Pairing oxford shoes with chinos

[JFWR]

@dieworkwear what do you think of these looks?

 

[dieworkwear]

@dieworkwear what do you think of these looks?

Honestly, pretty terrible.

 

[JFWR]

Honestly, pretty terrible.

Elaborate?

 

[dieworkwear]

Elaborate?

I think it just looks corny and bad

Scoop neck t-shirt with an overly slim suit and teal shoes to match his t-shirt? ?

Why ... why would you dress like this? If you want to wear a tobacco linen suit, just wear a light blue or white shirt. A tie isn't necessary, but you can wear one. I like pocket squares, but some people don't. Not a big deal. Shoes should be traditional -- loafers or derbies. Brown, please.

In some cases, you can wear black tassel loafers. Please do calf, not some weird material like suede.

This is similarly bad. Why would you dress like this? It just looks like you got tackled by a GQ tear-out sheet from 2005.

Slim bridge coat with a tie (no sport coat), tie clip (looks like such an affectation here), and blue suede shoes. ?

If you want to wear a bridge coat or a peacoat -- two similar items -- then just wear it casually and don't wear a tie. Again, the past can inform our choices here.

Wear it casually, with jeans and boots and thick sweaters. Don't look like someone who clicks "dapper" and "gentleman" on clothing subscription boxes.

There aren't that many photos of bridge coats because it's a rare garment. But here's Simon in one. He wears it well -- heavy sweater, not a tie. Rugged, casual, sensible, coherent. Connected to the past.

If you want to wear a tie, then just wear a sport coat. Don't wear ties with casual outerwear like trucker jackets and peacoats. It just looks ... corny.

I don't like tie clips, but if you must wear one, then I suppose at least keep it traditional. Wear it in an outfit like this.

I dislike how tight his pants are, but maybe they're five pocket cords. If you're going to wear five-pocket cords in a CM outfit, please again keep it traditional. Rustic colors such as brown or tan or, if you must, green. Not grey!

I say this as someone with grey five-pocket cords. I wear them in workwear outfits, not CM. Grey five-pocket cords don't make any sense in CM. Here's a pair of tan five-pocket cords with a grey sport coat. Sensible, rooted in Ivy, traditional. Makes sense.

Really dislike the blue suede shoes. That guy would look better in traditional shoes. I don't have any suggestions for that specific outfit because I dislike the jacket, shirt, tie, and pant combo, so the whole thing doesn't make sense to me. But if you were to root that in one of the more traditional outfits mentioned above, you can wear brown chukkas.

 

[JFWR]

I think it just looks corny and bad

View attachment 1668990

Scoop neck t-shirt with an overly slim suit and teal shoes to match his t-shirt? ?

Why ... why would you dress like this? If you want to wear a tobacco linen suit, just wear a light blue or white shirt. A tie isn't necessary, but you can wear one. I like pocket squares, but some people don't. Not a big deal. Shoes should be traditional -- loafers or derbies. Brown, please.

In some cases, you can wear black tassel loafers. Please do calf, not some weird material like suede.




View attachment 1668991 View attachment 1668996 View attachment 1668997 View attachment 1668998



This is similarly bad. Why would you dress like this? It just looks like you got tackled by a GQ tear-out sheet from 2005.

View attachment 1668999 View attachment 1669000


Slim bridge coat with a tie (no sport coat), tie clip (looks like such an affectation here), and blue suede shoes. ?

If you want to wear a bridge coat or a peacoat -- two similar items -- then just wear it casually and don't wear a tie. Again, the past can inform our choices here.

Wear it casually, with jeans and boots and thick sweaters. Don't look like someone who clicks "dapper" and "gentleman" on clothing subscription boxes.


View attachment 1669001


There aren't that many photos of bridge coats because it's a rare garment. But here's Simon in one. He wears it well -- heavy sweater, not a tie. Rugged, casual, sensible, coherent. Connected to the past.

View attachment 1669002


If you want to wear a tie, then just wear a sport coat. Don't wear ties with casual outerwear like trucker jackets and peacoats. It just looks ... corny.

I don't like tie clips, but if you must wear one, then I suppose at least keep it traditional. Wear it in an outfit like this.

View attachment 1669003


I dislike how tight his pants are, but maybe they're five pocket cords. If you're going to wear five-pocket cords in a CM outfit, please again keep it traditional. Rustic colors such as brown or tan or, if you must, green. Not grey!

I say this as someone with grey five-pocket cords. I wear them in workwear outfits, not CM. Grey five-pocket cords don't make any sense in CM. Here's a pair of tan five-pocket cords with a grey sport coat. Sensible, rooted in Ivy, traditional. Makes sense.

View attachment 1669004


Really dislike the blue suede shoes. That guy would look better in traditional shoes. I don't have any suggestions for that specific outfit because I dislike the jacket, shirt, tie, and pant combo, so the whole thing doesn't make sense to me. But if you were to root that in one of the more traditional outfits mentioned above, you can wear brown chukkas.

View attachment 1669005

Thoughtful response.

Now let me ask you this: is there any outfit you can think of where blue suede shoes work? Or do you just despise them, so they can't work with anything?

 

[dieworkwear]

Thoughtful response.

Now let me ask you this: is there any outfit you can think of where blue suede shoes work? Or do you just despise them, so they can't work with anything?

I can't think of any outfit where they'd work.

 

[apShepard]

Elaborate?

Really mate, if you can't tell that those look terrible I don't know what to say. It just looks bad from a visual perspective. Honestly, I think we would need someone with academic background into the philosophy or art to properly put it into words why I think it looks bad. I can recognise why a drawing by me looks bad when compared to one done by a profesional but I lack the background to properly describe why.

This image for example looks good(to me at least) compared to what you've posted with similar items. Can't explain why.

 

[dieworkwear]

Can't explain why.

I think this answers your other question:

Why do people want to look like the asshole upper class of yesteryear is beyond me.

You can think about how classic men's dress was done in the past without looking like an "upperclass asshole from yesteryear." You can just use this information to inform your choices today. There are reasons why that outfit looks bad. I can't put into words why sometimes one deviation makes and another doesn't, but it's easier to understand when you think about dress history and norms.

 

[apShepard]

I think this answers your other question:



You can think about how classic men's dress was done in the past without looking like an "upperclass asshole from yesteryear." You can just use this information to inform your choices today. There are reasons why that outfit looks bad. I can't put into words why sometimes one deviation makes and another doesn't, but it's easier to understand when you think about dress history and norms.

I still don't understand how one relates to the another. I mostly go "by eye". Which admitedly is not a very sure way to dress. For example I can't wear purple. It just feels like a very crude and vulgar color. Don't know why(lilac can be alright sometimes).

Anyway, you are probably right.

 

[dieworkwear]

@JFWR I think the problem is that nearly every successful CM outfit keeps the focus on the V-shaped section underneath your chin, which is usually formed by that jacket, shirt, and tie.

If you wear non-traditional shoes in an outfit, it drags the eye downward, which ends up feeling unnatural.

Here are some examples I've used to talk about how to wear tan shoes. I think this is bad because the focus here is now the shoes. There are all sorts of reasons why teh shoes here stand out: the temperature of the color, the brightness, and just the fact that dark suits are not historically worn with bright shoes. So the shoes catch your eye and the outfit's harmony is ruined.

If you lighten the suit greatly, however, suddenly this looks like your usual "grey suit with brown shoes" outfit that has been dramatically lightened. The shoes are darker than the trouser (feels natural to the eye). The focus is back on the face and v-shaped section under the chin. Harmony is restored.

Now apply this idea to this outfit: this person is wearing a brown suit and he wants to wear teal shoes.

If he wore a normal brown suit with a normal dress shirt (blue or white), then the teal shoes stick out because they're unusual.

So now he puts on a scoop neck, teal-colored t-shirt to balance out the unusualness of his teal shoes. But then you have the outfit above -- two weird pieces in an outfit.

So if he only wears one unusual piece (teal shoes), then it's distracting.

If he wears two unusual pieces, then it's just weirder.

Compare that to this:

Three versions of brown suits: all with white shirts (traditional) and brown shoes (sometimes brown oxfords here with the suit, sometimes brown loafers).

Same logic goes with sport coats. If you wear blue shoes in a traditional outfit, the shoes become distracting. If you try to make the outfit look more visually balanced, it becomes socially incoherent.

 

[radicaldog]

Now let me ask you this: is there any outfit you can think of where blue suede shoes work? Or do you just despise them, so they can't work with anything?

My two cents: at a push, assuming you mean a CM outfit, I’d wear beat up very dark navy desert boots with dark somewhat faded jeans, a pretty casual shirt, and a suitable sport coat. They can be used to reduce the overall number of colours (let’s say the shirt is madras and the sportcoat a grey or blue with a small pattern). I used to have them, but found they were really quite difficult to wear. Part of the reason why they can work is that in Italy a lot of people used to wear them more or less like this or with more casual outfits with jeans, as part of a broadly left wing style, so the colour got normalised a bit. Again, context does matter.

 

[Adsky Luck]

pea coat with a shirt and tie

some B movie actor, I guess

 

[dieworkwear]

pea coat with a shirt and tie

some B movie actor, I guess

That doesn't look good though.

 

[EUtroll]

No tie, but he describes the bridge coat as a more formal coat.

I think it works rather nicely, and, with my Northern European background, it feels like a rather traditional look.

 

[TheChihuahua]

View attachment 1669062

No tie, but he describes the bridge coat as a formal coat.

I think it works rather nicely, and, with my Northern European background, rooted in tradition.

nice use of oxfords without a suit. #breakingtherules!