Brown is the New Black

As the original copywriter for this illustration pointed out, you'd expect a man in a gray striped suit, black hat and black shoes to be wearing a gray or a black coat. But, rather than do something so over-used, the well-dressed man often opts for the slightly unexpected.

In this case, the unexpected is a brown tweed overcoat. Conservative enough for town and just a bit out of the ordinary, it's brown as the new black.

Reader Questions

From Benedict
"The overcoat I inherited from my father, a full-length grey single-breasted, has finally collapsed under the weight of years. I am seeking a new, all-purpose overcoat, as i can only stretch to one this season, which would go as well with black tie as the odd jacket and trouser ensembles that make up most of my day-to-day wardrobe. Which style/colour do you think would work best? "

You're likely to get the most use from another full length oxford gray single breasted.

From Simon
"I am wearing a silk velvet smoking jacket to an evening event in the near future and I want to wear a cravat under my white shirt. What knot should I choose?

The tied ascot is worn under your open collar shirt so that an inch of silk fills the tie space. Instructions for tieing a an ascot/cravate are here.



From Joacim
"I got a new job today, starting Monday, and from what I understand everyone wears suits. I'm planning on wearing basic navy and charcoal suits, but what about business shoes? I really hate the combination navy and black, and that goes for shoes as well. Would it be totally wrong to wear brown oxfords, chelsea boots (or any other unlaced kind of dress shoe) with navy and grey suits?"

I also prefer brown shoes to black with navy suits but that shouldn't be your first concern. Wear black oxfords the first few days while you get the lay of the land. Your priority should be to establish yourself as a serious player. You can wear brown shoes for decades once you've done that but it's easy to get categorized as a light weight and hard to overcome that first impression.

Reader Questions

From Bill


"I will be relocating to Chicago and need an overcoat. I'm interested in Hickey Freeman's camel hair polo coat. Is 18 oz fabric heavy enough for Chicago's winter weather?"

A topcoat is lighter than an overcoat, and it's meant for milder weather. 18 ounce fabric is the heavy end of topcoat cloth. That weight would be OK for brief exposure to the elements but you will want an overcoat if you're going to spend any significant Chicago winter time out of doors.

I actually grew up in Chicago and lived there briefly after I finished school. One winter we had a week of minus 80 degrees wind chill weather and I was walking to my office downtown each day. As soon as possible thereafter my wife and I moved to San Francisco.

Overcoats for winter weather are usually 21 or 22 ounces. They can be even heavier - I believe the old Meltons were 27 ounce fabric. If you'll be outside much, look for something heavier than 18 ounces.

Reader Questions

From Joshua

"Many sources say that the customary length for jacket sleeves is to reveal at least 0.5 inches of the shirt cuff. However, I have not been able to find a similar custom on the length for sleeves on a top coat. Would you please tell me and the rest of your readers what is customarily accepted as the proper length for our topcoated selves?"

Despite how it looks in the drawing to the left (either the artist erred or the tops of the men's gloves are folded down), a topcoat or overcoat should fall to the bottom of the hand so it covers jacket and shirt cuff. That way, a man's gloves extend up into the sleeve and there's no skin exposed to the weather.

From Pat
"When going to a new tailor, do you ever leave written instructions behind? For instance, I have selected a new tailor to make a dinner jacket for me. For once, I have very specific ideas about what I want, and feel confident that I can communicate my wants to him. However, I am sorely tempted to write a letter reiterating my specific wants and desires, to leave with him."

Specifying a drapey Neopolitan jacket to a tailor who makes clean, Roman style clothes for is a recipe for failure. I believe that we should choose tailors for their reputation and house style, and should then be comfortable enough with that style to let the tailor decide all but the major details of cloth, lining, style (double, single with three buttons, etc.), and pockets.

Past that, the fitter should be writing things down as you mention them and if you lack confidence in his ability to read what he's written you've almost certainly chosen the wrong man (or woman). I've had more than one get details wrong but that's part of the game and they are usually reparable.

Reader Questions

I get questions by email and by PMs on message boards in addition to the ones posted here. Whatever the source, some of them ask questions that are of general interest. Here are two.

From Williamson

I was very pleased to see your thread on overcoats. When I was much younger, someone whose opinions I still respect told me that the outer coat is in a sense part of the suit, not an extra solely for wear in cold or wet weather. Someone wrote in The Style Forum that he is seeking an overcoat not so much for warmth as for "feeling finished" when he leaves the house. If this strikes a chord with you, I'd be interested to have your opinion.

As I mentioned, many stylish men in Naples agree with you. The climate there is mild, with temperatures typically ranging from lows of 40 to highs of 85 degrees Farenheit (4 to 30 degrees Centigrade) during the year. Neopolitan tailors do a healthy business in topcoats made from 13 ounce cloth. That's just barely enough weight to drape and give a man a coat that finishes his look when it's as much as 55 degrees F. Living as I do in Northern California, I approve.

From David

As a suggestion for a future blog entry, you might talk about why you use two different tailors. Are you looking for a variety of styles? Do you prefer to go to one tailor over another for certain items? Does it cut against building a relationship if you spread out your orders between different houses?

Many men use more than one tailor. This year is the first time in my life that I'm trying two new ones at the same time, but I normally work with two or three. One of them makes country clothes for me, one specializes in "soft" tailoring, my preferred style, and I use another to make what the other two can't or won't.

For example, one of my Savile Row tailors prefers not to work with cloth lighter than ten ounces, and seems to have have little experience making minimally lined jackets for hot weather. They also make a straight cut jacket that looks great without a vest, but shows too many vest buttons. I'm trying Peter Harvey for a coat that will show just one button above the coat closing.

I don't think it hurts the relationship to use more than one tailor. Once your pattern is perfected, it's there to be used as long as you maintain your weight. And in the larger houses, you may remain loyal but your cutters now come and go faster than they once did. Each cutter has his own idiosyncracies within the broader outlines of the house style, so you can lose some consistency while remaining loyal to one house.

A Closet Full of Coats

A man needs a coat, or several of them, for the rain and the snow.

Every wardrobe has to start somewhere. If you have one coat it should be a tan raincoat with a zip-in lining that will help keep you warm when the temperature falls below freezing.

Your second coat should be designed to get you to and from your work in cold weather, like the navy guard's coat in the drawing. Less useful than a raincoat in the rain, an overcoat can literally keep you from freezing on very cold days.

Variety being the spice of life, larger wardrobes have five or more coats for different purposes. In addition to the raincoat and an overcoat, you could constructively add a topcoat, like the covert coat pictured in the center of the drawing, for milder days.

A more formal overcoat, such as a charcoal Chesterfield with a black velvet collar, will be more appropriate than a conventional coat at solemn occasions and in the evening.

Finally, a tweed coat with raglan sleeves will look fitting worn over tweed suits and odd jackets.

We differentiate between overcoats and topcoats because a topcoat is four to six inches shorter than an overcoat and less cumbersome on a train or in an automobile. It's also lighter.

Coat fabrics come in several different weights. Very heavy overcoat fabrics, suitable for a Moscow winter, weigh as much as 30 ounces and are increasingly difficult to find today. Normal overcoat fabric runs 20-22 ounces, and topcoat cloth 17-18 ounces. In warmer climates such as Naples or San Francisco, topcoats may be made from suiting fabric weighing as little as 13 ounces.

The classic colors for overcoats and topcoats are the usual navy, charcoal and tan. For variety, you should acquire one of each color before considering a second or third in a similar color. For example, your closet might contain:

• Tan raincoat
• Charcoal Chesterfield
• Navy guard's coat
• Fawn covert coat
• Brown and cream houndstooth tweed

If you prefer other choices, such as a camel polo coat instead of the navy guard's coat, you can maintain color choices in your closet by substituting, for example, a black and white herringbone topcoat for the covert.

If you've earned an indulgence this winter, remember that coats may be the best opportunities to employ luxury cloth in your wardrobe. Cold weather is significantly less uncomfortable when you're wrapped up in a cashmere overcoat.