Random Navy Musings

Here are some shots that were taken a while ago from what was then new stock.

All paired with this Hickey Freeman Navy Pin Stripe Suit and assorted Hickey Freeman Shirts.

The General idea was the blending of the Navy with the Lilac which as illustrated before, works.

First up Hickey Freeman Lilac Striped Shirt, Diamond Neats Navy Tie with yellow and Lilac (Go ahead and click on the link, the pic and color matching is better there) and the ever practical and appropriate white linen square with contrast border in lilac.

Same suit, shirt and square with an orange/lilac tie (I say orange/lilac because it has the weft of the silk in a lilac hue).  See this post about the nature of the catena and how it plays a role in the tie colors).  Incidentally Orange/Rose and Lilac work rather nicely together as you can see in this tie.

and this starburst pattern tie with this Awning Stripe Hickey Freeman shirt, shown here with this square, a combination which I rather like:

Let's Get Wild

Get a little frisky by using the same suit as yesterday throw in the hot color of the season...Coral,  to get something like this:



And if you want to tone it down a drop swap the multicolor floral square for this square which has greys, yellows, and taupes:

The New Crop Is In

If you have stayed the course with me, you are about to get rewarded. A new crop is in in Kid's and Men's with new pricing as well (Buy one, get the second with some restrictions at half price). The sad news is that I am skipping next season in the men's department due to the kids business pulling at me in a good way. I also will probably adapt the blog to more complete ensembles for kids as well which will not limit this blog to ties and squares but in general a color blending blog. Stick around and you can still learn something. Heck I learn something every day in color/texture combinations.

The first group is the starburst collection. Available in 5 colors, (if you count white as a color). Blue, Pink, Red, Green and White.

The ties are paired with a tan linen blend suit from Detomasso, our children's line of suits made in Southern Italy and a house brand cotton spread collar made in Italy shirt. The tan and Blue work well together with the green tie in the first few pics adding a fresh color that works well with both. The square is also new in the first group as a multi color which I will add and update on the site later tomorrow.



Here is a better shot of the tie against the shirt and suit.



For those that are less comfortable adding too many colors, here you have the same pattern in blue against the blue shirt. Definately safe.



And the full shot here.



As always, your comments are welcome.

More Spring Addendum

For those that didn't care for the orange square in the last ensemble, I offer up two options here in alternate squares:



And the classic off white linen shown here:



If ya didnt like the tie then you can swap with a more lively one and stick with the linen square to otherweise tone the ensemble down.

More Spring Buildup

Happy 2011 to All!

Who am I kidding, its no longer a buildup to Spring. As far as fashion is concerned, Spring is happening as we speak.

Here is a second suit from Hickey Freeman His First Line that we received for the spring and here is the buildup, from shirt to complete ensemble:

Also a His First HF Shirt:  Soft Stripe almost Blue without being a solid Blue.



Added a tie that works well with the suit.  HOWEVER, its close to the suit color so some may not like it and I cannot argue. For that reason I chose a bright square as you shall see.



With the suit.  The suit color is a slate type gunmetal blue, not quite a navy.



Here is the square option I had.  Orange and blue tones make this right and Springy as well.



And here, the square in play completing the ensemble.



Have a great day!

Something Personal for the Mailbag

I fielded a recent request from a reader about a yellow polkadot tie with  blue shirt and blue suit.  The question was as follows:

Hello, great blog!

I have a navy suit, a light blue shirt and a yellow tie with blue polka dots. Do you have any tips about a suiting handkerchief?

This picture is almost identical to my suit combination (except my tie has blue dots instead of blue squares):
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/05_01/richard180507L_468x612.jpg

Thanks in advance,

Johan

I was slightly embarrassed because I did not actually have a yellow tie with distinct blue circles in it.  I did have yellow and blue which is a nice combo but not dotted.

So I went home and tapped into my private stash for the photo shoot which wasnt a big deal since the object of the post was the square.    Shown below is a Marinella-Like thick twill four fold tie which ties a great knot. Paired with a light blue shirt and a multicolored square.  Is it the only option in squares for this ensemble?  Of course not.  In fact a light blue works (but I think its too much blue), and a white linen or cream (not a bad idea since the white is too bright and the cream is a blend between the yellow of the tie and blue of the suit without being too contrasty and out of left field).  I like this square because its got rich colors and all the colors coordinate.



Here the square poofed in the pocket:



And here with rolled edges showing:

New Tie, Old Theme

I have discussed earlier (yeah, g'wan and click it, its a good post)  the idea and look of a textured sweater underneath a suit and the ensuing contrasting that you can use.

Here I was in the mood of retaking the cashmere vests from colombo cashmere and also in dire need of retaking a tie that I have taken yeterday but due to bad lighting chose to go to sleep instead of actually posting the darned thing with the following result:

I started with this the charcoal vest, the blue shirt and a green and black tie striped small patterned tie. All three colors work well enough for a sedate look.


I then added the Hickey Freeman Madison Suit in a Navy, thinking that the navy works well with the charcoal, the charcoal with the black and green and all the above well enough with the shirt. To liven it up just a little I chose a vintage floral green square.



Here I opened up the jacket just to show how nicely it blends together.



Of interesting note I probably wouldn't have chosen the tie with the strong black presence in it as a first option for the navy suit but being buffered by the charcoal vest it went fine.

Have a great weekend!

A Little Bipartisanship (Election Day 2010)

On this mid term election day of 2010 with the Dems retaining the senate and the GOP  taking the house I thought it worthwhile mentioning that bipartisanship goes a long way shown here in the Blue and Red colors worn well together:  Suit, and Shirt, Hickey Freeman.  Tie, FIH made of Monterra Italian Silks with squares made of vintage italian fabrics:



This following square is bothering me a little together with the shirt.  The colors may just fight with each other.

'

Shown in play here:



With a small floral neats pattern:  I prefer the red in this tie to the first.



And for those that can never think in bipartisan terms I offer this:

 



Cheers!

You Talk Too Much

It seems that in my absence due to being quite busy I garnished more views and picked up more supscribers that when I was actively posting which leads me to believe that I should just shut up :-)

Here are some new items from the Fall collection. Shirts are Hickey Freeman, Ties are FIH and are all available on (here's something new) the Men's part of the Kids Site.  The Fall Scarf Collection, (Alex Begg, Colombo and FIH Wools)  is there as well.











And in the spirit of the post name...heres a blast from the past.

RunDMC   "You Talk To Much":  Enjoy (the song...The Video is meh...)!

Blue or Black, whats your poison?

Blue or Black with that green tie from yesterday? Which do you prefer? They both work :-)

And if you cant tell which is blue and which is black...The Red Square is a navy suit, The green is black.









Finally, the darker green with the black for a more elegant look.

Better with Black

I mentioned that things would be hectic and posts would be sporadic and so it is. Sorry for that but its just a for a few weeks more.

Here is a shot that I had taken a few weeks ago. Off white and white will work with most anything but of course some colors work better with others. In this case I have in mind that a darker suit, navy or black or even a bright white suit would work better with this color green tie.  Perhaps I will get a picture sometime tomorrow when I am in the store.

But it certainly works this way as well.

Here is the square detail.  Note the green in the square that pulls it together with the tie.

3 For the Little/Not So Little Guys

Greetings all!

After a very enjoyable and restful weekend I gear up for an Italian Trip this week for our kids shop Tuesday's Child but not before Fall/Winter gets underway in the store.  In fact UPS quantum view tell me that 21 boxes of Diesel will be rolling in tomorrow which promises for a busy day.

Here are a few items that came in from our Hickey Freeman Fall Line. I left out the pocket squares simply because they are less used in kids wear.  In retakes that I will (or wont) take over the next few days I may show some options but due to the tight schedule I will probably have I doubt it.



Paired here with a Brown trouser.



Olive base, Black checks and fine Orange/Rust Checks make the rust tie appropriate as wall as the black pants shown below.  A dark black/green tie would also work here.(And that I might just force myself to fine the time and retake as it was what my minds eye first visualized.)



With the Black Pants:



Finally, a Medium Grey Suit with a feint blue pin stripe which I thought classy to pair with the shirt and tie below.



Have a great week all!

PS:  AE, I expect this post to rate a link :).

Rock The Contrast

If you are gonna wear a light color jacket take advantage of it and rock the contrast with a really dark tie for this effect.


With the square detail shown here.



Of course you can still look nice with a tie toned similar to the jacket while working off the contrast of the shirt as so:



If you will note, in the next photo I repositioned the square so as to leave out most of the red and just show the yellow hand rolled edge against the blue.



Have a great weekend!  :-)

And yes, for the Title of the post, I was inspired by the 80's The Clash hit, Rock The Casbah

Hot and Cold

Although there is the general consensus that certain colors are better suited for certain seasons, (Light Fresh colors are better for Spring/Summer and Dark forboding ones for Winter etc.) A classic style and color tie will not be restricted to any particular season as shown below:

This seven fold tie shown first with the cream jacket and orange floral Square:





And the same combo show here for your Winter wear, i,e, Navy Suit.





Happy First day of Summer to you!