Loafers Are a Step in Right Direction--Casual
Even guys who you think have at least a decent sense of fashion can be seen doing this. They show up for a party after work still wearing their office slacks, and they’ve thrown on a pair of tennis shoes for comfort. Keeping your slacks on is OK, but the shoes?
“A lot of guys have their dress shoes for the office and athletic shoes for the weekend with nothing in between,” says Tom Fuller of Fuller’s for Men & Women in Dana Point. “They may think they’re making some kind of fashion statement, but when you show up at a nice reception in tennis shoes, I don’t think it sends the right message.”
A good in-between shoe is a casual loafer or other slip-on, even a deck shoe. It should be lightweight and of a neutral color to go with a variety of outfits.
If you’re not sure if the event you’re going to is “nice” casual, be sure to keep your loafers in the back seat just in case.
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Stripe slights: Talk about a mixed message: What else would you call wearing a blue, big-striped blouse with black, pin-striped pants? Lots of women have been seen combining stripes, leaving themselves open to some ribbing.
“The look for this summer is subtle, with patterns that don’t announce your arrival,” says Sandy Miller of Twice the Style in Costa Mesa. “You don’t want people to think the circus is in town.”
The problem of too many stripes is that even if you’re in great shape, the mix of lines can distort your figure. Try a bright white blouse or pants with a striped coordinate, and leave the striped socks at home.
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Tie fraud: They’re hot, trendy little status symbols, and they bring up a major fashion ethics question.
They’re the Nicole Miller ties, colorful bands of silk that run $60 and up. Miller’s designer ties have themes that often relate to one’s profession. Accountant’s ties have 1040 forms, dentist’s ties have drills and toothbrushes and doctor’s ties have anatomy charts and syringes.
But there are reports that phonies are out there who wear the accountant’s tie and yet don’t know their way around a calculator; they wear the doctor tie yet they can’t put on a Band-Aid.
“Of course, anyone can wear the ties, but most people who do are in the field the tie represents,” says Ziva Adams of Tie Rack in MainPlace/Santa Ana. “You don’t ask to see their medical license before you sell someone the doctor tie.”
In the interest of protecting the public, let’s hope there’s a grass-roots effort for a ballot initiative preventing poseurs who may have flunked med school or who can’t fill out a 1040-EZ without help from getting a Nicole Miller tie.
In the meantime, don’t trust your teeth or your medical records to the man who’s wearing one. Ask to see his license.
