Naughty and Nice

For the sake of clarity I wanted to elaborate on the brown suit/blue shirt and red tie comment I made yesterday where I stated that I thought it was too much in the color department. Immediately after I posted reader "Paul" questioned me on what I had written earlier about a red tie with a brown suit and a blue shirt where I mentioned and pictured a nice combination. I responded in comment that yes I thought it looked nice in the picture (which I will post below) but when the question of red/brown and blue was a good combo came up, I conjured up thoughts of a redder red and a browner brown and in my opinion that was a bad combo.

These red ties when placed with blue and brown are loud garish and poorly matched and call unwanted attention to the wearer. In my opinion they look cheap together.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Naughty"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Very Naughty"][/caption]

Here the tie isnt quite as "fire engine scream it out loud" red as the previous two. Almost a blend between red and burgundy.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="460" caption="Nice!"][/caption]

And since you asked, Paul here is Brown with Burgundy, framed in with a cashmere v-neck sweater from Colombo and accompanied by the brown and burgundy parasol square.





In the words of Borat...



So what do you think? Naughty or nice?

Tis the season! :-)

Queries of the week - Volume 2

A very good Thanksgiving weekend to all.

Here are this weeks Search Terms which brought readers to FTWU's doorstep.

Of course I value your opinions and wish to hear from you, and if you have a particular issue you want to hear my thoughts on, feel free to post a comment or email me at any time. Thanks for reading!

1) What shirts with grey suit? - This is a good generic question and since I have mentioned earlier that grey is a great versatile color in a suit vis a vis ties it would follow that many color shirts are safe as well.  This includes, greys, blues (the lighter the better) creams, and pretty much any color.  The only thing that must be remembered is that the color of the shirt will subsequently dictate and limit the color of the tie and accompanying accessories.

2) Camel color coats with Grey scarf? - Camel is versatile, and Grey is versatile.  That being said, I think that you can do better than grey in choices of scarf colors with camel coats.  The darker the grey (close to charcoal-almost black) the better it will look, The lighter the grey the less it belongs with camel.  Focus on better contrast so that your scarf stands out causing a positive-negative effect between the scarf (accessory) and the principle garment, in this case the coat.  Click on this link for more outerwear looks which focus on contrast.

3)  Best shirt colors? - I am going to assume that the question of best shirt colors means most useful, so I am going to have to answer, light blue. (Of course, white goes with everything but we are talking colors).  I am of the opinion that light blue works with everything; Black, Charcoal, Grey, Brown (yeah Brown), Cream, White, and pretty much everything in between, not to mention Navy and Blue.  The added advantage is that not only does it work with those color suitings it also does not limit tie and accessory options.  What you do sometimes have to worry about in blue shirts is making sure that if you pair a blue shirt with a blue tie that the blues don't clash.  Similar hues of blue might get you there.  If you are hell bent on using blue ties with blue shirts use a navy blue tie and be carefree that you aren't clashing.

4) Blue sport coat with Black pants? - FTWU says AVOID this combo. I dont like Navy blue against Black.  The one time I did like that combo is when a woman bought 5 Colombo cashmere vests in Navy for her sons and sons-in-law for black suits and despite my telling her that I thought navy or charcoal was better with navy and black or charcoal with black she insisted on Navy with the black suits.  :-)

5) Pink Shirts Match with what? - Pink works well with Blue in all its colors, Dark Brown and Black (although sometimes it may come across strong with black contrast.  (click on the pink shirt link to the right for visuals.).  It will also work with greys but without a tie it might not say much).

6) Brown Suit Blue Shirt Red Tie? - (EDIT:  PLEASE SEE COMMENTS BELOW) FTWU says this is too much in the color department and will only draw attention to oneself. Not necessarily positive attention.  Unlike advertising and businesses, there is such a thing as bad publicity.

7) The funniest search term that I saw this week was the query of "WIFE GF".  Not sure what the question in mind was but GF is one of the codes that I use on my ties and some scarves and squares and I do that because one of my supplier's initials is GF.  Needless to say, I highly doubt that http://fromthewaistup.wordpress.com/ was what the one who asked about Wife GF had in mind when they clicked on the link ;-)

Have a great successful, happy and healthy week!

More ways to skin this cat

On Wednesday I wrote about one way to tie a scarf. Of course there are many ways to "skin that cat" and here are some more.

There is the typical flip around to the back which looks like this in the front.

The downside is that 1) on a long scarf it hangs too far over the back looking like this, a bit clumsy (and even being dangerous, as the circumstances involved in Isadora Duncan's death show):

and 2) it can easily blow back over even if its not windy, by simply turning or leaning over quickly or the wrong way. A solution for that would be to wrap it around the neck a full time. Flip it over, and the part that is on your back, bring to the front again. Its not that convenient, and is a little uncomfortable as you cant really loosen and tighten the scarf easily.

Alternatively, here is a knot that I prefer using as its quick to put on, adjusts freely and usually stays up against the neck keeping you nice and warm.  Its easier to work with a knitted scarf like this black small striped seen above and further below but certainly works well enough with a woven too like this  Colombo double sided scarf (Seen Here)

In both cases they are shown with the Prandina Ribbed wool 3/4 coat with detachable hood. (fabric by Piacenza)

Here are the simple steps.

1) Double up the scarf and drape it around your neck in the middle of the doubled up scarf. One side now has two fringes and one side has a loop created by the doubling of the scarf.

2) Feed the fringes into the loop and draw the scarf tighter.

Your scarf should now look like this and you are done. You can leave it hanging out or:

Tuck it into your jacket like so.

This works better with a long scarf of about 70 inches. and less and you will have the end result that looks like this, A little skimpy.

I have also seen this knot being used.

I personally think that it comes across as too effeminate. Maybe because the first time I saw it was when my Alex Begg Rep was wearing her floral scarf in that pattern. Maybe I think it looks too affected. To each his own :)

Enjoy the weekend!

PS: The Cashmere sale on my site ends on the 1st of December. Take advantage!

Orange and Navy

While orange and rusty orange works well with black, another nice combination is orange and navy as orange in all its forms will brighten up navy.

Here you have a navy suit with a light blue shirt (looks grey in some pics but its a pale blue pique) and a slate blue square paired with a host of orange ties, starting with that paisley weave from earlier in the week.



The square looks like this, a whimsical honey jar pattern with a floral pattern on the fabric.  Nice enough but I thought we could do better.



So we swap it out for a darker navy square whose darkness serves to highlight the bright flowers on it thereby giving the square a presence in the pocket despite its dark nature. (for more on contrasting your square with your jacket see this post.)



And the final effect is this:



This textured stripe uses a soft green with large orange stripes.  The introduction of the soft green and the soft orange instead of the earlier paisley add color without overdoing it.  Green, orange, blue and navy together, write it down, its  a wining combination.



This heavy blue four fold might be predominantly blue but there are enough orange flowers to give it "orange" status.  I like how fresh the tie looks. Besides, it reminds me of my youth when back in the day when my Dad of blessed memory bought a Yankees and Mets cap for me and my brother and he  grabbed the Yankees cap and I became a defacto Mets fan :-)



Here we move away from the classic oranges to more yellowy/mustard orange in the form of this Petronius four fold.  I believe that this tie is a 50 oz. Twill.



And finally back to an orange with a rust tinge tie coupled with a darker bottle green flower.  Also a Petronius four fold.



PS:  Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Americans and anyone else that is celebrating today!

Tying the knot

Over at Styleforum.net the question came up as to how I did the knot on the scarves a few posts back in more black ops.

Here is how its done.  Simple, really:

4 easy steps:

1) Cross the scarf over in front like so:


2) Take the top part and swing under the lower part and up through the neck like so:



3) Bring the part that is up down like so.



4) Spread it wider while pulling it up like so:  Pull the bottom part so as to tighten the scarf around your neck thereby bringing the top up.


Your close up should look like this:



6) And close the jacket over it so it looks like this:



This type of knot functions well as it 1) displays the pattern of the scarf and 2) it stays tight against the neck unlike the typical crossover of the two ends of the scarf in front of the throat which invariably opens up after a few moments.

More on black and orange

Here is some more on the black and orange theme, as well as the charcoal and orange.  I added here the burnt orange with the black and the charcoal and orange stripe.  I think you will agree that the combo is super sharp and its almost as if the tie was made for that suit.

Here with the orange version of yesterday's woven paisley.  Framed by a black suit and grey twill shirt.  (Great luxurious hand on that shirt).   As I mentioned yesterday the ties are busy and bright enough for a plain off white linen square.



The burnt orange (sigh, what a beauty) tie with the same black suit.



And the same order with the charcoal and orange pin stripe suit.  You only get the true color of the suit in the second pic.



Niiiiiiiiiice! :-)



Ignore the following: its for verifying my blog on Technorati (thats supposed to be helpful):  JNRA83PPX998

http://www.fourinhand.com/Product.asp?dept=103002&Product=PD80E-01

Ties are accessories

Ties are accessories or at least should be. What I mean by that is that they should not be the focal point of the suit but they should compliment it. Add flavor to the entree not be the overpowering taste.

With that concept in mind I will add my two cents to a photo that someone sent me today, asking me what my thoughts on it were.

Here is the photo:



The suit is magnificient, the shirt is nice. I like the subtle touch the square offers up as well, complimenting the suit while not detracting. I think that in this case the tie which appears to be an Hermes type orange overpowers the rest of the ensemble, relegating it to the background.

And whats interesting to me is that had the tie been used in a DARKER suit then it could have been pulled off as the contrast of the suit would have pulled its own weight.

Below I show two suits with the same rust/raspberry paisley tie. In the grey while its OK, it becomes the focal point of the ensemble and the rest fades into the background. In the black it takes a black suit and makes it pop.





PS: I don't care for this square here and should have gone with a simple cream linen one. I will Re-pic tomorrow.

JNRA83PPX998

Queries of the week - Volume 1

I like Wordpress.com blogs as they offer a nice selection of backend options that allow me to monitor whats happening with the blog, where my readers are coming from and what they are looking at.

One of the items in Blog stats is Search Engine Terms which is essentially the queries that people submitted to various search engines which turned up this blog, fromthewaistup.wordpress.com.

For example, a query of White shirt with Lilac Tie gets me in the google query all the way at the bottom of the first page.

As I am not usually in the store on Sunday's to take pictures of ensembles I figured I would answer some of the questions that came my way.

Oh...so you know, a white shirt and lilac tie goes nicely with a grey or black suit.  ;-)

1) Can you wear squares with stripe shirts? Interesting question, and by squares I assume what was meant was square patterned ties.  I would say to avoid it as a rule unless you are really good at this and are comfortable relying on your own eye.  Of course there is no absolutes in any of this and visuals would be necessary to determine.

2) Grey shirt gold tie - I would say to avoid this.  Although black with gold is a winner, a grey shirt unless its a dark grey will not give you enough contrast and will look off.  If the shirt is dark enough then you will look like you drive a limo or work for the mafia. (Or both :-) )

3) Brown suit & pink shirt - This is a nice combo.  Click on the brown suit or pink shirt link and you should get some nice looks on this.

4) Orange paisley tie with blue check shirt - The colors are right and work together (Orange and Blue) however you need to make sure that there isn't too much happening when you blend the checks and the paisleys, which are both naturally busy patterns.

5) Pink shirt and navy tie with a black suit - I dont think so.  Black suit and Pink shirt = Yes.  Pink Shirt and Navy Tie = Yes. But that is where the connection ends.  The Navy Tie does NOT belong together with the black suit.

6) Black suits with ivory shirt and red tie - This will work, but bear in mind that as the suit backdrop is black and the contrasted shirt is white, the RED TIE is going to scream at you I AM RED AND DON'T YOU FORGET THAT!!!!!

7) There were alot of questions on the topic of Light Blue with Dark Green or other Green combos. - The simple answer is a resounding YES.  Search the blog if you haven't yet, I am a big fan of the combo.

Enjoy the balance of the weekend of if you first get to this Monday, have a great week!

http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=white+shirt+with+lilac+tie

No Sleep...

So I tossed and turned last night because until today when a second person graciously voted on the previous post the popst was rated average.   Grrr... I dont like average.

I do admit that I think the average rating was based on the fact that the Second Navy tie (the paisleys) showed a little more purply than it really is.

Here is the tie again, against a grey twill shirt, showing a little less purple and more navy (but not as navy as it is.)

A little better I think (even if not all the way there) , but feel free to vote again :-)



Have a great weekend.

 

 

Grey and Black, Grey and Navy

Grey and black work perfectly together.  As I have mentioned in the past, Grey is in the black family.

But Grey in all its colors works well with Navy as well.

Here are some examples of Grey with Black and Grey with Navy.

The Black taffeta silk with the unfinished stripe and the orange and black paisley square works into the grey with the light blue shirt



What a stunning intricate square!



Here with a navy mini paisley and blue toned square.





And here with a blue fielded polka dot.

More On Wool Ties

A wool tie with the proper weave (as opposed to a knitted wool tie) would be perfectly acceptable IMO to use in a business setting.  And contrary to popular thought one needn't restrict its use to flannel type suits as due to its fine weave it looks little more than a textured silk tie.

Here are a few examples of finely woven wools  that work with regular suits.

Shown with the light  Blue Unlined Wool Tie and Burgundy Paisley Pocket Square.



Just for the closeup of the square as the flash blew away (not literally) the tie and shirt.



The burgundy wool tie with the green paisley square. I didn't want to keep the burgundy square opting instead for the complementary colors and not the matching.



And here a close up of the square.



Here with a shell Rose pink wool tie. This particular tie happens to be lined hence the larger knot.  The square is one of the multi's that I have used in the past.



As always, this is just my opinion and I would love to hear yours.

Give a little back please...

EDIT:  This was an addendum to last nights regularly scheduled programming which is just below this post on the main page.

I probably shouldn't do this but I am gonna ask that if you read this blog and it appears that many people are doing just that, could you please

1) Vote on the posts. (its not that hard, its just a mouse click and this way I can get a feel for what you feel).

and/or:

2) Comment if you like or dont like something or if you would like to see more of something or another.

and/or

3) Recommend this blog to someone you love :-).

4) If you used any of the looks and ideas from here, tell me or post a comment with a link to a photo.

Its just a way to give a little back and to make me feel like I am reaching real live people.

Thanks.

JJF

Knits are casual

I know that I posted a knit scarf with rust highlights with the cashmere Colombo Coat a few days back, but to tell the truth I would rather see knits limited to more casual coats and woven scarves for more dressy coats.  While the Colombo coat was in fact a 3/4 and stylish is fabric and texture make it more slanted to dresswear than sportswear

Optimally I prefer to see it with something like this Prandina coat with removable hood and of course more sporty as well:

So that this:



Looks like This: (shown with the black and royal double sided scarf)



Or with a grey and lilac stripe knit like this:


Or with the double sided black and charcoal/brown, like this: