A Neophyte's Stupid Questions and Introduction

[JRPate]

Just recently I discovered an appreciation of fine clothing. Unfortunately, none of my friends or family share this feeling, so I am forced to take my (some say irrational) interest to the internet. What I'm looking for is some general advice and answers to my silly questions.

Question 1: What are a good combination of colors for shirts and suits? Is it overkill to wear a pinstripe suit and a striped shirt? What about checks?

Question 2: What is the difference between a pinpoint oxford and an oxford or pinpoint shirt? To clarify, I have heard of both pinpoint and oxford shirts but recently I heard of pinpoint oxfords. What the hell are those?

And any other general advice. Thanks in advance.

Edit: I almost forgot to include the most important element; a description of myself. Short (5'7), broad shoulders, round face, blond hair, large red beard.

 

[Biggskip]

In the voice of Will Farrell doing an impression of James Lipton on Inside the Actor's Studio.

"Do yourself a favor and go to the nearest place where books are sold or loaned and buy it or borrow it immediately!"

And by it, I mean this.

 

[Manton]

Question 1 has a lot of possible answers, and probably can never be answered fully. If you are just starting out, save combining patterns for later, after you have gained some basic knowledge and confidence. Start out with solid shirts and work up from there. But, yes, striped suits and striped shirts can be combined, if the scale of the stripes is different. The closer in scale they look, the more they will blend togehter in an unpleasing way.

Pinpoint is a type of oxford cloth. The weave is a little tighter and finer than regular oxford, but still much rougher/thicker than broadcloth. You seem to think there are three types: pinpoint, oxford, and pinpoint oxford. But in fact there are only two: regular oxford and pinpoint oxford.

 

[cvac]

Pinpoint and pinpoint oxford are the same thing.

It is far easier to put on a solid white or very light blue shirt with a pinstripe suit than to worry about coordinating a patterned shirt with it. Often people get it wrong and it ends up looking like crap. Some people can pull it off though. Usually the pattern on the shirt will be a different scale than the pattern of the suit.