“I thought your husband was gay because he dresses so chic.”
My mother’s hairdresser – who also happens to be my father’s hairdresser – recently uttered these wonderfully welcome words upon realizing my father was married to a woman. My mother instantly called me to share the good news.
My father’s sense of style has been an ongoing project of mine since I was a young boy. Putting aside the issues associated with gender and sexuality stereotypes for a minute, the hairdresser’s assessment pleased me greatly for two reasons: first, the fact that a Calgarian used the word chic in everyday conversation is, well, so chic; and second, I took this statement as a sign that perhaps my fashion advice to my father was paying off.
My increased self-confidence in my fashion sensibilities, as a result of the above story (or what my father describes as “The Incident”), lead me to accept Ms. Lahaie’s generous request for me to write a guest post on men’s fashion this week.
Because men’s fashion is such a broad topic, I decided to focus on formal attire. As men, we have less fashion options than our female colleagues; therefore, the line separating drab from fab is much more subtle. The devil is in the details.
Without further ado (and there certainly was a lot of it), here are my Five Simple Rules for Stylish Suiting:
- Fit is King – There are few things more visually appealing than a man in a well-tailored suit. Slim tailoring is in. The blazer should come close to touching the small of your back, frame your shoulders and nip in at the sides (creating a triangle shape with your upper body). The back hem of your pants should generally be about ¼ inch off the ground when you are standing straight and not wearing any shoes. Recently, we have seen a trend toward shorter pants, allowing for flashes of funky socks to be shown when walking.
- Sleek Shoes – Shoes are something many gentleman struggle with. Unfortunately, ugly shoes can ruin an excellent suit. The colour of your shoes should match your belt, but let’s progress beyond the realm of the obvious. Shape is another important feature to keep in mind when it comes to shoes. Dress shoes should be sleek. If your shoes resemble a dinner roll, this is not sleek. Go to www.ferragamo.com to see some excellent examples of sleek dress shoes.
- Blue and Grey Come First – The first suit you buy should probably be either blue or grey, with the second suit being whichever of the two colours you didn’t go with in the first instance. Black should probably come third, as black suits are generally too formal for day-to-day use. After you have these three staple suits, look to invest in some suits with pattern (both stripes and checks).
- Mix and Match – Colour, texture and pattern are your paintbrushes, and the shirt, tie, pocket square and socks are your canvas. Generally, only experiment with one or two of these three dimensions (colour, texture and pattern) at once. For example, if you combine disparate patterns (e.g. matching a polka dot tie with a checked shirt and paisley pocket square), keep the colour pallet unified. In-store mannequins can provide great inspiration for those unsure how to mix and match.
- Proportional Tie – Much like the final stage of an Oakes analysis, my last rule concerns proportionality. That is, the width of your tie should be proportional to your stature. A tie that is too wide for your stature will create the illusion that you are smaller than you actually are.
Sticking to these five simple rules will help you dress to impress. Beyond the national chains like Holt Renfrew and Harry Rosen, here are my top picks for the best place to buy a suit in Toronto: Gotstyle, Tom’s Place and Theodore 1922.
Thank you Emilie for allowing me to contribute to your great column!
