FASHION : After Hours, Loafers Like to Carry Their Weight
Loafing Around: If you’re a man who works in an office with a traditional dress code--slacks, ties, jackets, dress shoes--you’re susceptible to a case of the informal/formal syndrome. This occurs when you go out for the evening or show up at a casual party in a trendy sweater and jeans along with the same Florsheim wing tips you wore at yesterday’s marketing seminar.
“Usually men will wear a nice pair of athletic shoes with a casual outfit, but sometimes you want it to look a little dressier,” says Jim Rodgers of Atkinson’s Men’s Clothing in Newport Beach. “In that case you need to have a pair of loafers that might be too casual for the office, but perfect in that situation.”
In Southern California, leather boat shoes are also appropriate “nice casual” wear, as are woven moccasins and loafers. If you’re not sure if a shoe is right for a particular outfit, take a good look at the leather. The higher the gloss or shine, the more formal it is. Remember to use a casual, not a dress sock, with a casual shoe. However, with boat shoes and jeans, it’s also OK to go sockless.
Corduroy Blues: If you’ve taken advantage of the end-of-season clearance sales at department stores lately, you may have come home with a skirt, jacket, shirt or pant in that classic, comfortable fabric known as corduroy.
The reason items in this fabric have been marked down is because of an age-old rule that corduroy should be seen only from the beginning of fall until the winter solstice.
“That’s more of an East Coast rule,” says Chris Lockwood of Pendleton Sport Shop in Laguna Hills. “It has more to do with the color and weight of the fabric. Cream- and pastel-colored corduroy is fine for spring.”
You can still wear your darker, heavier cords into winter, because our weather doesn’t always necessitate the use of wool. But once it’s time to color Easter eggs, you’ll want to start thinking about putting them away.
Prepped Out: Your closet is loaded with button-down Oxford-cloth shirts, rep ties and Bass Weejuns. You’ve got the phone number to the Land’s End catalogue order desk on speed dial. You’re hooked on the preppy look, which is a neat look that fits into most situations. But sometimes you need to be little dressier.
“At a dressy evening party you can be seen as underdressed wearing a preppy outfit,” says clothing consultant Carol Steele of Newport Beach. “But you can make your wardrobe look more formal without a big expense. A double-breasted wool blazer can look both preppy and dressy with the right accessories.”
To look appropriate for that big party, find a combed cotton dress shirt to go with that blazer, as well as a daring silk tie, collar bar and a coordinating pocket square.
