MALE CALL

Blue blazer partners with many options

Q. I just bought my first expensive blue blazer. Obviously I can wear a white shirt and nearly any tie, but what else does and doesn't work best with this?

A. Congratulations! A good blue blazer is essential to any well-dressed man's wardrobe, first, because it is so versatile, and second, because it goes with just about every color and fabric. In fact, it might be easier to list the very few styles that don't work with it.

SHIRTS

All colors go with a navy blazer, from the most traditional white to less formal blue, pink and yellow pastels, plus subtle and bold stripes in most every color. Even multicolored tattersalls, checks and plaids work. And don't forget darker shirts, such as deep blue and strong reds. Some of these bolder patterns and colors, known as "blazer shirts," are too informal to wear with a matched suit.

Almost of more importance than color is fabric: Besides businesslike broadcloth (which likely is what you think of as a traditional shirt), Oxford cloth, pinpoint Oxford, and end-on-end weaves, the more informal fabrics such as denimlike chambray, lightweight flannel (in winter) and seersucker (in summer) are also right with a navy blazer. When wearing a blazer for nonwork casual occasions, turtlenecks, colorful knit polo shirts, and the once again popular crewneck T-shirts are all possibilities.

A blazer allows you to choose different options with the cuffs as well. It is formal enough for dressy French cuffs and cuff links or it can be casual enough for standard single-button cuffs, known as barrel cuffs. Both shirts are acceptable with a blazer, and the choice is purely a matter of preference.

NECKTIES

You are right to think your necktie choice is wide with a white shirt, but this is also true with other shirt options. Again, anything goes in colors, patterns and textures. Overly bright colors that would be all wrong in a suit or a shirt are fine for a tie. Patterns can include traditional stripes, small prints, bold "power" ties, muted offbeat designs, and solid knits. And with warmer weather fast approaching, there is nothing fresher looking than a perfectly knotted pastel linen tie to brighten up a classic blue blazer.

Even though blazers can be dressed up or down, as with all forms of dressing, consistency counts. For example, do not mix accessories that are quite elegant and formal with items that are really casual. Good "go-togethers" might be a plaid or chambray shirt with a button-down collar and a knit tie. Not-so-good-go-togethers would be the same plaid or chambray shirt with a shiny smooth silk tie.

Certainly, there are different blues for blazers from light blue through navy, differing from manufacturer to manufacturer. With darker blues and better-made jackets, the dressier accessories, such as French-cuff shirts and elegant cuff links, will look fine, while a lighter shade or less expensive blazer might call for more casual accessories. Once again, the old "apples and oranges rule" applies to blazers.

Best of all, a blazer allows you to express your own personality in so many ways. You can wear a pocket square or not; you can wear cuff links or not; you can wear a tie clasp or not; your blazer can have nautical brass buttons or dark suit buttons; it can be double breasted or single breasted; it can have a single back vent or double vents; you can wear it with a long tie, a bow tie, or no tie. It's up to you.

Send men's fashion queries to Male Call:

Lois.Fenton@prodigy.net

High Profile on 04/19/2015

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