Putting it all together

[cchgn]

Well, another thing, the gangsters committed many crimes, including crimes of fashion. I find myself looking at old movies, but I don't want to look like a gangster.

 

[herringbonekid]

Apparel Arts, autumn-winter 1932:

 

[Two Types]

Not sure I'd have the balls to try a plaid jacket with polka-dot bow tie:

 

[MikeBravo]

Plaid jacket and polka dot bow work for me. Anything other than a plain shirt would be too much

 

[fathergoose]

Putting it all together.

Very impressed by Top Gear's James May and his remarks on men's fashion: "I know this will come as something of a surprise to you, but I spend a great deal of money on clothes, and I just make them look really sh**." * Well, I have an entire Fibber McGee closet crammed with vintage and vintage-styled gear (for ten years, I lived next-door to a vintage-repro jeans shop here in Japan), but like Mr. May, if there's a bad sartorial decision to be made, *I've made it. *Dinerman has a great section on his Vintage Haberdashers blog about how to put items together into a coherent outfit that won't cause other Cosco shoppers to point and titter. *And I often look at threads here on Fedora Lounge to figure out how Robert Redford makes a stumblebum, has been, ex-baseball player look so incredibly cool. *But what I'd like to see here is a section on "What goes with what?" and particularly "What colors go with what?" because vintage photographs of snappy dressers are almost always in b/w. *If there's already a thread that wrestles with this topic, then I take it all back, but I sure could use some help. *How about yourselves?

 

[GHT]

Did anyone see MarieAnne's pictures in the: "Ladies, show us your best," thread? She and her husband not only put it all together, their outfits compliment each other too.

 

[GHT]

The only 'colour' which can't be inverted is a 50% grey:

Would that be one of the fifty shades of?

 

[Metatron]

My housemate commented ''your outfit isn't working... two greys''
I thought this mushroom small herringbone looked good against the crisp grey big herringbone. What do you think?

 

[herringbonekid]

those would illustrate the 'not different enough to form a pleasing contrast' situation.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Are those trousers denim like? A dark blue/navy shirt would give some contrast. Just like this it looks washed out.

 

[Metatron]

The trousers are cut like chinos.
Yes, I had a red shirt on to brighten things up.


The problem is, I don't like more than one bright colour in an outfit.
Maybe black or olive green trousers next time?

 

[Tomasso]

I've been known to mix greys on occasion. I have three grey flannel suits ranging from light to medium to charcoal and I mix and match with impunity.

 

[Fading Fast]

As a regular wearer of greys, with greys, with more greys - I am always ready to defend the grey-on-grey look. And a herringbone grey with a solid grey is one of the good ways to pull it off. Based on my monitor, it is simply hard for me to tell if your two greys work well together or not.

I have found that one key is that the greys need to have the same background shade or tone: meaning, blue/charcoal-greys with blue/charcoal greys and brown/tan-greys with brown/tan-greys. As long as the tones are the same, things are close to good, but if the tones are different (a charcoal grey with a brown grey) then it is jarring.

Also, as to the other comments above, it's not that you necessarily need enough contrast (it does help though), but there has to be some harmony if the greys are similar in the light / medium / dark category. Contrast is an easy way to go: a dark charcoal grey jacket with light charcoal grey pants normally works (as does, as mentioned, having one of the greys have a pattern in it), but I have found I can put two medium greys or two light greys (a good look for spring) together if the are the same tone, but it literally takes standing in sunlight (I stand by my bedroom window) and putting the clothes next to each other to see if they work together. It all comes down to your eye if they work. If it helps, on its site, J.Crew shows some grey-on-grey-on-grey outfits that show how to work similar greys into one outfit.

 

[Fading Fast]

Just saw your additional picture post. While not the absolute best, I think it works fine. The pattern in the jacket helps, but even without it, I think the two greys harmonize reasonably well.

 

[Metatron]

The trousers aren't actually solid grey, but green/brown (or mushroom if you want to call it that) fine herringbone.
But regarding what you say about mixing colours with the same tone-Wouldn't that be too close to mismatched suit territory?
Could you share the link to the J.Crew looks please?

My friend who made the initial comment about the outfit not working is not really a sartorially inclined person,
so I think if I am doing something which is appealing only to me,
or in ways too subtle for most people to notice, it's probably not a great look.

I think the red looks great against the herringbone though.

 

[simonc]

It does.

 

[Fading Fast]

The trousers aren't actually solid grey, but green/brown (or mushroom if you want to call it that) fine herringbone.
But regarding what you say about mixing colours with the same tone-Wouldn't that be too close to mismatched suit territory?
Could you share the link to the J.Crew looks please?

My friend who made the initial comment about the outfit not working is not really a sartorially inclined person,
so I think if I am doing something which is appealing only to me,
or in ways too subtle for most people to notice, it's probably not a great look.

I think the red looks great against the herringbone though.

Hi, as to the mixing colors of the same tone, I would only do that with either items of clothing like a sweater and jacket, or polo shirt and pants for example where there is no - to your point - suit confusion. Or I'd do something like you did which is do it with a jacket and pants that clearly aren't suit like. I went all through J.Crew's site and can't find it, but recently they sent me an email and it had a link to "spring outfits" or something like that and two outfits were all light greys and whites, but I can't find it now - I'm sorry.

 

[GHT]

As a regular wearer of greys, with greys, with more greys - I am always ready to defend the grey-on-grey look. And a herringbone grey with a solid grey is one of the good ways to pull it off. Based on my monitor, it is simply hard for me to tell if your two greys work well together or not.

You like herringbone and you like grey? Well that's a good start. A recent photo of my Dad back in the late 40's inspired an outfit that I have been putting together.

The hat, a Stetson, Temple Fur, Felt, Fedora, came from The Village Hat Shop, in San Diego:



Next came the shirt and collar. For the life of me I cannot find the shirt receipt, but the collar came from The Darcy shirt company.
There's a story to the shirt: The company were only selling their detached collar shirts in S/M/L/XL. I didn't realise, until I had bought it, that it had been sold to wear as a 'grandad' shirt, in other words, without a collar. This meant that not only did cuffs and collar had to have button holes, but being XL, it meant that the neck was a 17, same as the collar. It took some altering to get it to fit correctly.



The Correspondent shoes came from Colin Johnson Shoes.



My wife chanced upon a pair of art deco cuff links on a stall at a vintage fair.



She also came across an unusual nect tie. Although I bought it, in the end I went with a contrasting burgundy tie, but this will go well with a plain white shirt. A grey on grey for Fading Fast to opine on.



The suit, made to measure by Rob Crossley, is a grey herringbone double breasted type, just like my father's in that photo. This picture is very unflattering, it had just come straight out of the box that it was packed in.



Today, I wore the ensemble for the first time, to a forties event at a heritage railway. Whilst there I came across a period raincoat with a zip in/zip out lining. My wife uncovered an amazing umbrella to match the raincoat. The brolly comes with both a wooden handle and bamboo staves. A gem of a find. So here's how I brought it together.

 

[countryclubjoe]

You like herringbone and you like grey? Well that's a good start. A recent photo of my Dad back in the late 40's inspired an outfit that I have been putting together.

The hat, a Stetson, Temple Fur, Felt, Fedora, came from The Village Hat Shop, in San Diego:



Next came the shirt and collar. For the life of me I cannot find the shirt receipt, but the collar came from The Darcy shirt company.
There's a story to the shirt: The company were only selling their detached collar shirts in S/M/L/XL. I didn't realise, until I had bought it, that it had been sold to wear as a 'grandad' shirt, in other words, without a collar. This meant that not only did cuffs and collar had to have button holes, but being XL, it meant that the neck was a 17, same as the collar. It took some altering to get it to fit correctly.



The Correspondent shoes came from Colin Johnson Shoes.



My wife chanced upon a pair of art deco cuff links on a stall at a vintage fair.



She also came across an unusual nect tie. Although I bought it, in the end I went with a contrasting burgundy tie, but this will go well with a plain white shirt. A grey on grey for Fading Fast to opine on.



The suit, made to measure by Rob Crossley, is a grey herringbone double breasted type, just like my father's in that photo. This picture is very unflattering, it had just come straight out of the box that it was packed in.



Today, I wore the ensemble for the first time, to a forties event at a heritage railway. Whilst there I came across a period raincoat with a zip in/zip out lining. My wife uncovered an amazing umbrella to match the raincoat. The brolly comes with both a wooden handle and bamboo staves. A gem of a find. So here's how I brought it together.

Very nice. A fine attired Gentleman.
Thank you for sharing. The shoes are my favorite.
Regards
CCJ

 

[herringbonekid]

GHT, i would seriously consider shortening the legs of those trousers to get a cleaner hang with only a slight break.