Never Wear Shorts With A Sportcoat Or Bucks
You can actually wear shorts with a sportcoat and bucks. The key is to make sure that both the shorts and sportcoat are impeccably tailored. Think more Bermuda inhabitant than overgrown schoolboy. But please, skip the knee highs -- no socks necessary here.
Make Sure Your Pants Cover Your Ankles
A hem that hits above the heel sounds about right if you’re headed to a boardroom or a Bar Mitzvah. For the other 90% of your life, feel free to relax and roll up your khakis and jeans. An inch to an inch-and-a-half should do the trick. Ankles can be bare, but showing a smidgen of sock -- preferably with a pop of color -- is a nice touch, too. If you look like you’re ready for a 40-year flood or a circus, you’ve likely gone too far.
Avoid Clashing Black With Navy Or Brown
Old-timers will tell you that navy suits should never be paired with black belts and shoes. There’s an even harder style stance when it comes to wearing black and brown. But as the saying goes, black really does go with almost anything. Here’s how to break the fashion rules for navy or brown with black. Make sure your brown bluchers are polished to perfection to match the inherent sleekness of their darker background. Another tip here is to use different skins and fabrics. For example, a pair of black leather driving gloves will work well with a brown wool overcoat.
Always Match Your Shoes And Belt
This fashion rule probably came from a long line of color-blind gents who couldn’t discern the difference between black and brown. But if you’re blessed with the color-recognition capability of a kindergartner, focus your efforts on color coordination rather than cloning. Brown shoes, for example, should certainly partner with a belt of a similar tone (one that’s too light or of the cordovan camp would be needlessly distracting). By the same token, if you’re daring enough to sport drivers in, say, a rich, red suede, let the shoes do their job and let a more neutral belt take the backseat.
Steer Clear Of Pleats
Indeed, even we’re guilty of helping etch this dress dictum in stone. The real problem, however, isn’t with the pleats. It’s with the pants themselves. The mass appeal of '90s-era pantaloons (thanks in no small part to MC Hammer and an Italian designer that shall remain nameless), with their wide legs and shapeless silhouette, gave pleats a bad name. Our take: As long as there isn’t an army of them and the legs are properly sized, you’re on the path to pleated perfection.
