focus on great basics. When I say basics, I mean basics. White t-shirt. Blue dress shirt. White oxford. Blue jeans. Gray wool pants. Khaki chinos. Blue blazer. Gray suit. Great boots. Basic shoes. Focus on blue, white, gray. Buy good clothes that fit.
Great clothing advice. I focus my colors on white, grey, navy, pink and baby blue. And, I’m completely obsessed with fit.
Americans have grown too accustomed to being comfortable. I find a different kind of comfort when I know I look good.
- Tom Ford, quoted in a call to arms on Less.Gentle.Men
Green + White Lapel Flower
Barbour Jacket + Navy Blazer/Tie + Green Pen
I agree with The Trad that I prefer my possessions to have a story.
Imagine you’re walking in London. And it starts to pour. You run into a shop just to escape the rain and as you brush off your coat you see a Swaine Adeney Brigg umbrella. It’s 200 pounds and the exchange is nearly 2 to 1 but you gotta have it. Hell, it’s raining.
So you buy it and crank it open as you step onto King Street and head for the Red Lion Pub to meet an auctioneer about a Monet panel that you buy for 20,000 pounds and sell for $200,000 in the states.
For 20 years you manage not to lose that umbrella. You loan it to no one. You run back to several restaurants knowing you left it by your table and you know it’s gone for sure. But it’s always there. One night a waiter chases you down the street and taps you on the shoulder, “Sir, you forgot this…”
It’s a story. And you tell it over drinks where your friends shake their heads in disbelief — but it’s all true. Every word of it. Almost. Or, you can tell people you bought your umbrella at J Crew.
Shop around and at different places. Makes life more interesting and adds to your personal style.
Keeping it simple is harder than we think.
More than just style advice. Life advice.
Tweed
I’ve been saying this for years and never thought to put it on a blog: khaki is a color, not a type of pants.
