Adding Interest to your Outfit with Layering

Whilst it’s fair to say that there are many men who put lots time and effort into creating an outfit, there are just as many guys who for getting dressed in the morning means nothing more than just throwing on any old t-shirt and jeans. But with men’s fashion becoming increasingly more interesting with bright colours and eye-catching prints hitting the catwalks and stores it’s a shame that more men don’t take a little more interest in what they’re wearing.

Casual Preppy Layering

Add Accessories for Instant Interest

Even if you’re not the type of guy to leave the house in purple skinny jeans and a clashing flower patterned shirt, there are lots of easy ways to add interest to an outfit without scaring children or making your grandparents think you’ve run away and joined the circus.

In this post I’m going to take a look at layering and how getting it right can instantly transform an outfit. There are a few simple things to do to your basic outfit and, no, flowers don’t have to be involved if you don’t want them to be.

The key to layering clothing, whether it’s a smart business suit or urban wear or street wear is that none of your layers should be anything you’re embarrassed to be seen in! Think of each garment as completely separate whether you’re layering retro tshirts, plaid shirts, cardigans or dress shirts; each one should be able to stand alone as a piece of clothing. Concealing an old, worn vest under a buttoned up shirt is okay if you have no intention of undoing your shirt but if you wouldn’t be caught dead in the ‘comedy’ slogan t-shirt that you’re wearing under your shirt then don’t wear it just because you’re layering.

There’s No Such Thing as Too Many Layers!

Layering up is practical and great for when the weather is cooler or for those annoying days whether it’s cold one minute and warm the next. Urbanwear works especially well when layered; a t-shirt worn under a plaid shirt with a hoodie on top looks great providing a little thought has gone into the colours and they are accessorized with a cool pair of trainers and a great scarf. This is another reason why you should make sure all your layers are ones you’d be proud to be seen in; you never know when you’re going to be hot and need to remove a jacket or a sweater – and the last thing you want is to be caught out in a filthy, torn old t-shirt advertising beer!

Talking of colours, keep your palette to just one or two very brights or patterns – if there’s a lot going on in your outfit you don’t want to look like you’ve just been attacked by a clown with a vengeance. Back to the circus references again…

 

You should also make sure your layers fit well over one another. Streetwear styles can often be big and baggy but a well cut men’s t-shirt worn with a shirt that’s the right size for you with a slightly larger but still decently fitting lightweight jacket over the top looks great. Just keep it all in proportion and make sure your outer layers aren’t too tight and your second and third layers are not too big.

Casual Layering with a Plaid Shirt and Tee

On a similar note you should also make sure that the hems of the tee, shirt, sweater or jacket worn under a coat don’t stick out from below the top layers. Urban wear may embrace shirts sticking out from under sweaters, but if you want a look that’s well pulled together you should avoid this.

Finally, it’s not all about shirts, blazers, jackets and coats though these are obviously necessary to building a layered look. Street wear looks just as good as smart clothing does when it’s accessorized and belts, scarves, beanies and hats all count as layers – and they’ll all help take that boring jean and t-shirt to a whole new level and say ‘this is a guy who knows how to layer!’

Any comments? Why not let us know what you think and how you like to add a certain something to a regular outfit. And if you’re looking for urban wear and original clothing with a difference, go check out our website for some inspired t shirts that are perfect worn alone or under your favourite shirt!

How to Match your Tie and Shirt: the 3 Easy Rules

If you regularly wear a suit to work, like many men you may have felt just the tiniest bit of trepidation when it comes to matching your shirt to your tie. Of course men’s shirts come in a range of colours, stripes and checks and as for ties – well the variation is limitless, so how do you get it right when it comes to pairing the two and how can you ensure that you’re making an dapper style statement and not a fashion faux pas that has your colleagues sniggering behind your back?

Headache Inducing Shirt & Tie Combo

It can be tempting to stick with what you know but let’s face it there aren’t that many ways a guy can make an impact in the style stakes when in the office so paying a little more attention to your tie ‘n’ shirt combo can do wonders for your look. Let’s take a look at how to create a shirt and tie dream team because you do have several options.

1)      Plain tie with a plain shirt. This is obviously the easiest pairing to go for and a great way to experiment if this is your first foray into the wonderful world of men’s fashion. There is just one main rule to bear in mind when matching a plain shirt and tie and that is to avoid wearing either both light colours or both dark colours. Or heaven forbid, matching them exactly!

Trying out a plain white shirt or a pale blue or pink shirt with a colour popping tie is an awesome way of adding some interest to your office attire. If your shirt is white you have a whole host of colours to choose from but if your shirt is coloured you should stick within the same colour pallet to avoid looking garish. For example, pair a light blue shirt with a navy tie and you’ll be killing it at the water cooler.

Perfectly Plain…But Not Boring

2)      Plain tie with a patterned shirt. Okay, this is slightly trickier but don’t panic just yet as you can still pull this off with panache with just a modicum of care. There is just one basic rule here: match the colour of the tie to one of the colours – or something within the colour pallet – of the shirt. For example, if you’re wearing a lilac and white gingham shirt opting for a purple tie will work well.

Style Points for Wearing Pink

3)      Patterned tie with a plain shirt. This is exactly the same as above; if your shirt is plain light blue go for a tie that has a shade of blue in it too, for instance a blue and white polka dot pattern.

4)      Patterned tie and patterned shirt. Right, this is where things can get a little more complex but it’s still not rocket science so don’t abandon all thoughts of ever hoping to pull off the double-patterned look. There are three things to consider:

–          Pick a detail from your tie and coordinate it with the principal colour in the shirt

–          Watch your pattern sizes – the pattern in the tie should be bigger than the pattern in the shirt otherwise the scales will look out of proportion

Checks and Stripes DO Work

–          Mix your patterns up: you can rock a checked shirt with a spotted tie but don’t be fooled into thinking that you can wear a check shirt and a checked tie or, possibly even worse, a spotty tie with a spotty shirt. Unless the Coco the Clown effect is the look that you were after

So you see, making a little effort doesn’t have to be a pain in the behind and as long as you keep the basic principles about matching colour families and not going spot on spot in mind you should be just fine! Play around, have fun and before you know it you’ll have upped your game with a minimum of fuss.

What are your thoughts when it comes to pairing shirts and ties? Do you play it safe or you do you like to inject some colour and a dash of daring into your otherwise boring office apparel?  Let us know in the comments, why don’t you?!

And why not follow us on Twitter too for our occasional Tweets on men’s clothing and urban fashion. Annnnnd talking of urban wear, why not check out our new website where we’ll soon be selling our very own range of street wear style men’s t-shirts?