Dress Pink

As my last post made perfectly clear, I sure do like some crazy pants when it gets hot and sunny on a regular basis. My "go to" pair will always be the classic cotton chinos in the color known as "Nantucket Red". ( Please, no discussions about Murray's Toggery Shop and "real" reds...we all know about that already). While what is essentially a pair of pink pants for men may seem self indulgent to some (most?) guys, they're actually fairly laid back once you get in the swing of wearing them.  With a white or navy tennis shirt they're no fail, add a blue blazer for the full nautical theme. A sun washed Red Sox cap tends to work well too.

But what about Reds and a tie? Being an inherently casual item of clothing, the correctness of this is dubious at best. However, if done with care, and only occasionally, I see no reason why this can't work. Once again, the fact that I dress this way by choice shows itself to be an asset, as this sort of thing would surely be unacceptable in nearly any work situation that required a jacket and tie. And once again,  American style remains unsurpassed in it's  singular ability to combine dress and casual elements in a way which has become it's own form of traditional.

Up top, a navy blazer (J. Press, $7.49), a white pinpoint shirt and a pale yellow foulard tie. Admittedly, a big rolling button down collar would have been best here, but not only was this one clean, but also a lightweight pinpoint weave. Most of my button downs are heavy Oxford, no good on a hot day...and this from the kind of guy who wears a blazer and tie on a hot day by choice. A note on pale yellow ties: I do like them, especially in combination with navy and white, so long as the navy is only a blazer. White shirt, yellow tie and navy suit screams "I work at city hall and shop at Men's Wearhouse" Don't do it, ever. 

                                          

This particular pale yellow tie is particularly nice, from Liberty of London. Not bad for $1.99

Reds almost always demand a surcingle or striped ribbon belt,  but given my perhaps ill-fated effort to dress them up a pinch, I opted for a vintage leather Coach belt (made in USA, $1.99). Dressy, but appropriately beaten, this is also my preferred belt with jeans.

Reds are a cinch with bare ankles and Quoddy boat shoes ( recently acquired for $4.49, more on that later.) Perhaps penny loafers being something more of a proper shoe would have been in order, given the blazer and tie, only...nah, I like these boat shoes.

Maybe this is all wrong, or pushy, or something. But isn't it fun when pushy is comprised of a complete collection of classic, conservative elements? 

p.s new stuff in the shop this week.