Red, And More Red

Back when it was really cold, I wore my ebayed Gieves & Hawkes DB peak-lapel 2x2 keystone suit (pattern here) with an ebayed LL Bean red cardigan (basically Mr. Rogers's famous red sweater but with buttons) and that fun bowtie with the red reverse (not my first experiment with that, either). 

Maybe I'm overselling my own theory of clothing, and you'd have to ask my coworkers how they felt about the outfit, but I think even a Mister Rogers sweater can be appropriate in context.  A DB jacket and a bowtie tends to say, "Why, yes, I did this on purpose," not, "Why, yes, this is my first rodeo.  How could you tell?" 

That said, I wouldn't wear this particular outfit before Christmas.  Holiday outfits--even those famous Ralph Lauren red tartan Christmas trousers--are an extremely dicey affair, requiring sensitivity at an atomic level to one's partygoers' personalities.

Pattern mixing

Worsted small herringbone next to tweed large herringbone. The difficulty with mixing patterns is that if they are too close to each other in size or color, it will look as though you tried, and failed, to match. What could be worse, apart from nuclear war? Here, I fancy that I succeeded in avoiding that trap.

I worry about Mads Mikkelsen playing Hannibal Lecter on TV for a similar reason. His suits are exquisitely tailored, but they usually give him a solid shirt in a rich color with a paisley necktie in highly similar shades. It looks too matchy, whereas I insist upon only the best for Le Chiffre and the star of one of Dapper Spouse's least favorite movies, Valhalla Rising.

Spring Dance

When it was freezing cold and nasty earlier this week, I wore a navy JAB Signature Gold blazer, BR chinos (which, by the way, I do not find to be a great value, but they were the best-fitting chinos I could find at the mall on short notice to fit my weirdening body proportions), CT dress-stripe shirt, and pink PF tie.  Burgundy Allen Edmonds oxfords from eBay. 

Dress for the weather you want, not the weather you have.  Similar to the rain dance in this regard.  And behold--spring temperatures and sunlight amounts, just in time for Daylight Saving Time, which needs to be made permanent, so dark is the DC winter.

eBaynomics

Some black Church's perforated wingtips I acquired from EBay require resoling. The uppers are still in very good shape, although a careless waxing by yours truly left some polish in many of the larger perforations. This slightly reduces their overall appeal by reducing the contrast between black leather and whitish leather edge, but nothing serious.

The grass is always blacker on the other side, though, and I keep thinking that a new pair of Allen Edmonds would be just swell, and I could scrupulously avoid getting polish in any of the perforations.

By the way, I was at the downtown Nordstrom Rack over the weekend and was struck by how high the list price had been on so many dress shoes of rather shoddy material and construction. Sometimes, you get what you pay for only after an 80% markdown.

Lookbooks

Probably the closest I have ever come to wearing an outfit that might appear in a catalog for a menswear company tailored to Brooklynites happened this week when I wore a seersucker dress-stripe bowtie (The Cordial Churchman) with a poplin dress-stripe shirt (Charles Tyrwhitt).  I accidentally left my artisanal axe at home that day.

I wouldn't wear this to court or for a first-time client meeting, but the folks at my office have gotten used to, and mostly tolerate, my eccentricities.

Difficult Difficult Lemon Difficult

This is a close-up of a 2-2 keystone navy double-breasted Gieves and Hawkes that I got on eBay. The colors of the overchecks are slightly cooler than they appear here. Anyway, you see the difficulty. What amounts to turquoise and somewhere between maroon and magenta isn't easy to coordinate.

Cool, muddy colors like muted gold and blue seem to work reasonably well. Paying attention has made me better at color, but this is still one that I can't figure out without physically holding the potential tie up to the suit in good light. You're never too old to get back to the basic skills.

eBay

Been digging pretty hard into the eBay menswear universe recently, waiting for a miracle.  It ain't easy.  You see things like J. Press 3-roll-2 jackets that have been pressed into oblivion as 3-button-two jackets.  Secondhand John Lobb Chelsea boots for $700.  A seller with a ton of tweed suits, all described as "MOD VINTAGE INDIE."  Obvious misdescriptions of fabric.  Shawl-collared brown suits.  Brogued Norwegian toes.  It's about as pleasant and life-affirming as mindlessly scanning Facebook.

But for lightly used specimens of any brand you trust implicitly--such as Allen Edmonds--it's hard to go wrong.  Much like thrifting (according to the menswear bloggers with the patience for it), you have to put in a lot of time to get a good deal.  But the deals are good.