Desaturate

While my clothing selections are often a direct reflection of my mindset, lately I've been stripping things down and keeping them incredibly simple just for the sheer ease of it. I've never been accused of being a peacock, but I've been playing it incredibly low-key lately, stripping out as much color as possible while emphasizing texture. It seems a natural thing to do in the winter, and today was one of the more extreme examples.

Up top was a white Lands' End button-down, a dark-gray wool v-neck sweater, and a light-gray tweed Pendleton sport coat that's basically my go-to when it's cold. It has leather elbow patches that are almost the perfect shade of gray between that of the coat and the sweater. A plaid Balenciaga tie with a couple strands of red and some flecks in the tweed are the only hints of color at all.

A shot of the midsection reveals even less color.

Since I went with a plain white pocket square, I figured I could get away with red socks, but even they were muted by black captoes. I suppose one could say that it's completely lacking personality (although the toddlers at my daughters daycare would disagree, with the sheer excitement they showed over the red socks), but it was comfortable and warm, and some days that's about all the personality I need.

Walking contradiction

I'm all for following some traditional rules and not throwing everything out the window when it comes to personal style, but sometimes I wake up and simply glaze over some things for fun. If it's comfortable, it looks decent, and if my wife doesn't halt me before stepping out the door, it's a go.

Case in point was today.

First off, I remember reading a blog where a fellow once said,

"As I've mentioned in other posts, I often feel self-conscious about wearing hats (simply because they make me even taller)...

Oh dear, a rabbit fur cap.

Secondly, is that a freaking Australian Open golf tournament v-neck sweater being worn on a day when there's 8 inches of snow on the ground? Why yes. Yes it is.

Some dudes have Hawaiian shirt Friday; I guess this is my equivalent.

Color blocking

Some of my favorite recent thrift finds have been of items with solid colors, but amazing textures. After a week or so of trying to work new ties and other items into the rotation, I decided that Friday would be a day where I only donned only solid colors.

As it turns out, the informal challenge actually worked out quite well. A good mixture of brighter and subdued colors (plus some varied textures) drew my eye (at least) in unexpected ways. A casual Friday at the office, so to speak.


On the left is my indoor outfit; A light olive shirt with a slight herringbone weave (my only cheat) was matched up with a super thick Scottish wool tie ($1, and one of my recent favorite finds) in cream and a 100% wool sweater vest by Lord Jeff ($3, another recent find). When I ventured outside, I added a heather green knit cap ($2.07 cheapie on clearance at Target), my perennial, slightly-damaged red Pendleton scarf and the heavy-duty navy pea coat.


Below, I wore some forest-green Polo corduroy pants ($5.00), paired with a thick Chaps belt and some Florsheim bluchers (not pictured).

As a whole, the outfit was certainly conservative by most measures, but popped with just enough flourishes of color to reflect the days getting longer and the temperatures slightly less cold.

Thinking warm

By some cruel twist of thifting luck, it seems like my best scores lately have all been tailored for warmer weather. As I type this, snow is dumping outside and the temperature for the next three days isn't projected to rise above 0 degrees Fahrenheit (with wind chills dropping to -25 for a good portion of the next 36 hours). Wool will comprise the majority of my wardrobe for awhile and give me a good excuse to break out some of my heaviest sweaters a couple more times.


This particular sweater is one of them, a vintage military number made in England out of 100% wool that's incredibly thick and warm. Paired with my peacoat, it should take the bite out of even the coldest upcoming mornings. If it goes on for too long, I can easily fall back to the uber-thick L.L. Bean Norwegian as well.

Now, if I can just keep my fingers and toes warm.

Speaking of keeping warm, I did manage to find two great wool sweaters recently.


One is a fairly standard 100% wool navy v-neck, and while I normally shy away from logos and emblems, I couldn't pass this one up for a dollar. I haven't played a round in two years, and while I'm years removed from my best scores (at prime, my handicap was 5), I couldn't pass up the kangaroos on the crest of this one.


In terms of bold, blocky colors, you simply can't go wrong with vintage ski sweaters. It's almost impossible to find them in great condition (moth holes are the usual culprits), and this one was no different. It has a tiny hole near the left armpit that I'm going to try to rehabilitate. I'm a sucker for the color combination, and once again it only cost a dollar, so no harm lost if I can't get things to work out.

Thinking about the wind chills tomorrow morning, I almost wish I had kept my beard.

Almost.

Sporting birds and a sporting dog

As I write this, sleet is clicking off the windows, and while the temperatures weren't bone-chilling today, it looks like we've locked into a cold-weather cycle that isn't going to crack any time soon.

During these winter patterns, I often find myself going without a true jacket at work. Unless the temperatures are going to be warm enough where I can get by with something lighter (and by lighter, I mean a heavier tweed or my favorite camelhair herringbone), my cold weather uniform usually consists of a shirt and tie with a sweater of some sort over the top, with a heavier coat (like the pea coat mentioned in this post) to get me through the outside elements.

True enough, I could get an overcoat that I could then layer over the sweater combo and a regular jacket, but alas, I haven't yet found anything in my budget that fits my ape-arms.

At any rate, there's still plenty of ways to make things work.


This combo features the great pheasant tie I found recently paired with a Land's End pinpoint dress shirt and a Brooks Brothers cotton v-neck knit sweater. The red Pendleton scarf makes another appearance as well. If one can believe it, each of those previous four items were $2 each from a thrift store. Down below is a pair of black wool pants and some newer Florsheims that I wear when I think the weather is going to turn to muck (as it now has).


Minus the jacket, the outfit doesn't turn too slouchy, although it may be a bit on the Mr. Rogers side (but really, who isn't a fan of Mr. Rogers?). Elsa the sporting* dog enthusiastically agrees with my tie choice, and makes me look positively sleepy in comparison.

*If "sporting" is defined as an insatiable urge to chase tennis balls and any small toys that squeak

Sweater weather

Winter has been particularly ruthless this year in my neck of the woods, and while it would be easy for me to pile on my heaviest clothes day after day for ventures into the tundra, it simply wouldn't work for me. The main reason is that the temperature control system in the building where I work is, shall we say, charming?

Temperamental might be a better word, and because of that I've learned to not wear any one layer of clothing that is too thick in order to compensate for cold temperatures outside, because I know that once I'm inside it will often have to come off. Instead, I've taken to dressing in multi-layered outfits that can be peeled off and still look semi-respectable if I have an impromptu meeting or run into a higher-up that might wonder why I was either sweating profusely indoors on a winter day or kicking it in a white t-shirt and slacks as I wait for temperatures to stabilize.

A fairly routine outfit has become a dress shirt or an oxford of some sort coupled with a tie and a light to medium weight sweater which I then cover with a coat of varying weight depending on the temperature. If it gets hot in the office, I can take off the sweater and not look too silly, but a light breathable wool usually suffices for a wide range of temps.

Not one, but two dummys. Zing.

This week, I turned it down to brown with a pair of dark Eddie Bauer chinos ($2.00), a orangish-brown Puritan v-neck sweater ($3.00 - featured here), a cream-colored J Crew dress shirt ($1.00), and a shiny tie ($1.99) that really popped out the color in the sweater.



The tie itself had a cool enough design that I hated to hide it, but alas, I did.

I'll break this out in spring again, in full glory.

Most of my ties are silk or wool, but I've let a few synthetics slip through into the massive collection simply because there's something in the design that I love. This is one of them. And really, who am I to argue with Beau Brummell?

Just knight him already. Mr. Brummell is not to be trifled with.