For men, the return of stripes for spring is really not a
return, but more of a continuance. Men are more than ever prone to wear stripes
with their suiting, dress shirts, polos, pants, bomber jackets, knits and
socks. One of the newest trends for guys this spring is patterned socks, as in
striped socks. Wide and narrow, horizontal
and vertical. Remember when your father wore argyle socks? These days
what you find is either tri-color block socks or stripes.
Vertical stripes can take on a different feel in
appearance. Vertical stripes make you appear taller which is wonderful if
you're not tall to begin with, men! If you
are on the taller side, make sure the stripe is thin and no more than one inch
in width. Anything more and you may appear to be rocking that "street
style"! Horizontal stripes tend to be more slimming and color blocking of
stripes work as well in polos, as long as the blocking progressively gets larger
and not smaller as it moves to your midsection.
Contrasting of stripes from a suit to a dress shirt is
simple. If your suit has narrow stripe, opt for a slightly wider stripe for
your shirt. As for the tie, please go solid or slightly textured and no
additional stripes. Generally, it is the tie where I like to add that pop of
color. Nothing is finer though than for spring and summer than to see a man in
a linen jacket with a narrow stripe worn with either a casual crew neck t-shirt
or solid dress shirt, jeans and a loafer! Relaxed, but well put together. As for
the wrinkle in the linen jacket, it only makes the stripe look better! Striped
seersucker suits can be worn as a whole suit, but often looks better if broken
apart and worn as separates.
As for casual polos, I've touched on color blocking but
not the actual stripes. Try and opt for a slimmer stripe if you have a well
padded stomach. Wide stripes will only make you look wider. Try to find striped
shirts that only have two different colors and not a rainbow of colors. Too
much distraction for the eye. I know one always thinks that black is more
slimming, just keep in mind the severity of it and visit navy instead.
Either way, whatever the striped clothing item or
accessory you choose to add to your wardrobe, keep in mind, less is more. Choose
no more than two striped items per look and don't over-do the look. Stripes can
be season-less depending on your fabric selection and can be worn for many
months out of the year.
Send me your picture of your favorite striped item and I
will send you back another way to wear it!
From my closet to yours-
Suzanne
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