Coordinating New Options

With more sartorial options and casual dress days today, guys need more fashion know-how than ever before.

Here are style tips Michael Renzi, designer and owner of Renzi Custom Gallery in Newport Beach, shares with customers:

* Wear colored shirts during the day, white at night. The white shirt offers a better contrast with the dark evening suit; a light blue shirt will soften up a suit during the day.

* Select colors that contrast with your skin. If your skin is dark, wear lighter-colored shirts with a dark suit; if you’re fair, wear a darker shirt with a lighter-colored suit, such as a light navy with a pale blue shirt.

* Suits and shirts with vertical patterns, such as stripes or herringbone, work best for medium- to heavyset guys, while plaids and checks and other horizontal patterns work best for skinny to medium guys.

* When in doubt about mixing patterns, follow the “two solids and a stripe” rule. If you wear a suit, tie and shirt, only one garment should have a pattern; the other two should be solid. If the tie pattern is so tiny that it’s not visible from four feet away, it’s considered a solid. More confident dressers mix patterns.