Favourite Colour Combinations

One of the questions I am constantly asked: What is my favourite colour combination.

When I sit down to contemplate it, I am unable to reach a well defined conclusion. My mind simply runs wild with possibility; my eyes glance upwards, my eyebrows dance and I shake my head in defeat. I can’t possibly choose. I start with the assertion that contrasts are my favourite thing, but then I wade into the beauties of palette and I start to think that a burgundy tie and a pink shirt is the most beautiful pairing in all Christendom.

My answer to those who ask, therefore, is an apologetic shrug and the feeble words; “I don’t even have a favourite colour.”

However, I have often received enquiries for advice regarding colour, from those keen to shed their monochrome daily wardrobe and skip through the kaleidoscope, and so I have collected thoughts on appealing combinations that, while unusual and often eye-catching, are not too riotous as to cause consternation or the passing of the smelling salts.

Green and lilac

There is something mysterious and alluring about green and lilac combinations. On its own, lilac can be a difficult colour; ethereal and bewildering. However, it reduces to a natural aesthetic when green is thrown into the blender. Perhaps it is the iconic thistle flower that influences the mind, but when they are together there is a misty richness to the combination; a mossy earthiness and a luxurious, velveteen pairing, the union of nature’s verdant canvas and one of its floral stars.

I like it when combined with greys and navy blues, but particularly with the stone-like colouring of a light-grey Prince of Wales check suit.

Brown and grey

One of the more unusual combinations among my favourites, brown and grey is often a descriptor of all that is dull and lifeless. However, such presumptions do a disservice to the subtle beauty created by the marriage of these tones. Pairing rusty brown trousers with a steely grey jacket sounds like a mismatch but in actual fact, the colours complement and flatter the other extremely well. The brown makes the grey seem even cleaner and stonier and the brown, instead of appearing dreary, is rich and warm.

I like it when combined with mid-blues, deep greens and berry reds to add a little floral colour to the earthiness of the tones.

Orange and azure

These two colours are very strong and need a sombre, desaturated backdrop for their startling fusion. Orange and azure call to mind the flower-filled terraces on the Amalfi coast, the contrast between a cool sea and a bloom bouncing in the breeze.

Though obviously a wonderful combination for the warmer months, I have used these two colours with brown autumn suits; pairing an azure cardigan with an orange pocket square, using a navy tie to avoid overfizzing it, and adding tan shoes to accentuate the influence of orange.

A New Coat

England’s sudden cold snap brought home to me the fact I need to invest in a new overcoat.

On average I find a good quality overcoat will last me nearly 10 years. That being the case it’s not a bad idea to spend some time considering the options, I’ll have to live with my choice for some time.

Several options have fired my imagination, but in this post I’m going to focus on that most English of overcoats, the Covert Coat.

Distinguished country outfitters Cordings of Piccadilly claim the credit for inventing said coat, however, the name actually comes from the distinctive fawn coloured twill weave cloth from which the coat is made. Other details to note include the fly front, two side pockets and, as is the case on the original Cording’s coats, a large game or poachers pocket on the inside. In the days before iPads and Kindles City gents used this pocket to store their newspaper. A true covert coat should also be knee length and feature four rows of stitching on the sleeve cuffs and hem. This last detail is another reminder of the coats sporting country heritage; the stitching was designed to prevent the coat from snagging and tearing as the wearer made his way through bracken. One final detail worth remembering is that a true covert coat is also slightly tailored, which provides a pleasing form and allows the coat to be worn on it’s own without a jacket underneath.

Despite it’s origins on the country estates of England, the Covert Coat makes for an excellent city coat. Admittedly, there isn’t a lot of bracken to snag a coat on in Parliament Square, but it is just the right weight for those of us who live a typical urban life of moving in and out of buildings, tube stations, taxis and the like. It is eminently practical; just heavy enough to keep a chill out but not too heavy or too boxy.

As options go this one is ahead by a noise, and has long been a favourite of mine. Indeed, my last coat but one was a navy version. So perhaps it’s time to return to the warming embrace of an old friend.

Mode Rage: Sewn in Pocket Square

I don’t watch much television. I find a lot of the ‘entertainment’ that is transmitted through the box to be banal, idiotic and depressing. ‘Reality’ television, which has eaten up much of the schedule, is particularly disagreeable to me, although there are a few notable exceptions in this category that appeal to me, chief amongst them the splendid Dragon’s Den on BBC2.

For those unfamiliar with the program, Dragon’s Den is effectively run in a gameshow format; ‘dragons’ – successful businessmen and women – sit in judgment on pitches from entrepreneurs and decide whether to provide them with the capital they are asking for in return for a stake in their business. The presentations are often rather poor, the entrepreneurs insufficiently informed and the dragons are entertainingly ruthless and unpleasant. There are however some aspects of the show which I do not like, one of which is a truly awful aspect of Peter Jones’ attire.

Jones is one of the most amusing ‘dragons’, and certainly one of the most astute but he has a curious taste in suits not commensurate with someone of his wealth and apparent discernment. He clearly has a liking for suiting and colour-matching, but seems to have fallen for a rather common and artless flavouring; the sewn-in pocket square.

The sewn in pocket square is not actually a square at all. It is not a stuffed-in, decorative handkerchief but a tiny slip of silk or other material that is sewn in to the top of the pocket, obviating the need for a separate accessory. In other words, it is an aesthetic fake; the clip-on bow of the pocket square world. However, it is not a very good fake. With every movement of the jacket, there is no change in the position of the ‘square’; it is but a lifeless border.

I have no idea what else necessitates such an inflexible, inadaptable, unattractive and lifeless addition to a suit except laziness. However, the convenience of the accessory is entirely wiped out by the expense of it. Jones wears his sewn-in-square suits with matching ties, often in bright colours. This means he must have a sewn-in square suit for every tie he owns; although he can certainly afford it, this is hardly a wardrobe blueprint for a man on an average income, or a sensible act of economy from a supposedly shrewd businessman. It is far wiser to adapt accessories to suits, and not the other way around.

Disappointingly, these suits have started to appear in shops on the high street (how could you, Zara?), often on mannequins with matching ties, no doubt to encourage the latest armchair-aesthete to avoid all the ‘hassle’ of choosing squares and ties (god forbid there should be colour variety in this world) and simply purchase a manufactured, Lego-man armour for the wash & go generation.

The worst thing is, in the spirit of the Den, I actually have a better idea for the lazy-but-economical: pocket-square cards (as made by Umo Lorenzo). Simply attached a ‘card clip’ – which receives the card – to the top pocket, and click in your selected ‘card’ of the day (with a strip of silk attached to each). “Sewn-in-security, but with variety.” Absolutely awful.

Going Green

I’ve decided I’m going green. An unusual pronouncement for a former policy advisor on aviation, so perhaps I ought to qualify that statement.

Of all the colours present in my wardrobe green is conspicuous by its absence. Why I’ve omitted this colour I’m not sure. I’ve spoken to many a shirt maker and clothing retailer, all concur that it is not a colour favoured by many men. On the whole when we think of adding colour to our wardrobe it seems green figures low on the list. True, it’s a common enough colour for those that stalk the countryside, particularly in its favoured guise of a Barbour jacket and wellington boots, but outside of that you don’t see it too often.

And yet it is an eminently useful colour, suitable in one shade or another for almost any complexion. If you’re dark haired or dark skinned then look to darker shades of green – British Racing Green, bottle green and their like. If you have fair skin and fair hair then consider lighter shades such as mint and moss.

It’s also a colour that is more than a little apt for the season of holly, fern trees and the rich dark browns of autumn and winter. And as colours go it’s perfectly versatile, sitting well with most blues, pinks, browns and its variants – rust, beige and terracotta.

For my own part I’ve decided to have made what I call a town tweed odd jacket. I call it town tweed because instead of the more common single breasted guise for tweed jacketing I’m having it made in a double breasted form with patch pockets. Tweeds tend to be rather heavy and normally you wouldn’t contemplate a double breasted jacket. However, living in London and moving from building to building via covered walkways, underground and covered train stations you can actually dispense with a coat in all but heaviest rain, provided your jacket is weighty enough to keep you warm. If it does rain I’ll be able to use a Mac rather than carry around a heavy wet woollen coat.

I’ve opted for a Herringbone Harris Tweed in mid/moss green. If green jacketing is a little bold for you then start small. A green stripe shirt works wonders with a blue blazer and club stripe tie. Alternatively, if you’re attempting to add colour to your sock collection then green works wonders with a navy suit and black or brown shoes.

It’s time to go green.

Mode Rage: Suits at the Races

I recently discussed weekend shenanigans with a friend of mine who had been to the races. He had attended the meet in a brown checked tweed jacket, sky blue shirt, blue polka dot tie, patterned blue pocket square, light brown trousers and brown brogues. In other words; the race meeting dress code.

To my dismay, he informed me that the majority of the racegoers had not aligned themselves with this code. “I could count on two hands” he said “the number of men dressed appropriately. They looked like they were all off to the office.” I was further disappointed, though scarcely surprised, to learn that the black-suited majority were sufficiently indelicate and ill informed to cast aspersion and dubious comment at those correctly attired.

I have experienced such malice before and my friend, like me, was flummoxed as to their sense of victorious ridicule; what could they possibly be saying? “Ooh look, there’s a C*ck in tweed! Like a typical country toff at the races”? Yes, we are at the races. This is what is normally worn to the races. This is what everyone, including you, expects to see at the races. Of course, the real reason for such commentary and mockery is socially motivated envy.

When a man knows how to dress appropriately and elegantly for an occasion, it is difficult for even the most pugnacious member of the style ‘illiterati’ to fail to recognise the fact. They do recognise it and it irritates them that someone else was in better possession of knowledge, in firmer grasp of the occasion. They glance at each other’s black and grey Burton suits and no longer feel like the proverbial balls of the bow-wow and so they lash out.

My own experience at race meetings is similar. It is not just the standard of dress that has declined - the absurd length of trousers, the appalling inability to tie a tie properly - but also the aesthetic appropriateness of materials and colours to the occasion. Even those not in possession of a tweed jacket could look to more appropriate garments and colours than a shiny, Mad Men suit from TopMan. A wool flannel blazer or a corduroy jacket, worn with chinos, flannel trousers or a pair of cords are far more appropriate than a grey, black or blue mid-lightweight suit.

Suits are relied upon far too much; the art of the odd jacket and trousers, particularly in relation to country dress, has largely been lost. So impoverished has our daily dress become that the default code for any occasion has been ‘Suits’; weddings, race meetings and the opera, people dredge out the same, slate-grey suit without any concern. When they arrive, they espy someone in classic attire and regard their own dress, and consequently their own negligence of interest, with an inward scorn.

City suits may be one of the last bastions of formality but they are relied upon too much for their ‘top trump value’; the idea that if you turn up in a suit, you certainly won’t be underdressed. Clothing is too often considered in a vertical hierarchy and almost never considered laterally with regard to the occasion, the location and the environment.

Some blame the loss of social propriety, others point to the lack of useful signage – one of the most useful things about the oft-mentioned Esquire artwork of the early 20th century is the guidance it provided to clueless readers – but the reality is that the appropriate attire for a country weekend at the racetrack has never really been forgotten, as the compliments to my friend from female racegoers proved. And the fact that the suited gentlemen wanted to try his jacket on and approved of the fit and style once it was warming their own shoulders, shows that aesthetic differences are not significant. The problems are knowledge and application; the former is restricted by a lack of interest, the latter by a lack of confidence. Fortunately, neither are insuperable barriers. The campaign continues.