As Summer Approaches

If you live fairly far north of the equator, you cannot help but notice that the days are longer and there is a bit more sun in the sky. If you live fairly far south of the equator you will need to wait another six months to see signs of an emerging summer, but what follows will still apply.

Dig through what you classify as your summer wardrobe. What do you have there? A few shirts, a couple of lightweight suits? A couple of pairs of shorts? If you are like most men, you probably have a pile of things that you have collected over a few years. And, most likely, there is no particular theme to them – no main colour, style or mix of fabrics.

This happens to most of us, and it means that most of what we spend on our summer wardrobes is wasted – not exactly wasted, but not as useful as it could be.

Here are a few suggestions to deal with the situation:

1. For your summer work outfits, if you need a suit, think about a dark blue or blue – grey combination in heavy weight linen or a linen-wool or cotton-linen blend. Linen makes it look more casual and less ponderous than worsted or flannel, and works well in the heat. You can wear a linen suit with a tie if you need to, and linen suits and jackets are more appropriate if you are not wearing a tie, because they have a casual air to them.
2. If you can get away with a jacket and trouser combination at work, a linen or linen blend jacket in dark or mid blue, or muted grey check and cream coloured trousers will do very well. Do not choose the same fabric for the jacket and the trousers, or it will look as if you are wearing two halves of two suits, which never looks quite right.
3. For days off, a linen jacket works well with cotton or light wool trousers – you can get away with brighter colours out of work: think of teal, light blue, yellow, or a nice green-grey mix.

You can go for unlined, or half-lined jackets, which will be a little cooler than fully lined jackets. If you can’t find linen in the colours that you like, choose light, open-weave wool. Weaves that can give you some texture are boucle,or hopsack without adding excessive weight.

When you start buying – in shops or a trip to the tailor – start with the suits, jackets and trousers, then look at shirts and socks. Consider cotton shirts in light blue, pale pink or light grey. These colours will go well with just about any jacket or trousers. For casual wear, avoid dress shirts but look at purpose-made casual shirts with a camp collar or cooper collar, designed to be worn unbuttoned. If you are feeling adventurous, think about darker shirts for casual, against a lighter shade of jackets and trousers.

When in doubt, look at the colour wheel, in another of these blog posts. Good luck in rebuilding your summer wardrobe.

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