Easy and Elegant Life

The Search for Everyday Elegance and the Art of Living Well.

Practicing Scales

PatternMix

One of the things I get asked most about is pattern mixing. There’s the rule of two that most can manage, two patterns, no more. Three or more seems to send most men into a fit of despair. Above you see an example I laid out for a client who wanted to know how to dress down a pinstriped suit. The answer is to play with scale in mixing your patterns. Wider stripe in the suit, graph checked shirt and small dotted tie. Add your white linen pocket square to play it safe, or go for broke and try a paisley patterned silk!

Incidentally, all men look good in lavender. Especially after a rough night. If you can’t quite bring yourself to wear pink, add some lavender into your wardrobe. Wear with blue or grey.

2 thoughts on “Practicing Scales

  1. An interesting post on mixing patterns successfully, but why dress down a suit? Why not simply opt for a sports jacket, odd trousers, loafers of some kind, and no necktie?

    Best Regards,

    Heinz-Ulrich von B.

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