What Happens When Dress Shoes & Sneakers Meet?

Evolution in the shoe kingdom has produced a handsome hybrid offspring, the canvas oxford.  You’ll be seeing this relaxed take on the classic popping up at retailers everywhere this season.  A light neutral pair like these by Generic Surplus plays nicely with trouser (we’re not saying snake) shorts, light color denim, and khakis.  Easily categorized as casual chic they’re a nice option for the summer days and nights when you want to look more dapper than sporty.

Spring weather can be more fickle than your hot but crazy ex-girlfriend who broke up and reunited with you on a weekly basis.

A smart accessory that will help take you from chilly to warm in comfort and style is a lightweight (sometimes called spring-weight) scarf.  They come in a variety of fabrics from silk to muslin and in any color/print your heart desires.  You can tie lightweight scarves in the same traditional ways as your heavier winter ones.  Or, try this tucked alternative which looks chic under a jacket, vest, knit, or button down shirt. It’s easy and I promise that if you do it correctly, you will get compliments.  

Drape the scarf around your neck as you normally would, cross the ends to make a V shape across your chest and then tuck the ends underneath your top layer. Done.

If you choose to rock this look with a button down shirt rather than a jacket or vest, make sure the scarf is thin enough so it doesn’t look like you have a mountain of chest hair trying to break through your shirt (think: alien baby).

Maintaining good style in the face of a New England winter can seem akin to staying afloat in a dingy during the perfect storm, and nowhere is the struggle more evident than with men’s sweaters. 

When the mercury drops, too many men with perfectly good bodies don potato-sack-shaped woollen body bags in the name of warmth. You know, the kind made for hearty sheep farmers herding flock on windy Irish hillsides- perfectly charming in that context, but out of place in a metropolitan city setting, especially for business.  

Plus, bulking up is not where it’s at;  in fact you’ll stay warmer, more attractive, and comfortable through indoor/outdoor temperature changes by layering clothing that fits closer to the body.

While previous seasons were favoring thin knits like cashmere and silk, this season the focus is on thicker knits like Fair Isle and cable knit.  But not all thick knit sweaters are created equal, and the cut and size you choose can make all the difference between looking ruggedly handsome and looking like a man with too many cats who collects figurines.

Look at the example above: On the left we have the afore mentioned sack-shaped sweater, which is doing no favors for that man’s body.  On the right is an equally thick wool sweater, yet it still maintains the desired, masculine V-shape of his upper body.  How?

1. Since bulky knits generally run large rather than true to size, try a size smaller than you usually wear and you may find it fits much better.

2. It’s got a front zipper, so the vertical line lengthens and slims the torso.

3. Coordination: The V-shape is emphasized by unzipping the sweater to the mid-chest revealing a darker brown T-shirt underneath which features a graphic in the same color as the sweater. 

Add a scarf and you’ll be equally, if not warmer,  than in the blob+turtleneck combo, and guess which one will fit better under your coat?

Trend #1: No Rules.

It used to be the case that specific clothing items were “in” or “out” of fashion with everything supposed to be worn a particular way, and being in style meant following those rules.  Some men prefer easy-to-follow rules, sensing that fashion freedom will create too much room for error (incidentally, that’s where an image consultant comes in handy).  But now fashion, especially casual menswear, has gone the way of the individual - just like a BK Whopper, you can have it your way.  Now, this doesn’t mean you’ll suddenly look good in anything and everything (very few men actually look good in pleated pants), and there are still dated items, like the super square toe dress shoe of the 90’s. However, the old rules of not wearing black with brown, no white after Labor Day, matchy-matchy belt and shoes combinations, etc. are gone baby gone.  This embracing of individuality means that when you make choices about clothes, pay the most attention to how you feel wearing them and whether or not they flatter your physique and are appropriate for your lifestyle, and least about what is ”in”.

Trend #2: No Excuses.

“But they’re comfortable!”  The 3 words men most frequently utter while I’m clearing their closet of Dad jeans and over-sized freebie T-shirts (and they wonder why the spark in their marriage or dating life is gone).  Back in the day, it used to be that comfort and style were elements rarely combined in the same garment. Let’s use men’s shoes as an example. Think of the countless men opting for bulky athletic sneakers to wear with their jeans because they think it’s the only casual comfortable shoe available to them.  But designers have known for some time now that people want both form and function; just because we’re not at the office doesn’t mean we have to devolve into frumpy, undesirable blobs.  Now, no matter what the activity – professional, social, or sporty – there is an easily attainable, attractive option to the purely functional and fugly predecessor.  Even L.L. Bean, king of plaid flannel cabin wear, is launching a stylish, casual clothing line: reinforcing that other than laziness, there is no excuse to look like a schleb.

John Galliano, the fashion designer who revels in his eccentricity so passionately that lady Gaga would look like a plain Jane by his side, is the latest high end designer planning to start courting the Y-chromosome with a lower priced contemporary menswear line.

Galliano’s grandiose uninhibited designs have had an indelible impact on womenswear while he’s been at the helm of Dior as well his own couture lines, so I am eager and curious to see how he translates his vision for men.  According to a spokesperson from Ittierre, the Italian licensing company bringing Galliano’s menswear to the market, the new collection is designed for “trendsetting, extravagant, adventurous” 18-to-35 year-olds, and will include outerwear, leather, knitwear, shirts, jackets, jeans, jersey, and accessories.”

Galliano’s menswear will debut in Milan in January 2010 and should hit select retailers by the fall.

Q:  I want to get a monogrammed dress shirt for my boyfriend, where should the letters go?

A:  Typically the monogram is applied to the cuff, the upper left chest (like a Polo logo); and for the guy who enjoys having his dress shirts personalized but doesn’t like visible embroidery, it can sewn to the front side at the very bottom.

Yesterday while shopping with my client for boots he picked up a pair I selected for him, which only came in brown, and said “It’s too bad that I like these so much, I don’t have a lot of brown clothes, and it’s not okay to wear brown and black together.”

Insert cartoon character coming to a screeching halt noise here.  The old fashion rule that you can’t wear black and brown has been overthrown, probably around the same time people started wearing white after Labor day (which is completely okay to do in case you were not aware).

Not sure how to incoporate the look yourself?  Try a nice mix of black, brown, and grey. When worn together, rather than having to be matched, the three colors coordinate and compliment each other.  The gent enjoying his metro paper in the photo above is a great example.  He’s wearing a grey plaid newspaper cap, black cable knit sweater, pants, and trench coat, finished off with brown suede shoes.  It’s a refreshing option to donning black from head to toe.

Consider it a like a snuggie for your neck, a tube dress for the throat, and love em or hate em you are going to be seeing snoods everywhere this winter. 

Retailers are pushing these impulse purchases out like octomoms perhaps hoping that at their modest price points consumers will realize how cumbersome traditional scarves have become.  Snoods originated to hold back a woman’s hair and over several decades have morphed into a tube scarf that can double as a hood.  Interesting to note a snood image search on google brought up a surprising number of dogs in snoods. Do we have a zoonotic trend here? 

So whether you’re inspired to look like the brooding Burberry model or sparky up there, only part with your cash for a snood if you’re certain you’re gonna wear it with confidence.