The Perfect Gentleman Issue 1 - March 2016 | Page 8

STYLISH GENTLEMAN Colour can be one of the hardest elements to get right, and yet even simple changes can have dramatic improvments. Most traditional menswear uses two main colour palettes. Blues and greys, or browns and tans. These can be mixed and brighter colours added in, but these form the basis. Putting them together is an art but simple principles can help. To understand these we need first to understand our own colouring - that of our skin and hair. The amount of contrast between these is what guides the contrast in the colours we wear. Thus someone with dark skin and dark hair should wear colours of similar shade, whilst light skin and dark hair allows for greater variation. Adhering to this principle will allow our natural colouring to be highlighted and prevent us from looking washed out or muted. The second principle is to wear similar colours to your own natural colouring. This means sandy tones for men with fair hair and dark colours for men with dark complexions. Combined with our first principle this carries over to colour tone as well, with brighter shades working best for men with more dramatic colouring and more muted shades for those with lower contrast. For men with very dark skin, this also allows for great contrast and dramatic colour choices. Pattern and Texture can be considered together, since they work in very similar ways. For more formal clothing, both should be down-played, which is why formal dinner wear is smooth and plain. However for business or casual wear we can be a little more playful. Generally we should avoid having too great a variation between textures within an outfit. Rough denim jeans look great with tweed or flannel jackets but not with the smooth worsted used for most suits. 8 Likewise chunky knits go well with robust brogues and cords, but not with smooth cotton trousers or shirts. Mixing patterns can also be difficult. We will go into this in more detail later, but generally we want to avoid putting too similar patterns together. Mixing checks together, or wearing a finely striped shirt with a pinstripe suit. We want to help the eye of the observer towards our face, and not cause them to get trapped in the clash between a paisley tie and flowery shirt. Simple principles, but allowing for a lot of variation. We’ll explain these in more detail in later issues, but moving away from fashion and towards style will help you choose clothes that best suit you, that you enjoy and that help you achieve your goals. Much better than wearing something just because a salesman wants to reach his monthly target.