two tweed jackets. Medium and dark gray flannel trousers go with almost any jacketing. Tan cavalry twill is also a classic with the navy jacket and corduroy looks great with tweed.

A great feature of odd jackets is that they give you quite a bit of room to exercise your creativity in the details while remaining appropriately dressed. A belted safari jacket, or safariana, can be a different look in warm weather. Patch and bellows pockets on a tweed coat, developed to hold shotgun shells, are a good place to put your Blackberry.

That flexibility is probably enough reason to have more than four or five of them.