======= ======= ====== ====== ====== ===== ==== ====== ====== ===== ==== ======= ======= ====== ====== ====== ===== ==== ====== ====== ===== ====
Even though I tout athleisure ad nauseam – you’re welcome OV for the free advertising #CutTheCheck – I’ve also been known to throw a suit on every now and then. Client visits, weddings, and my absolute fav: Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. I’m sure if I had to wear a suit every day I’d despise it, but since it’s somewhat of a rarity, I revel it.
A big part of how I think about improving my suiting game is to observe others. Fits and patterns, shoe pairings, accessorizing. I’m looking at it all. Being in New York, there are plenty of cube monkeys wearing suits every day for me to scrutinize as I walk past them, cold brew in hand, clad in Patagonia Baggies on my way to work remotely from wherever the hell I please. Add in the fact that tend to consume more sports than my girlfriend would like me to and I’m always keeping tabs on what the likes of the ESPN talking heads, play-by-play men, and color commentators are wearing, I keep seeing the same four mistakes when it comes to accessorizing.
I’m not going to touch on the fit of your suit; everybody knows just get yourself a solid tailor and it’ll make any suit look like a million Joe bucks. But even the best fitting suit is completely botched if you fuck up your accessorizing game, which sadly, I see well too often.
Here are four common mistakes I see and how to properly pull them off.
Tie Bar: size and position
This one is so effing simple and yet I think it may be the one I see done wrong most often. Gents, the fucking tie bar should go between the third and fourth button of your shirt (unless the second button is too high, the second button makes or breaks the shirt everyone knows that), never wear a tie bar that’s wider than the tie, and to add on to it, I personally like to wear one that goes about three quarters of the way across the tie. Just make sure it’s not too short across. It should go at least 50% across to be safe. It’s that simple. And yet I see guys screw this up daily.
Matching Leathers and Metals
You may or may not have heard that it’s important to “match your leathers” and “match your metals.” It’s a rather easy rule to follow since it’s likely your leather falls into one of two categories: black or brown, and your metals into either the silver or gold category. Make sure your shoes and belt match (that is, if you’re even wearing a belt, which is not necessary these days if you have the right tailor), and if you want to be really attentive, make sure your watch strap is also the same leather color. Same dealski with the metals. If you’ve got a silver buckle, don’t go throwing on gold watches or a gold pendant.
Pocket Square and Tie Patterns
Pocket squares can be a little scary. You’ve spent all this time perfecting your suit/shirt/tie combo (more on that in a bit), and now you’re adding a fourth fabric to the game?! How are we going to handle it? Well friends, just R-E-L-A-X. It’s not so scary. Just pick a secondary color from your shirt or tie to be the main color of the pocket square, and also don’t overload me with patterns. But here’s where I see people going wrong time and time again, and I blame it on department stores. I always find myself in a Marshall’s or a Nordstrom Rack or a TJ Maxx and I see a little tie/pocket square combo pack, and low and behold, too many times the pocket square is the same color and patter as the tie. Like this. Or like this. Gents, this is wrong. DO NOT DO THIS. Instead, opt for a pocket square that brings something new to the game. Like this, an example of a tie and pocket square sold together that actually work. Or all these examples, which are pretty good.
If you need some further reading on how to rock the pocket square, here’s a great post from The Dark Knot.
Tie and Shirt (or suit) Patterns
This one really shouldn’t be too hard to fuck up and yet, it happens. Want to match stripes and stripes? Go nuts! But, and I can’t stress this enough, make sure the stripes aren’t the same size. Yes it’s that simple. And still people keep dressing like they’re trying to be the human embodiment of an optical illusion. This example is slightly more subtle but still wrong. Even if you’re mixing and matching patterns, things like stripe size (if the stripe is built into the check pattern of the shirt) must be taken into account. Here’s an example of Howie Long doing this incorrectly. For that reason I’d say be careful with doing checks and stripes at the same time. It can be tricky. Another thing that’s driving me nuts about Howie’s faux pas is that he’s overloading us with the same colors of his shirt and tie. He’s dressing like he’s a shitty sideline reporter for the New York Mets; too much orange and blue. Maybe a different tone of blue in his tie – perhaps a navy – would be better.
If you’re stuck worrying about how to match shirts and ties, I’ve used this as my bible for a long time: The Distilled Man.
Happy Wedding SZN, y’all. Make sure you’re looking good out there. .
Respond
Boston Max
Spending my retirement fund at Trader Joe's and trying to remember to check my mailbox semi-regularly
@BostonMaxG
@boston_maxg
I wear a suit every day for work. I cringe seeing how 80% of the male population wears dress clothes.
Here is my pretentious “I work in finance” take:
-Tie bars are unnecessary and make you look like a try-hard
-White or light blue dress shirts will always look the best, none of that color bullshit
-Don’t wear suspenders unless you’re wearing a tux and for the love of god don’t wear a belt with suspenders
-Don’t wear a pocket-square you look like a try-hard
-Don’t wear a pre-tied neck or bowtie
-Take your suit to a tailor for $30 if you bought it off the rack so you don’t look like a clown drowning in fabric
-Use collar stays to avoid looking like a pan of bacon
Dressing conservatively with little to no obnoxious patterns (VV is ok) and conservative shirts will make you look 100x better than trying to look cool with the pocket-square/tie-bar/suspender w/belt and teal blue shirt with white tie and fedora combo look.
Nobody asked for my opinion and I’ve had too much coffee today.
This is really spot on. Pocket squares/tie bars/lapel pins,/bow ties are all try hard moves. Shows me that you don’t wear a suit everyday. Stick to basic variations of blue and gray (I don’t wear black but that’s just my choice) with white or blue shirts. Your tie can be a differentiator for your outfit. Collar stays keep you from looking like a jamoke.
Name checks out. The lapel pin/flower and pocket square should be saved for, and only when, you’ve “made it.” Same goes for getting your shirts monogrammed.
Big fan of the monogram. Bougie af but in a subtle way. Also as a lady nothing I’m super down with the rolled up sleeve look, that with an untied bow tie (tie can only happen at the end of the night) and I’m good to go.
The accoutrements are for big swinging dicks only
Suit & tie for work guy checking in. My boss gave me lapel pins with our company’s logo when I first started, which I wear on my coats everyday. What are your thoughts on that? I agree with all of your points in the original comment, though.
I also have a corporate lapel pin. I will wear if I am out in the market promoting the brand. Good to be a company guy.
Lapel pins aren’t a big deal for me. I like a nice American flag pin or a variation. My firm has an American flag/firm name flag combo pin that looks pretty sharp.
Most of your take is reasonable.
I’m a big fan of the classic white shirt/suit look.
Pocket squares should only be reserved for “fun formal” attire.
Collar stays are an absolute need; without them, your shirt looks dopey.
Here’s where you’re wrong.
Tie-bars are a strong accessory. I work in a role that requires me to walk the streets with a suit and tie. Tie bar keeps the tie in line, also looks good. (Don’t go buying a diamond studded over-sized tie clip though).
Sleeves rolled up to the elbow is an essential look in the office. Your take is trash.
If you’ve cleared your calendar and it’s wide open after 2pm, sleeves can come up.
Monogrammed shirts are fine, based on the industry and position you’re in. (If you’re a back office intern/analyst, monogram is excessive. If you’re a client facing exec, it’s fine provided it isn’t obnoxiously out there).
-Bottom line, if you can pull it off cleanly and make it work, go for it. If you can’t own it, people will notice and it suddenly becomes much more noticeable.
-My pretentious “I work as Executive Management” take.
Also, please stop using the term “Bizzy Dev,” it’s not making you look any cooler in your “executive management” role.
I’ll be sure to try be cooler next time by taking your advice.
Thanks mate.
You keep rolling your sleeves up to your elbows then, hombre.
You never go full Gekko
All of this. 100% spot on
Source- I work in banking, as do the overwhelming majority of people in my city.
I wear a white pocket square folded to a flat edge and an American flag lapel pin (For obvious reasons) every day. I also must admit that I occasionally like to throw in a crisp white shirt (I only ever wear pale blue or white) with french cuffs to get some use out of the old man’s cufflinks he gave me when I got my first real job.
I concur
Agree with the pocket square take with the exception of a simple presidential fold on a linen white or light blue square in the right circumstances
There’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting to accessorize your suit look with a pocket square or a tie bar or a pin or anything like that. It’s not called “being a try hard,” it’s called accessorizing and allowing your personal sense of style to be better illuminated through your suit look. It also shows you care and thought about your outfit a little rather than the other tens of dudes who all look the same in their navy suit with their white suit and blue tie.
BUT,,,,if you’re going to accessorize you cannot fuck it up, which is the whole point of the blog. I’d rather your play it safe as you say than try and accessorize but look like a doofus because you don’t know what you’re doing
Final comment on this:
Subtlety is a lost art
I don’t know if it elicits “thought” put into my outfit but I’ll keep my navy BOSS suit, white shirt and blue tie over anything with a tie bar. You may not think I put any thought into but it sure as hell looks sharp and people who know will notice. Annnd I’m out of douche for the day.
Should be noted I’m not throwing on a tie bar every time I wear a suit, just for – like I mentioned – bigger events, like a wedding
Unless you sell 8-figure homes on Bravo, tie bars, colorful shirts and pocket squares don’t really have a place with a work suit. For a wedding or other social event, you can let your “personality” thru a little more with some accessories/crazier colors and patterns.
I remember the first time I wore a suit
I also forgot my #1 pet peeve that inspired this post: Do not roll up your sleeves to your elbows. You look like a clown and if it’s too hot for your pansy ass then wear a Dwight Schrute shirt complete with a pocket-protector.
What do you have against forearms?
He’s just embarrassed one of his forearms is much larger than the other
this is a very underrated comment
So what? That took long hours.
Idk why this is getting downvoted. Shirt sleeves get cuffed twice, that’s it
Seconded. It always looks like a dress shirt version of the greasers rolling their white t-shirts almost up to their shoulders
Ignore everything about this tip. The sleeves rolled up look is a surprisingly strong turn on for a lot of us ladies.
Nothing wrong with a double-cuff roll, but all the way up to the elbow looks like you’re at the high school homecoming dance.
Just today I saw a man wearing brown shoes with a black suit. He could have used this article
It really is amazing what a grow man will walk out the door wearing every morning. Should be immediate termination if you walk into work with that look
That one should be an obvious no-no. Still see it all the time. Wild stuff
Need Barrett Dudz take immediately.
Need a round table discussion
Never button the bottom button of a suit. I see that happening way too much and needs to stop immediately.
I assumed that one didn’t need to be said
I’ve got a couple that I’ll add:
-The (usually from some place like Kohl’s) pre-made suit/tie combos that are always a weird teal or purple. I see those so often.
-Wearing a vest that’s meant to be part of a tux or 3 piece suit without a jacket. This is such a trash look, IMO.
*shirt/tie combos
My biggest pet peeve is people who wear non-dress shoes with suits. Like I get it, dress codes around here are more casual than other cities, but why are you wearing sneakers with that Jos. A. Bank suit?
Do you think people in SF dress bad on purpose as a middle finger to uptight east coasters?
I think that people in SF don’t realize that they dress badly and genuinely think they look good.
I definitely do not suit up for work (currently rocking some khaki shorts, a comfortable cotton polo, and trainers), but I saw a guy walking around downtown in a black suit with gray Reebok tennis shoes last week. If he wasn’t walking with a group of actually well-dressed people I would assume he was a homeless man heading to an interview. What?
Not related to the article. But you should only wear athletic shoes to the gym / with gym attire. The only one that can break the rule are so expensive (like high end adidas) that you wouldn’t want to dirty them up at a gym anyway. Otherwise you look like a middle aged dad going for a walk around the neighborhood for exercise after dinner.
You’re not gonna tell me I can’t wear my grey New Balances with navy shorts and a polo. No siree.
Yeah, I saw that in a past article and am aware of how it puts off a dad-vibe. They’re so damn comfortable though and making my Monday tolerable. For real though, what’s a nice-looking comfortable shoe I can wear with khaki shorts in the office? I am alright at pairing shoes with pants but no idea on the shorts.
those seevees they talk about on he post with laces are a good place to start, probably fits the polo vibe pretty well without being sperrys. I’m a big fan of plain white leather low tops. “Greats” makes a pricey version of what I’m talking about, but I wear knockoffs from H&M for like $40 bucks. I’ve got a pair I’m not afraid to get stepped on at the bars and a pair I try and keep pristine and spotless.
The Pod*
It was Mike Nolan.
Biggest trash look for trash people
If done well (see: Robert Kraft) I’m actually a fan of a slick pair of Jordan’s or something with a slim fit suit at a less formal wedding or something like that
This comment discredits your entire article.
On the contrary – if you’re so rich that you own the Patriots, you can afford to not give a fuck how you look because no one will judge you badly for that. But for us normal peons, it’s an awful style.
For those of us who do not own a professional sports team…no sneakers.
There’s plenty of reputable internet literature on the right (and wrong!) ways to wear sneakers with a suit, so I won’t belabor the point. I’m not cool enough to pull off the look but it CAN be done well
There’s also reputable internet literature on the right and wrong ways to get out of the friend zone. Still isn’t going to work 99% of the time.
Hardoooooo
As a GoodyearWelt aficionado I have a hard time wearing sneakers with jeans, say nothing of with a suit
Jordans don’t belong in the same room as a suit, much less on the person.
The only way sneakers work is high end solid color leather sneakers with zero adornments. Still need to pretty much be a musician or athlete to pull it off and not look like a dipshit
If you’re older than high school age, never wear pre-tied bowties and never wear gym shoes with suits.
Not sure why guys not matching leathers is my biggest pet peeve, but I absolutely can’t stand it. Also, I’m still shocked by how many full grown men don’t know you need to snip the back of a new jacket and just walk out of the house all sewn up.
I for one am excited for when offices become more obsolete then they already are so no one has to care about what they look like as their body slowly gives out on them for 50 years in a cubicle. Algorithms don’t wear clothes and once they take over the only thing we’re gonna have to worry about is the amount of nuts and berries you forage in the woods without being shot by your fellow man or hunted by heat syncing drones who are defending the food supply for the ultra rich…so by all means, wear those god damn suspenders because they’re like a little metaphor for our lives just suspending into a deeper black hole of our own creation lol
BM I have a question for you: what is your opinion on brown shoes and grey slacks? I have seen it done and want to get your and PGPs take on it
Go for it my man. I frequently wear brown shoes with my grey suit
Light brown shoes with matching belt and (light) grey slacks is a solid move, in my opinion. But I also wear jeans and boots with a golf polo 99.9% of the time so I’m no style expert.
Yeah same, I might as well be sponsored by Wrangler
I’m a fan of it if the shoes are nice. Opinions on brown shoes are pretty divisive – those who follow the British style of “never wear brown in town” vs the Italian style who only wear black for the most formal of occasions. In general I see people overwearing black too much and I like some of my more interesting shades of brown with gray quite a bit.
I have a pair of ostrich boots I am very happy with that I am planning on wearing with grey slacks more so I can save my black boots for more special occasions
I’m a fan if you also incorporate navy blue into the mix. So for instance, navy blue jacket, light grey slacks, and light brown is a fire combo. Could also work with a navy blue tie on white shirt etc.
I’m a fan of the light gray suit or slacks + a darker brown shoes, or the opposite, a lighter brown shoe with a more medium or darker gray suit/slack. Shows you’re willing and able to venture outside the box of sticking solely to blacks with grays without actually doing anything that’s too far out there.
Brown & grey I’m not a fan. Tan & grey is fire. Tan shoes naturally go with anything except black and even with black they can work with the right ensemble.
Wear whatever you wanna wear but own it, don’t half ass it