Contrast collar shirts are a throwback to a century ago, when men’s dress shirts came with detachable collars. Since men were usually squeezed into a vest and high-buttoning jacket for propriety’s sake, the collar was the most visible part of the shirt. With a detachable collar, the young man climbing the ladder could get by with one or two shirts a week, but still have a fresh and clean collar visible.
While certain old-fashioned gentlemen continued to wear detachable collars into the 1930s, in their place at that point were what we now call contrast collar shirts. As was the case… Continue>>
During Hollywood’s Golden Age, fashion plates like Cary Grant and Clark Gable went to the Oscars dressed to an accepted standard of elegance. But today’s Tinseltown stars show up at the Academy Awards in a dizzying range of looks from classic to crazy.
Today it’s anything goes when it comes to black tie. That’s either terrific or tragedy depending on your point of view, and here are some tips for finding what approach works best for you.
Classic Black Tie
If you’re a traditional kind of guy who thinks if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, you’ll feel best keeping the options fairly narrow. That means a matching dinner jacket and trousers, a.k.a. a… Continue>>
Dressing for the elements in winter is easy: No matter how rushed you are, you know you need to grab your top coat on the way out.
But in the crisp autumn months before an overcoat is necessary, things get a bit trickier. You check the weather report, even step outside, then go back in and wonder if a sportcoat will be enough to keep you warm, and if an under shirt might help.
A vest or sweater is a much better option, and are the layering items that snappy dressers look forward to each fall, after a long summer of one-layer sartorial… Continue>>
An essential part of any well-dressed man’s wardrobe, the necktie unites all the elements of your outfit. Instantly raising the level of dressiness, it is also the way in which individuality is expressed within the context of a business wardrobe.
Fabric & Weaving:
Silk is the fabric of choice for most neckwear. It is generally manufactured in one of two ways.
Woven ties utilize pre-dyed silk threads, weaving the different colored threads together to create a pattern. Typically they are a bit thicker and heavier than printed ties.
Print ties are woven before the silk is dyed. The undyed silk is sometimes woven with a simple texture which is referred to… Continue>>
“Man jewelry” can be a tricky thing to pull off, and many purists will decry cufflinks as too ostentatious, preferring to leave the the precious stones and metals to the fair sex.
But one way get around this is to make an item of man jewelry your trademark, and there’s no item better suited to this than cufflinks.
You can be the most sober and restrained dresser, clad in a daily uniform of grey suit and white shirt, but with a different pair of cufflinks every day your style factor goes through the roof. After all, the more stylish… Continue>>
When it comes to dressing for warm weather nuptials, our best advice is to simply follow the invitation’s dress code. Even if you’re marrying a Kennedy, proper attire would differ greatly depending on whether the ceremony is outdoors at Hyannis Port, where socks may be optional, or at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, where proper morning dress may be required.
But dress codes like “creative black tie” and “dressy casual” are ambiguous at best, so here’s a handy piece of advice from our tailored clothing buyer Marlene Drayer, who said her vows just last year.
Since a wedding is a bride’s special day, she’d like to see her male guests dress up as much… Continue>>
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