Dress Like a Man (17 page)

Patterns can range from solid to bright plaid. Earth tones are common (especially in the tweedier, more country-gentleman style of jacket). Buttons are frequently leather, horn, or another natural material.

It's a versatile category that can include a lot of things -- but that definitely
doesn't
include the structured fit or dark, solid austerity of a blazer.

Suit Jackets

We've already covered the suit jacket in detail in the previous chapter, but it's important to draw a distinction here between jackets borrowed from suits -- which can, sometimes, be worn without the matching trousers -- and sports jackets and blazers.

It's tempting to think of all your suits as not just suits, but also a spare pair of dress slacks and a spare sports jacket whenever you want one.

To some extent, you can. But there are a couple of caveats: first, you always need to wear the jacket and the trousers roughly the same amount, so that they don't fade into a mismatch.

Second, only some suit jackets will serve the purpose. It needs to look convincingly like a casual jacket when it's worn without the matching trousers, and some just won't fit the bill. Anything very somber, for example, is going to be tough to pull off, as are formal business looks like peak lapels and double-breasted suits.

A slim, simple, single-breasted suit jacket can work well. Pair it with something aggressively casual and you get a nice contrast: a plain black or charcoal suit jacket with dark, fitted jeans is a common evening look for guys who want to look both nice and a little bit rebellious.

You can, of course, think ahead when you purchase your suits, and opt for styles that you
know
will work as sports jackets as well, and that go well with trousers you already have in your wardrobe. That goes right back to the all-important idea of interchangeability -- and it's a good plan.

How to Wear an Odd Jacket

Unmatched jackets are one of the easiest -- and best -- casual styles available to men.

You can throw one on over pretty much everything to dress it up.

Different looks call for slightly different styles of jacket. A pair of well broken-in jeans with a battered old corduroy sports jacket looks comfortable and working-class; the same jeans with an ultrafine suit jacket in a sleek cut looks more like a rock and roller's stage outfit (especially if you throw some colored canvas sneakers in there).

But generally speaking, there aren't many casual outfits that don't benefit from an odd jacket of
some
kind.

Some common examples of looks you can create with a jacket:

• The basic formula
  -- neat trousers, sports jacket or blazer; collared dress shirt. Simple, above reproach, and just a touch nicer than most men bother to look during their off-hours. Casual leather shoes complete the look.
  
• The country gentry look
  -- a nice tweedy jacket and some earth tone trousers, with a dress shirt and possibly a vest or a light sweater underneath. Goes well with dress boots.
  
• The rockabilly
  -- blue jeans, a dark blazer or suit jacket, and a Western shirt or white dress shirt. Cowboy boots a must.
  
• The runway star
  -- bright-colored trousers, fitted T-shirt or other non-collared shirt, and a dark blazer. Add a bracelet or a watch to make it clear that it's a complete, coordinated outfit you've put some thought into.
  
• The California suit
  -- light dress trousers, a navy blazer, and a dress shirt and tie. Leather dress shoes and a matching belt complete the look. Just one small step down from a business suit in formality.
  

Your options are pretty much limitless, in other words, especially once you start throwing in underlayers beyond the basic collared dress shirt. 

Own a lot of jackets, if you can. You'll never regret having them.

Thrift stores are a great source, if you're on a budget -- they've almost always got a bunch of old, oddly patterned ones that no one's thought to buy. Get ones that come close to a good fit, have them adjusted, and suddenly you've got a closet full of ways to make a basic jeans/collared shirt outfit look more unique.

Remember, however, that even a good blazer and slacks do not make a substitute for a business suit. They make a good, slightly more casual alternative, but if you're ever uncertain which to wear, err on the side of the suit.

You can, after all, always take a necktie off or shed a suit jacket to dress the look down a little if it's too much. If a sports jacket is too casual, on the other hand, there's nothing you can do to dress it up any further.

C
HAPTER 25:
M
EN'S
S
HIRTS

For a well-dressed man, the default shirt is a
dress shirt
.

That term implies a couple of things:

• long sleeves
  
• a turndown collar with points on each side of the face
  
• cuffs distinct from the sleeve
  
• a front placket with buttonholes (and corresponding buttons beneath)
  
• a collar button above the placket , at the base of the collar
  

Most will also include a left breast pocket, but it is not required.

There are, of course, many alternatives to the basic dress shirt. We will cover those briefly at the end of this chapter. However, it is the traditional dress shirt that should be a well-dressed man's default option, and so it is to the dress shirt that we devote the most attention.

Dress Shirt Fit

As with any piece of clothing, the fit of the dress shirt is the most important consideration. Plan on having yours adjusted -- very few off-the-rack shirts fit well without at least a little tailoring. Minor adjustments to the sleeves and waist will only cost $15-20 dollars or so, and they make a vast difference in how the shirt looks.

Use the following benchmarks for a good shirt fit:

• The collar
  should touch the skin on the back of your neck even when unbuttoned. When buttoned, it should touch the skin all the way around. However, your throat should not feel constricted -- the button should rest very lightly at or near your Adam's apple, without any uncomfortable tightness. There's never a reason to wear a shirt that pinches when the collar is buttoned! It looks bad, and it feels awful.
  
• Collar height
  should be proportional to your neck -- a lower collar for shorter necks, and a higher collar for longer necks. When wearing a jacket, about 1/2" of shirt collar should be visible above the jacket collar.
  
• The sleeves
  should come all the way up the wrist, covering the large bone at the base of the thumb. When wearing a jacket, you again want a half-inch of shirt visible beyond the end of the jacket sleeves.
  
• The yoke
  (the panel across the top of the shirt's back) should stretch all the way from shoulder to shoulder. If the yoke is too short, it will pull on the sleeves, causing them to twist and wrinkle. If it is too long, the shirt's shoulders will sag.
  
• The waist
  should follow the contours of your body. If your waist narrows below your rib cage, get the sides of the shirt taken in -- don't let them hang slack. A billowing midsection makes you look sloppy and fatter than you are. If you need the extra room, of course, leave it in there.
  
• The bottom hem
  should be long enough that all of it can be tucked into your trousers at least an inch or two. On a shirt with "tails" (curved hems rather than straight), pay attention to the seam where the front and back come together near your hips. That's the highest point on your hem -- if it can tuck in all the way, the rest of the shirt will be fine. If it can't, it'll pop up out of your trousers when you move, creating an ugly gap on each of your sides.
  

Most off-the-rack shirts are measured using two numbers: the collar size and the sleeve length. Since that doesn't tell you a thing about how the shoulders, yoke, waist, and hem fit, shirt shopping is often an exercise in finding the brands that use proportions similar to yours, and then having a tailor make the final adjustments after the purchase.

Shirt Collar Styles

Parts of your shirt will often be hidden beneath jackets and sweaters, but the collar will always be visible.

Because it creates the frame for your face, the shirt collar is one of the most important details of your outfit. (Think about paintings, if it helps: a small, delicate painting looks absurd in a massive, chunky frame, right? Same with faces and collars.)

You want to pick both a style and a size that suits your face. There are also a few issues of formality to take into account, but these days they only come into play in the strictest settings -- most of the time, any collar will be socially acceptable.

Point Collars

The simplest and most common type of shirt collar is the point collar. This is a collar that simply ends in triangular points, usually about two and a half inches long at their widest edge.

These are versatile and unobjectionable. You can wear them with anything, outside of black tie and white tie settings.

Men with smaller, narrower faces benefit from a smaller "spread" (the distance between the collar points). However, this limits the kinds of tie knots that can be used -- a large knot inside a small collar spread will distort the collar.

Choose the width that flatters your face best, and then select and tie your neckties accordingly.

Spread Collars

Also called an English spread, this is essentially a point collar with a greater-than-90 degree angle between the collar points.

The sides of the collar tend to be a bit shorter than on a point collar, so that they're not spreading all the way out to your shoulders, which makes this a good choice for men with stout, wide faces.

Spread collars demand large tie knots to fill them. Use something along the lines of a Windsor, or else wear a very thick tie. A small, compact tie knot in the middle of a spread collar can make your face look very oversized. It's almost a clownish look -- not flattering at all.

Button-down Collars

To clear up any misconceptions: the phrase "button down" properly refers to the collar style, where the points are fastened to the shirtfront with small buttons at the tips.  A dress shirt is not a "button down" without those collar buttons -- but the phrase is so common that some confused men associate it with the front of the dress shirt, which "buttons down" the placket, rather with the collar.

They are wrong. A button-down shirt is one with a button-down collar, period.

The style is comfortable, practical, and casual. It is usually associated with softer collars, rather than stiffly-starched collar points. It is not appropriate at the highest levels of business formality, but Americans have become so fond of the style that it is often worn with suits these days.

You would probably do
better
to wear your button-down shirts with sweaters and sports coats, but style manuals that tell you they can never be worn with suits are showing their age. Use your own judgment -- just switch to a point or spread collar when you need a "serious business" look.

Club Collars

An uncommon style these days, club collars are similar to a spread collar, but with rounded lobes instead of triangular points.

They were originally a collegiate and schoolboy style in England, and have associations with the East Coast prep scene in American culture. These days, they are mostly seen on bankers and other men who are required to wear suits every day, but not at the strictest levels of business formality.

Wear them when you want a unique style -- but be aware that they do have upper-middle class associations, and may seem a bit frumpy and old-fashioned to modern eyes.

Contrast Collars

Technically, any of the styles above can be a "contrast collar." The phrase simply means a shirt whose collars (and usually cuffs) are not the same color as the body.

The look harkens back to the days of detachable shirt cuffs and collars. Those saw more wear and tear than the rest of the shirt, and needed laundering more often, so practical housewives and maids favored detachable pieces that could be washed on their own.

These days, when washing is a minor inconvenience at best, collars are usually attached even when contrasting. It's purely an aesthetic style that adds a bit of contrast to the shirt. White collars with a solid-colored shirt body is the most common style, but others are possible.

The added colors dress the shirt down a bit, making contrast collars another good option for business-casual and for men in suits who want a slightly more relaxed look than the strictest business attire. They should not be worn to high-formality business events like interviews and presentations.