Red cords with blue Brooks Brothers button down oxford, navy vest sweater with red and white dots, grey socks and penny loafers.
As far as red pants go, I think this sort of outfit does a good job of making them feel natural. Sure, it's a little bit grandfatherly, but people having been saying I'm an old man since I was in high school, so I don't care.
I must admit, a recent post on my sometimes-nemesis blog A Suitable Wardrobe really helped me out here. It was this 1980's vintage photo of a real old money preppy dork that made the whole thing click in my head. I'm not above giving credit where credit is due. (dirty secret: while I may have raised hell over the removal of this blog from my links list, I have snuck a peak at it everyday since then by way of the links bar at A Continuous Lean. I tend to gravitate toward that which infuriates me.) Good post, William.
Funny thing is, in summertime I wear pants that make these look downright dull all the time. I have no problem rotating between pink, canary yellow, grass green and bright patch madras. Maybe ease comes with the fact that the only other item of clothing involved is a solid color tennis shirt, or maybe the heat just makes me silly.
How else might you wear the red cords, dear readers? When do they officially go out of season?
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8 comments:
Wow, you're posting late (or early).
I have been debating getting the brick red chinos at J. Crew, which is the closest I would come to red trousers. I'm not sure if cords would go, but a chambray or nice broken in denim work shirt would make a nice combo, though that might not be a trad look.
As Jonathan Adler put it, never underestimate the inate chic-ness of brown and red.
If you're feeling saucy, a purple or lavendar oxford would work in place of predictable blue.
The wife keeps exhaling loudly, which means it's time to get off the computer.
David
I wear red chords with heavy weight brown tweed jackets, navy crewnecks and white or blue OCBD, brown suede shoes, black dress shoes.
Really, they work in a lot of different outfits.
I wear them a lot. Blue or white OCBD with blazer. I retire the cords in March and break out the reds for the spring and summer. I rarely wear red in the fall. I have no idea why...
Gray is always good with anything in the red or rust range. It somehow subdues the tone and sets it off at the same time. I like to wear as few bright colors or patterns as possible but still make it have maximum impact.
I'm one of the ladies of the club but I would guess a charcoal grey crewneck or chocolate brown would tone down the red and give you a non sweater vest option. I have always liked grey with red, the darker the grey the better.
That image of the college student (from Brown U.) in the red cords is from the Japanese magazine Men's Club, "Take Ivy '82" special issue (Feb. 1982). I posted it, and the accompanying article, earlier this spring. HTJ
I often wear my heavyweight red chinos with a grey turtleneck, or a blue shirt under a neutral toned sweater of some kind. The key for me is wearing them with something sober, something calm and neutral - I once tried them with a purple shirt and, although no one mentioned it, I felt just a little like a clown all day.
I agree with The Duck. White shirt, blue blazer, looks wonderful. Wore this today myself, in fact – my cords are scarlet fire truck red – and got several compliments on my appearance, at least two of which I believe were genuine!
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