Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Flair: Boutonniere



I know some of you probably came to the office in casual kit today.  But I have run into eminent and well-dressed jurists at my neighborhood Starbucks, so there's no room for skipping the suit, even on Thanksgiving Eve.  However, I can let down my hair a little bit with a madras bow tie (The Cordial Churchman) and a watered-silk boutonniere (A Suitable Wardrobe Shop).  See how the bow tie contains the blue of the shirt, the gray of the suit, and the red of the flower?  Love it.

Shirt is Paul Fredrick Super 100s.  Suit is Hickey (now-defunct modern-style sub-brand of Hickey Freeman, which is not hyphenated and still makes glorious suits).

2 comments:

  1. I like bow ties, big ones like you are wearing, but not ones that are barely bigger than the knot.  She may not be old enough to remember, but The Lizard's Grandfather used to wear bow ties all the time.  It was probably a safety thing, not having the loose end of the tie getting caught in machinery.

    Regards  —  Cliff

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  2. Speaking (in the other thread) of tie bars, they keep my tie from swinging around whenever I'm digging around in filing cabinets or typing stuff into a word processor. Un/fortunately, I don't have/get to work around heavy machinery.

    Lots of clothing touches have very functional origins, like the boutonniere hole, which, I believe, started on hacking jackets as a way to fasten the lapel over your throat, much like you can still do on modern pea coats.

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Questions, comments, and style ideas welcome, provided they are expressed respectfully.