Basics of Style

Style is about being who you want to be. If you’re a world-beating corporate player on the fast track upward, there’s a look for you. An off-beat performance artist keeping up contacts in the coffee shop scene has another look. And in between, there’s a world of formal and informal, classic and trendy; conservative and daring. Fortunately, the rules are simple and flexible — if you know that black, gray, and navy blue make more formal suits than other colors, that solid colors are more formal than patterns, and that ties are more formal than open collars, you’ve already conquered the basic sliding scales.
Move around within the boundaries of those basics to meet your needs, mixing and matching as desired, and you’ll be well on your way to crafting a style that speaks for you. A solid black jacket might be very dressy with matching trousers and classic Oxford shoes, but throw it over a bright shirt and a pair of jeans and you’re set for a night of casual dancing. Dress a brown custom suit up with a conservative tie and a complementing pocket square over a crisp white shirt and it can stand toe to toe with all but the most traditional business attire. Keep an eye to the realities of your environment, so that you don’t wind up wearing heavy worsted wool in the summer heat, but otherwise rely on good fit and the most basic guidelines in crafting your own look — small changes in any aspect will net big results, so long as the cut is crisp and the fundamentals observed.

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