Putting It All Together
Because you’ll need pants and a jacket to make it complete
Because you’ll need pants and a jacket to make it complete
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
the Esquire Guide
Because you’ll need pants and a jacket to make it complete
The Definitive Style Rules: STRIPES
1. The high-low principle of style now allows you to wear a pinstripe jacket with almost anything, provided the mood is casual enough. But wearing a striped
jacket with pants from another suit—striped or plain—just doesn’t work.
2 You can get away with a striped jacket on a striped tie on a striped shirt, but in the immortal words of Meat Loaf, “Two out of three ain’t bad.” 3. Pairing a diagonally striped shirt with a striped tie will leave onlookers cross-eyed.
While we’re at it, diagonally striped shirts worn with or without a tie will leave you looking as if you’re about to fall over. Don’t wear them if you want to appear sober. 5. The tie should always be darker than the shirt. We don’t know why; it just works that way. 6. If you wear stripes on stripes, the tie stripe should always be thicker than the shirt stripe. It’s the tie that should stand out most. (See
number five.) 7. Multistripe ties are cool enough right now, but do stop at a sensible four colors. 8. Perfectly matching your tie to your shirt stripe—we mean too perfectly—makes you look as if you have too much time on your hands. It also implies that you’re not any fun to drink with.
MCKIBILLO
