Layers and textures and fading rays

After an incredibly extended late summer and mild fall, we've gotten our first few tastes of actual winter here lately. One day, it was so overcast that it was still dark when I arrived into work, and another found rain turning into sleet and snow. Although long winters tend to make me feel a bit cuckoo, I have to admit feeling a bit invigorated when those days with a real crisp chill in the air finally arrive.

It's been enough of a change that I finally hauled my winter bins out of the basement and stashed all my summer garb for hibernation. In doing so, I was not only excited by things I hadn't seen in months, but items I'd picked up in the off season and had yet to wear. The act of layering for fall and winter always makes for much more exciting possibilities (for me, anyway) when it comes to texture and patterns.

With one of my first real cold-weather outfits, I perhaps went a bit overboard. Here, I paired a tartan tie with my trusty herringbone tweed jacket, a red cable-knit v-neck sweater, and a brick and gold pocket square. Oh yeah, and some cream-colored corduroy pants.

Hey, at least the shirt is a solid color, and yes, I did mean to leave the button-down collars flicked out like that. It was close to Halloween and I thought they looked like vampire teeth, so gimme a break.

Just kidding, actually I really like how they visually flow with the neck of the sweater, as well as mimic the natural "V" pattern of the herringbone. It most definitely leans towards sprezzatura, but it felt right to me for the aforementioned reasons.