Putting it all together

[cchgn]

well, I've read thru all 52 pages and am as confused as when I started.

Seems more simple to just say what does not go, as just about anything goes.

IMO, old pics are a bad example, as we don't know the intent of the dresser.

Also, is this thread about fashion or style?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

It's about style. There are very few rules and many, many mistakes. Most so-called rules can be refuted with a well chosen combination. You need an eye for colour and harmony. To everyone reading this thread: Get a colour wheel and study it!

Most people do not have such an eye (it's a similar lack that means many people really can't tell the differences - good and bad - between the products of different companies) and so should stick with tried and true combinations to avoid monstrous comb/abom-inations. Sad but proved true time and again.

 

[SteveAS]

To everyone reading this thread: Get a colour wheel and study it!

A Google search for color wheels reveals many different types of color wheels. Can you recommend one that's suitable for men looking to use as an aid to dressing?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Of course, but they're all essenially the same thing providing essentially the same information - colour combinations that harmonise vs. those that clash. If only they still made menswear specific ones with such cool graphics! This is a bit wanky and equally dangerous as for many men it will lock them in to the recommendations but if someone's go no clue about colour, maybe that's not a bad thing.

 

[Metatron]

I like these illustrations, but they always seem to feature this repulsive smug guy with a moustache!
I don't understand, I'm sure clean shaven was far more common and fashionable at the time?

Personally, in combining clothes I sort of intuitively figure it out.
I have never understood how I am supposed to use the colour wheel.
When am I going to be in a situation where I've got a purple pair of trousers that I can pair with an orange shirt?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

You never know when you might be attending a Henry Blofeld-themed party:

Or a rodney dangerfield themed party.

[video=youtube;171FURqSIQc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=171FURqSIQc&list=RDcMVvTl83gWg[/video]

 

[Tomasso]

I have never understood how I am supposed to use the colour wheel.


When am I going to be in a situation where I've got a purple pair of trousers that I can pair with an orange shirt?

Don't know but you migt have a tie with orange dots and a shirt with purple stripes as I do.



One issue never addressed around the menswear forums is the role skin tone should play in the color selection of anything worn near the face.


For instance: My shirtmakers have a selection of blue shirting that numbers in the hundreds and includes every shade of blue imaginable. They are all on the bolt so they can be unfurled and wrapped around my neck to see how the particular shade works with my skin tone. The results can vary from me looking like the picture of health to being on death's door. It is simply amazing. And very few men take this reality into account when choosing a shirt.


And this goes for anything worn from your breast bone to the top of your head.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

true dat

 

[Guttersnipe]

Don't know but you migt have a tie with orange dots and a shirt with purple stripes as I do.



One issue never addressed around the menswear forums is the role skin tone should play in the color selection of anything worn near the face.


For instance: My shirtmakers have a selection of blue shirting that numbers in the hundreds and includes every shade of blue imaginable. They are all on the bolt so they can be unfurled and wrapped around my neck to see how the particular shade works with my skin tone. The results can vary from me looking like the picture of health to being on death's door. It is simply amazing. And very few men take this reality into account when choosing a shirt.


And this goes for anything worn from your breast bone to the top of your head.

Alan Flusser has a really good discussion of this in Dressing the Man that's helped me pick colors better suited to my complexion. He also points out that this was something fashionistos of The Golden Era understood. In period sources, I've certainly seen lots of column width and ink devoted to discussing good colors/combos for various skin and hair types.

One point that really stuck home for me is that the combination of a navy suit and white shirt makes a fair haired, light skinned person look not only paler, but also accentuates things like freckles and ruby cheeks, thus tending to make younger men look like little boys . . . as a pale face ginger, I took this to heart.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I also apply these principles. Fortunately as a mid-tone caucasian with middling tone brown hair, pretty much anything works for me. Height (lack of) is more a factor in my choices than complexion, dictating as it does the kinds of scale of pattern (over/windowframe check etc.) I can get away with.

 

[Luftwaffles]

No, what I eschew is a jacket of one fabric, a trouser of another fabric, and a waistcoat of yet another fabric. I prefer to have at least two of those (my particular preference is for jacket and waistcoat) in the same fabric.

A sweater is a different kettle of fish entirely. and can mix and match well, in my eyes, with odd jacket and trousers.

I would say that Compo looks much better than Cleggie here.

I was more or less trying to ask whether the waistcoat should match the trousers or the jacket.
I've decided on trousers, as I personally think it matches better.

 

[herringbonekid]

Of course, but they're all essentially the same thing providing essentially the same information - colour combinations that harmonise vs. those that clash.

standard colour wheels demonstrate how yellow turns into red via orange and then into blue via purple and back again to yellow via green. they're useless for getting dressed.

the one you posted above is exactly what men need; something that shows which groups of colours work together.

 

[Annixter]

One issue never addressed around the menswear forums is the role skin tone should play in the color selection of anything worn near the face. . . .And very few men take this reality into account when choosing a shirt.

Interesting observation. I wonder what most people did back when and how practical paying such minute attention to hues of a shirt was in the Golden Era (as Guttersnipe mentions in post 529) and is now, which suggests a reason for why few people discussed/discuss the topic? I have a hard time believing that the majority of people in the 20s-50s meticulously picked out shirt colors based on hues in relationship to their complexion because that process would be quite expensive and time-consuming. Most people's complexion then changed and now changes throughout the year--depending on their genetics, climate, and their intake of sunlight amongst other reasons--so not only would people need different colored suits and shirts for different seasons, but they would need different hues of the same color shirts/suits as well. I cannot imagine a typical working-class man standing in front of his closet in the morning thumbing through four shades of the same color shirt and holding it up to his face asking "Hmm, do I look paler, darker, or deader today?" Sure, maybe the wealthy and successful actors paid/pay attention to minute details of complexion in choosing color hues (note "hues" and not the general color that many people do consider alongside complexion), but I think most people chose a shirt color and suit color that complimented each other and the person's general skin tone and went about his life. I come to this conclusion partially from the lack of multiple hue choices in RTW catalogs and fashion magazines posted on FL.

Height (lack of) is more a factor in my choices than complexion, dictating as it does the kinds of scale of pattern (over/windowframe check etc.) I can get away with.

Same here. I tan easily in the summer and then pale during the winter, so I'm more concerned with the balance in proportions and compliment of general color choices than I am with the nuances of my complexion. If the same blue shirt that in the summer makes me look darker makes me look paler in the winter, so be it. I don't believe there's anything wrong with looking darker or paler, so maybe that's why I don't really care and why I don't visit tanning booths.

 

[herringbonekid]

I was more or less trying to ask whether the waistcoat should match the trousers or the jacket.
I've decided on trousers, as I personally think it matches better.

you're more likely to see matching jackets and waistcoats in old photos, as it was fairly common for men to add a pair of light flannels to a darker suit for a contrasty 'sporty' look when they weren't in the office.

 

[Mr. Purple]

No, what I eschew is a jacket of one fabric, a trouser of another fabric, and a waistcoat of yet another fabric. I prefer to have at least two of those (my particular preference is for jacket and waistcoat) in the same fabric.

Where does this leave formal morning dress...?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

In the trash can, along with formal evening wear!

 

[Two Types]

Not that I agree, but surely you mean the rubbish bin?

 

[Tomasso]

Please don't correct the man for speaking properly.

 

[EliasRDA]

OKay,
I know this is a stupid question but please indulge me... I'm going to get a decent pair of oxblood dress shoes, have a mid grey (not charcoal dark) suit to wear them with but I dont wear belts, only braces/suspenders. Since the braces will be under a vest & not readily seen what color can I go with? I have a charcoal grey/blackish pair already, would that work? Or am I better off getting a pair of black braces? I think middling grey or burgendy would be overkill?

And no, I havent figured out a shirt or tie yet. I think I'm going to end up with a white shirt so theres not so much contrast/conflict with the oxblood & grey. Unless there is a better suggestion, I would wear the lavender shirt but I "think" that would clash a bit?

Grr, this is one reason I tend to stick with black & charcoal grey clothing, I can wear my shirts & they dont clash with my black shoes. :eeek:

 

[Baron Kurtz]

while I enjoy the alliterative "b's", I prefer the relative syllabic simplicity of the American version. "Dust can" is my favourite, though, just because the word dust is funny.

Not that I agree, but surely you mean the rubbish bin?