Dear Styleforum,
I have a question concerning which colour I should get my third sports jacket in. Here's some useful background information:
I'm 23 years old and have an olive skin tone /w dark brown hair. I'm currently living in London. I wear suits to work, so this would strictly be for wine bars/nights out/events (musicals, plays, etc). My current two sports jackets are navy and olive green, both (wool) solids from suitsupply. My budget is around £250.
My current fall/winter trousers are (a) navy chinos, (b) gray chinos (both cotton) and (c) dark blue denim jeans. I tend to adopt a pretty conservative approach when it comes to wearing sports jackets (i.e. mostly /w chinos), although my recent acquisition of the olive green has made me appreciate the sports jacket and jeans combo just a little bit more. My current shoes are: dark brown double monks, brown chelsea boots, burgundy derbies and black chelsea boots. I pretty much exclusively wear my brown shoes with jeans, the only exception being when I pair the olive jacket /w navy chinos.
After much consideration, I've basically settled on either a dark, chocolate brown (https://eu.suitsupply.com/en_GB/jac...html?cgid=Jackets&prefn1=colorID&prefv1=brown) or a mid-grey (https://eu.suitsupply.com/en_GB/jac....html?cgid=Jackets&prefn1=colorID&prefv1=grey). Here are the pros and cons I've been able to come up with:
Brown:
- Would be more versatile - Could pair /w either jeans or navy chinos, and could wear with either chelsea boots (dark brown) or monk straps. Not too sold on the sports jacket and jeans look (I'm Italian, which might explain it), but it's hard to deny this advantage.
- On the other hand, I'd be consigning myself to solely wearing brown shoes /w 2 out of 3 sports jackets (olive green & brown). I've been trying to wear my burgundy shoes /w my navy chinos for quite a while, and buying this colour would pretty much kill off any chance I might have of doing that. Not sure when I'd ever wear my black chelseas either. This would basically throw London's 'no brown in town' motto into the trash, which is a pretty radical step.
- This might also be perceived as a bit less 'formal' than gray. I also think it's a bit less of a wardrobe staple, at least here in London (+ definitely across Continental Europe). Definitely perceived as a bit 'cowboyish'.
- It might make me look a bit ... 'old', and not in an endearing way. Not sure if it matches my skin tone that well.
Gray:
- More formal - could wear to 'fancier' occasions.
- Would mainly (I'd say exclusively) pair with burgundy derbies, which would then be the 'spice' of my outfit and a key part of my wardrobe for both navy & grey chinos. I would otherwise be unable to wear these shoes with a sports coat (other than /w the navy sports coat and gray chinos).
- On the other hand, I'd pretty much only be able to wear a gray sports jacket with my navy chinos.
- On a much broader note, recently I feel like I've been buying outfits rather than an actual wardrobe. My wardrobe is probably the least interchangeable in the entire universe, and buying the gray would definitely minimise my number of outfits even further vs the brown.
- On the other hand, I've been striving towards 'simplicity' lately, and only having 3/4 sports coat/chino combinations (as navy only matches gray chinos, & gray would only match navy) would definitely reduce the time I waste fretting over this stuff which, while fun, is ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of things.
What do you guys think? I'm not sure there's a 'correct' answer here, though I think whichever I pick would have very different implications for which shoes I end up reaching for in the future. Thanks in advance!
I have a question concerning which colour I should get my third sports jacket in. Here's some useful background information:
I'm 23 years old and have an olive skin tone /w dark brown hair. I'm currently living in London. I wear suits to work, so this would strictly be for wine bars/nights out/events (musicals, plays, etc). My current two sports jackets are navy and olive green, both (wool) solids from suitsupply. My budget is around £250.
My current fall/winter trousers are (a) navy chinos, (b) gray chinos (both cotton) and (c) dark blue denim jeans. I tend to adopt a pretty conservative approach when it comes to wearing sports jackets (i.e. mostly /w chinos), although my recent acquisition of the olive green has made me appreciate the sports jacket and jeans combo just a little bit more. My current shoes are: dark brown double monks, brown chelsea boots, burgundy derbies and black chelsea boots. I pretty much exclusively wear my brown shoes with jeans, the only exception being when I pair the olive jacket /w navy chinos.
After much consideration, I've basically settled on either a dark, chocolate brown (https://eu.suitsupply.com/en_GB/jac...html?cgid=Jackets&prefn1=colorID&prefv1=brown) or a mid-grey (https://eu.suitsupply.com/en_GB/jac....html?cgid=Jackets&prefn1=colorID&prefv1=grey). Here are the pros and cons I've been able to come up with:
Brown:
- Would be more versatile - Could pair /w either jeans or navy chinos, and could wear with either chelsea boots (dark brown) or monk straps. Not too sold on the sports jacket and jeans look (I'm Italian, which might explain it), but it's hard to deny this advantage.
- On the other hand, I'd be consigning myself to solely wearing brown shoes /w 2 out of 3 sports jackets (olive green & brown). I've been trying to wear my burgundy shoes /w my navy chinos for quite a while, and buying this colour would pretty much kill off any chance I might have of doing that. Not sure when I'd ever wear my black chelseas either. This would basically throw London's 'no brown in town' motto into the trash, which is a pretty radical step.
- This might also be perceived as a bit less 'formal' than gray. I also think it's a bit less of a wardrobe staple, at least here in London (+ definitely across Continental Europe). Definitely perceived as a bit 'cowboyish'.
- It might make me look a bit ... 'old', and not in an endearing way. Not sure if it matches my skin tone that well.
Gray:
- More formal - could wear to 'fancier' occasions.
- Would mainly (I'd say exclusively) pair with burgundy derbies, which would then be the 'spice' of my outfit and a key part of my wardrobe for both navy & grey chinos. I would otherwise be unable to wear these shoes with a sports coat (other than /w the navy sports coat and gray chinos).
- On the other hand, I'd pretty much only be able to wear a gray sports jacket with my navy chinos.
- On a much broader note, recently I feel like I've been buying outfits rather than an actual wardrobe. My wardrobe is probably the least interchangeable in the entire universe, and buying the gray would definitely minimise my number of outfits even further vs the brown.
- On the other hand, I've been striving towards 'simplicity' lately, and only having 3/4 sports coat/chino combinations (as navy only matches gray chinos, & gray would only match navy) would definitely reduce the time I waste fretting over this stuff which, while fun, is ultimately meaningless in the grand scheme of things.
What do you guys think? I'm not sure there's a 'correct' answer here, though I think whichever I pick would have very different implications for which shoes I end up reaching for in the future. Thanks in advance!
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