05 July 2011

Controlled Chaos

With Summer comes a big fat does of color in a mans wardrobe, most noticeably perhaps in the form of extreme plaid madras trousers. Outrageous though they may be, they are in a way a form of controlled chaos. Their natural counterparts being almost invariably the very staid combo of white tennis shirt and navy blazer, they come in varying degrees of outrage...but there is a method to the madness.
At the "introductory" level, we have a pair like this. For many men, this may be far over the top...not just a little, but climbed-the-ladder-and-jumped level. I say kids stuff. In only one plaid, albeit a large one, a pair of trousers like this can be the stepping stone to that which lies beyond...the dreaded, and much revered, patchwork plaid.

 Level two sees us in these, a patchwork pair from J.Press. Patchwork can seem rather crazy, but there is almost always a clear pattern to the assemblage of patterns. In my humble opinion, these are barely more than lightweight. Comprised of merely three different plaids in what is clearly a checkerboard repeating pattern, they're hardly a jump from the single plaid. The overall feel is one of dark colors, too, the pants being viewed generally as olive green or navy.
 Level three continues the thread, but adds more separate plaids to the mix, this time eight. The crazy factor gets a further tweak by the bright primary color scheme. Yet, as before, the pattern repeats clearly. This pair is old, but this particular grouping of plaids has been fairly ubiquitous in the last few Summers of our "preppy-Americana-heritage-revival" trendiness.
The pinnacle is reached in a pair like this. We'll call this Level Four Patchwork Go To Hell. A real old pair from the early 1960s, made of real vegetable dyed "bleeding" Indian madras, and cut nearly stovepipe straight. Look closely at the repeat, if you can find it. Each column down repeats five different plaids, but no column repeats across. And yet, there is a consistency of color and scale that keeps them in check, maybe even better than the pair in level three, almost certainly better than level two. The higher the level of chaos, the steadier the control of the wearer. It's almost as though the more daring you're willing to get with this stuff, the better you'll pull it off. Keeping your mouth shut and behaving as though there is nothing unusual about those crazy pants you're wearing makes all the difference.

In a largely conservative and old fashioned wardrobe, the best place for a man to indulge in a pinch of controlled chaos is in his pants.

p.s. #s 1 & 3 are available for sale in The Shop, along with some old seersucker and other things. 2 & 4 are mine...eat your heart out.

10 comments:

Ultra Reactionary said...

And I thought seersucker trousers were over the top!

Jovan said...

I saw a pair of these trousers (level 3 as you have described)in the Ralph Lauren section of a Brisbane department store only this week. It was the 1st time that I'd ever seen a pair like them.
Now I've seen them on your website.
This kind of thing happens in 3's you know...

gentleman mac said...

Hmmm; controlled chaos in the pants. . .

Yankee-Whisky-Papa said...

Have you been reading science journals lately? You may be the first to quantify the scientificalish pantsiness of pants. I looked in your shop, and the inseams are outrageous on some of those garments... I'm trying to picture the original wearer and their obviously odd dimensions.

Giuseppe said...

A lot of those pants do have a sort of three martini lunch kind of cut to them. But that's what tailors are for.

Emily said...

My brother has these pants and I never thought I would see any one else comment on them! They're not my favorite, but he seems to pull them off well!

pasquale said...

the best place for a man to indulge in a pinch of controlled chaos is in his pants.

well there you have it, Leopold Bloom goes to the beach if you will and everybody watches the fireworks.

NCJack said...

As the owner of #s 2 & 4, you, sir, may proudly golf on any course in the great state of Florida.

Young Fogey said...

Hey, did you see the outrageous patchwork jacket at Ivy Style? It has your name written all over it.

Though I don't seem to be the first to notice that.

Theo said...

holy cow, number four. if i was a cat burglar in boston...