I am a fan of simple things. I am also fan of classic combinations and restrained aesthetics. I try to keep in mind that the key and secret of those most best dressed men is simple. Do not wear clothing that draws attention or strikes observers as flamboyant; wear clothes that are just simply well put together. Although every now and then I do like to have that little variation on my own wardrobe as well.
I don't like excuses but due some work and as we just moved into a new aparment I have been running out of time. However now that we've got most of things handled I thought I might try to find a spot and time for some weekly outfit posts. I promised that earlier as well but this time I will urge myself better.
I will start with two classic combinations from last week. Both of these are actually very common office outfits for me. And both of these are very classic combinations for men in general. Whenever I have meetings I usually go for full suit. For days I only stay at the office I might go for smart casual combinations featuring blazer and slacks as seen here. Or I can go for fully casual knitwear and denim. But this time the second outfit is the classic navy blazer with gray flannel slacks combination.
Blue suit with formal accessories
The first combination features one of my new suits. This one is a classic navy blue herringbone wool piece by Vaatturiliike Sauma. I will come up with a more detailed review of the suit in the near future but I can say that recently it has become one of my go-to suits whenever I need to wear something dressed-up and formal. Last week I had an important meeting and for that I decided to wear the suit together with a white shirt, gray 7-fold cashmere tie and a classic white linen pocket square.
is a key player of every business man's wardrobe. It is comfortable to wear, and offers a nice alternative to more common silk ties. As you know, for me tie is the part of the outfit that really should bring the whole attire together. Therefore it's important to feel good and confident while you wear one. It is also important that the tie really compliments the other pieces you're wearing. A light gray tie can be a difficult to pull off. I personally would recommend to start with a little darker one. My personal preference for shade in terms of gray ties is actually the one we chose for the DLA gray wool tie.
But light gray is a perfect match for navy blue. Especially if the textures of the fabrics are in balance. And in my opinion that combination together with white shirt and white pocket square is appropriate for any business meeting. From board room to meetings with the government officials.
White pocket square to maintain the balance
In terms of pocket square for this kind of an outfit there are of course multiple possibilities. You can go with the white tv-fold, which would be the most formal choice. Or you could add a little bit of color, for example a hint of burgundy or another shade of blue. But if the outfit otherwise is so simple and clean as the one here, there is always a danger that the colorful pocket square will break the balance. Or it can steal all the attention. If you want to play safe, go with the classic white linen pocket square. And to dress down the attire just a notch, wear it with a careless and nonchalant fold.
Navy blue blazer with burgundy accessories
The navy blazer is equally at home when dressed up with a grenadine tie and flannel trousers or dressed down with button-down shirt and denim. It is a piece that helps you to navigate between formal and casual occasions. And it is a perfect choice to wear at work when you need to dress up a little bit. The blazer I wear here is an unstructured and unlined one with a soft shoulder structure and two patch pockets. It is made by Italian brand Mabro and I could claim it is my personal favorite from my current rotation.
Blazer or a sport coat with odd trousers is in general more casual option than a full suit. Naturally if you wear a cotton suit with sneakers and a t-shirt, the suit itself does not make the whole outfit formal or dressed-up. But navy blue blazer with gray flannel trousers and white shirt is in fact the most formal combination you can have if you choose to wear a sport coat. And this combination I personally feel appropriate to wear whenever I need to be dressed-up in a classic and simple way. This is kind of a smart casual or business casual uniform for my taste. Remember that by the little choices you can play with the degree of formality of your outfit. For example here I have chosen to wear the jacket and trousers with button-down collar shirt and burgundy garza grossa grenadine tie. In addition the DLA Symposium pocket square with a casual puff fold keep the ensemble on the casual side of the range. By changing to a dark blue wool tie and white spread collar shirt with french cuffs for example the whole attire would be different.
Burgundy grenadine tie and DLA Symposium pocket square
I have said it before but in terms of men's clothing, burgundy is in my opinion an undervalued color. First of all burgundy is a nice color for the cold seasons like fall and winter. It works perfectly with the shades of blue and gray. And even with brown. You can also combine burgundy with colors such green and even purple. And one of the best things about burgundy is that it suits most skin colors. Anyone and everyone can quite easily pull it off.
Finally a few words about the tie. About the lenght of the in particular. This tie is in probably my longest tie. And as I am quite short that sometimes causes me trouble. As you all know, the tip of the tie should "touch" the waist band of your trousers. As you can see here, my tie goes beyond that. To avoid this "mistake" there are basically a couple different options. I could make a triple four-in-hand knot which would shorten the lenght a little bit. Or I could tie the tie so that the narrower blade would be clearly longer. And sometimes I do that with some of my ties. However with this one it would not work as the thinner blade would in that case be definitely too long.
A third option would be to hide the thinner blade under my shirt. But I don't really like that option to be honest. So the answer is to conciously go with the "Trump lenght" with the this particular tie and this combination.
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