Tag Archives: Half Windsor

Formal Means Formal

Photo Credit: www.buzzle.com

Photo Credit: http://www.buzzle.com

Although winter and fall are my favorite seasons, this time when winter turns to spring is always quite charming.  There are those March days that are full of snow and others can be so sunny that you think you may have to put on sun block. Mostly, it is a great time for a road trip.  This past weekend I took a short road trip to New England and down memory lane.  I attended a reunion of sorts, had a blast and looked fabulous while doing it! I suppose all reunions whether family, work, or college have their dress codes.  The one I attended was pretty fancy.  I know I wrote a post regarding wedding attire already, (Please see my October 15th post, “Formal Attire Requested”), but today’s post, although possibly redundant, is on the general topic of

FORMAL WEAR

When men go to weddings, proms, bar mitzvahs, christenings, funerals, and the like, they are a little more clued in concerning what to wear.  But when the only criteria for an event is  “formal”, men try to get away with the most horrible offense of all: under dressing.  Make no mistake about it; being under dressed is the worst!  I apologize if my hyperbole is jarring but under dressing should be deemed a sin.  At said reunion this weekend it was quite clear that it was to be a formal event, yet I still saw men wearing the wrong attire.  Here is a question I pose, “Why do men try to dress as casual as possible so often?”  For most men, dressing up is rare and fun

chance to radiate charisma.  Why dull yourself down when everyone else in the room is going to look like a shiny penny?  And I don’t tolerate the, “I want to be different excuse” that is absolute bullshit and pure laziness.  Below are some observations I caught this weekend that all men should never make:

  1.  It really does not matter how nice, sexy, fancy, or expensive your jeans are.  You can not pair them with a shirt, tie, and jacket and call it formal.  (Please see my January 30th post, “Change it up Cowboy”)
  2. As far as jewelry is concerned: We’ve talked about this! (Please see my December 8th Post, “The Power of Jewelry”)   Like most things, all in moderation.  But please, if you have a nice suit on, leave the ghetto chain at home!  You would not pair a rich Merlot with your Chilean Sea Bass would you?  NO! They clash…I hope you see my point here.
  3. A sweater, (Cashmere or not) over a dress shirt and tie does not equal formal attire.  Don’t be such a hippy and put on a jacket.
  4. To segue way into my next point, you must wear, or at least bring with you, a suit jacket.  Suit pants, a dress shirt, and a tie are not enough.  This would be  equivelant to a plate of food that consisted of fries, cole slaw and a pickle.  Incomplete to say the least.  Where’s the burger?
  5. You know how I feel about funky sneakers with suits so do not even get me started.  It is time to put your grown up shoes on. (Please see  my September 17th Post, “Weighing the Pros and Cons”)
  6. Also, you are an under dressed fool if you do not wear a tie.

I know I sound harsh, but the world of fashion shows no mercy.  It is the smallest mistakes that are always the most detrimental, so for your own sake and the sake of the date that has to be seen with you, don’t make them!

“A well-tied tie is the first serious step in life.”
– Oscar Wilde

2012 in Review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 2,500 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 4 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Make or Break

There are a lot of things that can make or break an outfit.  It always amazes me how a certain great look on one man can look horrible on another.  Sometimes it is the smallest accessory that makes a man look like a real class act or on the opposite end of the spectrum, a real hot mess.  For today’s post I would like to explore the wonderful world of…

NECKTIES

Recently I was amidst a conversation with one of my fashion experts and he gave me some very funny and very helpful commentary about ties.  I found it difficult to paraphrase so the below 5 rules are his words and in my opinion rules to live by.

  1. Your tie needs to in some way match your shoes, your cufflinks and/or your belt.
  2. When tying the tie, the knot you know may not be the knot you need.  If your neck is fat and your face is huge, and you need the tie to snake over your stomach full of pasta, use a larger “Full Windsor Knot” if you are long in the body and face, like Barack Obama, use a “Half Windsor Knot” like he does.  It is understated and still thick and powerful.
  3. The tiny knots that were used in Molly Ringwald movies need to stay in Molly Ringwald movies.
  4. If you are fat, do not wear a bow tie!
  5. Skinny ties are clearly back. But they are not for job interviews; they are for Kanye West and “Mad Men,” or maybe a cocktail party.  If you work at an internet start up in the Silicon Valley, then by all means wear this to work. But if you wear a skinny tie, you better have a tie bar or else people will insult you to your face.

The tie is sometimes a man’s only way of showing emotion, attitude and style.  Do not be afraid to be daring with your tie design.  And as far as the knots are concerned, go online and try out some new ones.  I recommend thetiebar.  Be aware, the worst mistake you can make is having a tie that is too short. Like I stated earlier, you will look like a real hot mess.  Consider it fashion suicide.  Also, if you do not know how to tie a tie or do not even own one, you need to get over to Bloomingdale’s, buy a few and learn how to tie them immediately. Check out tie a tie easily for simple direction. I recently went out on a date with a guy and it came out that he didn’t know how to tie a tie, and let’s just say there was no second date.

Quick Aside:  Special thanks to my personal men’s fashion expert, RJM,  who contributed to this post.