Lotsa Squares

According to Alan Flusser, one can match "like patterns"  (squares with squares, dots with dots ,stripes with stripes etc.) so long as the size of the patterns are different.

Using the same jacket and shirt as last post we show Flussers principle in action.  The squares on the pattern of the jacket are large (windowpanes) yet the squares on the tie are not, and they blend well together.  Note how the tie has not a drop of brown in it yet it works well with the jacket and thats due to the bluye, ecru/grey and even the navy which the jacket has as well (see the closeup I show below).



 

Of course swapping out the grey shirt for the light blue one below gives an even stronger look.



 

And finally if you bring in the square that I was reffering to in the previous post you get this look.  I like an abstract square here as another definitive pattern might look goofy.  Certainly if you tried to put in another square patterened pocket square.



Here is the closeup of the fabric, with the close flash which distorts the colors somewhat you get a better look at the blues in the jacket (The closeup also shows the blues (one of about 9 colors ) in the orange square:

Brown and Gray, Yes Way!

Yet again we come back to the brown and gray discussion (however you spell it, grey or gray) after a posted mentioned in Styleforum.net that Brown and Gray - No Way.

Of course shades of brown make all the difference but only insofar as the need to counter with a different color grey.

Here we take a Hickey Freeman His First sportcoat (lovely fabric) and work in a gray twill shirt, looks like this:



Add a yellow wide Chevron Tie.  The tie here yellow of course and more importantly a tan and brown large stripe running through it.  Whats important here is that even if you have no inkling of coordinating colors you can see that 1) Yellow and Brown/Beige shades work well (assuming you like the tie and think it looks nice) and therefore in all probability, this tie will work well (enough) with the blazer which is another family of brown.  Utilize this concept (if the tie looks nice, then probably the colors that are in the tie can be blended together) in getting a feel for coordination.  Unfortunately what will throw this off is that there are always the times when that tie is just plain fugly. :-)



Here I got a little aheaf of myself on this square.  Too much burgundy in it for me to like the combo (although its growing on me).  I should have gone with a more black and orange square like this one or this one.



This is what you get with that square.



Swapping out that square for another in the yellow family you get this:



Which looks together like this:



I pulled out the tie in this shot for a substitute in the same pattern with a greenish hue as opposed to the yellow for this:



All together with the yellow square gets you this:



Now going more green (always sage color to avoid the forest look which we covered earlier) with a slight gold stripe you get this:



With a square from the new collection:



Which comes together nicely in this:  The square has all your colors in it, and shows how the brown and shades of gray work nicely.



Finally for a last look at that earlier square with the new tie:



Enjoy your weekend (I am off till Sunday)

Can't See The Suit for the Trees

Recognising that in that last post confusing brown we introduced some very earth tone combinations i.e. the brown with the green stripe shirt, I wanted to try and pull a bit away from being confused with a tree by bringing in a light blue and some other bright colors.  True, that blues and reds would technically qualify as "earth tones"  but they arent quite something that you would expect to see up in a tree...

Here is the shirt/Suit in question, Brown for Bark, Green for leaves (incidentally most of the shirts pictured below and in the preceeding post were Hickey Freeman His First shirts that I borrowed from our Kids Shop...)  Certainly somewhat treelike:



Throwing in some Light Blue in the tie and red in the square (Speckled with Blue and trimmed with Green mind you) which IMO works well will give you this look:



Which is the sum of these parts:



Away from the blue tie and with a brown tie to complement the suit your look will be this, a nice look:



Moving somewhat away from the darkish Green shirt we use another shirt that we highlighted last post.  This has some purple and some green in it on an off  white field and with the same square and green tie (now that we have broken away from the dark green we can afford the green tie)  we get a look like this:

Here the shirt and tie match well together and come back to the suit in complementary colors.



Incidentally its the sum of these parts.  As you can see, there is NOTHING here that doesnt coordinate.



I also put it together with another patterned green tie and to be honest I find the sage color in this tie a little too "meh" in this combination , not standing out enough against the shirt so while the tie in and of itself is nice its not enough here.



Finally, coming fully away from the green shirt we bring yet another shirt from yesterdays post which in and of itself brings out what we have been saying all along, Brown and Blue go really well together.  Coupled with the Satin fielded Rectangular patterns tie you get this look:



Swapping out the red square for a navy and golden brown (still not on the site yet) will give you this:



Which is the sum of these parts:



As a final note its important to mention that in earthy combinations like the ones above, skin tone i.e. complexion will play a massive role.

Brown: Why so confusing?

For some reason brown is getting alot of attention all around as to what shirt one can wear with a brown suit or sportcoat.

I took the liberty of shooting some shirts that I thought went well with brown... (I should probably take them over with better lighting but this is a start):  I did not include ties and squares here opting rather to get a basic look before we built on the background colors.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="With Purple, Green and White"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="With Pink, Grey and White"][/caption]

 

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Purple Gingham"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Light Blue and Beige "][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Medium Blue and Beige and White"][/caption]

 

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="White and Brown"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="White and Orange Stripe"][/caption]

 

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Pink and Brown Check on Ecru "][/caption]

 

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Light Blue Gingham Check"][/caption]

 

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Green Pin Stripe"][/caption]

 

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Classic Pink (Been Covered Already)"][/caption]

 

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Classic Light Blue, (Covered as well)"][/caption]

 

 

 

Any Questions?

3 Ties 3 Looks

As I had the Sportcoat and Shirt out already from the last post I figured I would end the week with the jacket and put some more tie options with it.
The ingredients in the first ensemble are as follows. The boldness of the green tie against the backdrop of the shirt makes it a nice addition to the brown sportscoat (which incidentally has some blue in it as well) .  I used the predominently blue square with a touch of green to pick it all up a little and get somewhat away from the potential drabness of the olive colored jacket. By no means is this a drab jacket but when played incorrectly it could be.



Which comes together looking like this:



Swapping out the tie for a brown toned tie with light blue in the flower will give you this look:



And ending it all with a burgundy cashmere silk blend you get this look. Enough in there without being too much.

3 Shirts 3 Looks

Three different shirts on the same Sportcoat, Square and Tie and this is what you get:

These are the ingredients for the first combo:



Coming together looking like this:



this:



and this:

Yellow and Navy

From the search queries yet again.  Running out so up go the pix with discussion to follow!

Yellow and navy is fairly natural together so the no brainer is another blue color in there. I chose the square in case some felt it was too monochromatic in the blues and blues and it does in fact freshen it up. The square is a favorite of mine from the new collection.



Which is the sum of these parts.



In the same concept I changed the tie while leaving the square in there (and I did in fact leave the square for the whole shoot because you can almost go anywhere with squares here) and added this tie.  It keeps the same blue field and adds in a touch of orange in the flower.



Being that the color of the shirt is yellow and the stripe here is wide it may look too matchy matchy with the shirt but I like this look.  The tie is of classic design and color.  Make a wonderful knot and dimple.



Finally to round out some blue ties I added this.  Another classic design with the gold stripe coordinating with the shirt and square.



Moving somewhat away from the blues (although this tie does have a steely blue weft giving it that shimmer)  I introduced this tie to the mix.  Less of a contrast but equally nice.  As its a blaxer being used and ot a suit and has a slight density and texture to it as do many treu blazers the added dimension of the tie is a nice touch.



Finally, green is an oft overlooked color.  Very versatile and useful especially with navy.  The first tie in fact is a green and navy blended weave to give you this look.  Green of course works quite well with yellows too.



Ending with this tie which is interestingly enough the reverse of a lime green and blue.  We didn't like the front side but loved the back.  The irridescence of the tie gives anough blue and green to work really well.  What say you?