In the Navy, a Blazer With the Wrong Slacks Will Inspire the Blues
A blaze of color: There’s no question that every well-dressed man should have a navy blazer in his closet. It’s a versatile garment that can be dressy or casual and can go with everything from jeans to wool slacks in a rainbow of colors--except one.
Say you bought a great-looking navy blazer last year and found a fantastic deal on a pair of navy slacks at an outlet store. They’re close in color, but not quite a match. Should you take a chance and wear them together?
“I wouldn’t try it. It’ll look like you’re trying to match these slacks and this jacket rather than wear a fashionable suit,” says Debbie Downey of Downey & Co. in Costa Mesa.
Use the versatility of a navy blazer the way you might open up the throttle on a car on an open highway.
Experiment with varied colors of slacks, and when you get the itch to match navys, look for a new suit.
Under wraps: In the few weeks after Valentine’s Day, an interesting and alarming trend occurs. Women who receive provocative and colorful brassieres from their beloved wear them to work or to the mall underneath a light blouse or shirt, putting their present on public display.
Their spouses or boyfriends might rave about how great they look, but does everyone else have to see these bras too?
“You just have to take a good look in the mirror in different lighting situations to see if the bra shows through,” says Debbie Longerot of Elaine Exclusive Lingerie in Fullerton. “The only time it works is when you’re wearing a blouse or body suit that’s very sheer and is meant to show your bra, but even then you’re wearing it with a jacket or blazer that doesn’t reveal the entire bra.”
If you’re not sure whether your bra shows through your blouse, stand next to a window, out of direct sunlight, holding the questionable undergarment underneath a white blouse. If you can make out the lacy flowers or butterflies, put it in the drawer and save it for those private moments.
Doctoring fashion: Around the time “M*A*S*H*” had its tearful end on network TV, those sickly blue-green, stretch-waist surgeon’s pants with matching tops became popular. The light cotton, loose-fitting garments were comfortable, cheap and always created at least the possibility that you were a neurosurgeon who had just left the operating room.
But looking like a doctor has lost some prestige, and these surgical suits are pretty much seen only in the hospital these days.
“They were just a fad for a few summers, but they weren’t overly obnoxious,” says clothing designer Ellen Corcoran of Yorba Linda. “You can still wear them to the supermarket or the cleaners, or doing stuff around the house. Nothing special.”
If you do pull your surgeon’s pants from the bottom of the drawer, give them a good look before wearing them in public. Clothing that hasn’t been worn in a few years often feels tighter than you remember. The pants haven’t shrunk, however; something else has usually grown.
