Purple sport coat with brown DLA shantung tie

Patterned sport coat with brown shantung tie, white oxford shirt and off-white corduroy trousers. I would say this is an example of optimal smart casual or business casual outfit. This kind of outfit you can also very easily modify and dress up or down. You can dress it down for example by adding a cardigan or by changing the slacks to jeans. Or you can dress it up by wearing flannel trousers instead of the corduroy slacks. In this post I will concenrate to this particular combination and go through the outfit piece by piece to and come up with thoughts why I chose to pair these garments with each together. G.abo Napoli sport coat with off-white corduroy slacks and brown DLA shantung tie.

Sport coat with pattern

The sport coat here is my favorite one. In my book it is an optimal piece to wear for those semi-formal office days. It is perfect for days when you don't need to be fully dressed up but you need to go for something dressier than denim and knitwear. But it is also an option I tend to wear for more casual occasions. I can pair it with denim or like here, with corduroy trousers and a tie. The jacket is unstructed, unlined and features two patch pockets, soft shoulder structure and 3-roll-2 buttoning. All of these are details that I prefer when choosing a sport coat. One thing that may draw attention, is the purple color of the jacket. However in my opinion the color is not too bold or striking in any way.  Instead it is a good way to bring variation to your rotation. As I have said multiple times, sport coats are actually the one of only areas where men can be safely daring. But my advice is that if you go for a more boldly colored jacket, choose one with some pattern. As you can see here the blue and brown overcheck calms the overall look of the jacket. Shades of brown are good to pair with soft shades of white.

Off-white corduroy trousers

Corduroy is a good choice in case you are looking for something that's in between formal and casual. You can combine it with casual knitwear and with not only wool but also cotton sport coats for example. And it is easy to dress up or down depending what kind of a look you are after. I personally don't wear corduroy for work that often but for weekend wear it is a really good option. But this is again a matter of context. For someone a corduroy suit might be totally appropriate attire for work as well. One of my personal favorite colors in terms of corduroy is off-white. As most of you know, off-white is a color you can't really wear during winter in Finland. But when the weather gets a bit warmer and the snow melts off, it is an appropriate choice. But because the weather can still be quite cold and especially windy during spring and fall days, you might want something else than basic cotton. And therefore corduroy is a good choice. It keeps you warm and you can pair it with wool as well as with cotton sport coats and jackets. Flannel wool paired with soft washed oxford cotton and textured shantung silk.

DLA white oxford shirt and shantung tie - play with soft textures

When you wear an outfit like this, pay attention to the construction, details and materials of the garments. The wool flannel sport coat and corduroy trousers are both made of rather soft materials and cloths. Therefore I wanted to combine them with a shirt and tie that would match the texture and fabric weight. The white oxford shirt is of course a classic choice. But it is also an option for men who want to keep their style refined but simple. Due to its soft and washed cotton fabric it is suited to more relaxed, yet still dressed-up, styles. So you might say that it is a perfect choice for an outfit like this. And the same applies for the brown shantung tie. Due to the rough surface shantung silk ties are particularly suitable as part of more smart casual kind of outfits. The texture of the silk is a nice way to bring a little contrast to otherwise basic and simple outfit. Here I also wanted to finish the look with the light brown cashmere scarf which brings the textures as well as the colors of the outfit together. The DLA Defense of Sampo pocket square. Pictures taken at the Ateneum Museum by Juha Kortesalo.