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A Primer: Themes
of Contemporary Sock
Color Matching
It would be somewhat ridiculous to show you
the self-evident black socks with black shoes
or charcoal socks with a charcoal suit. Even
I can figure that out without pictures!
Following are a few more contemporary color
coordination examples which you may find new
and useful.
Monochrome: Black & Grey
Note the colors of Marcoliani's Black Magica
Stripe.
The predominant shades are solid black and
silver grey. What a perfect, yet succinct,
combination to coordinate your medium-light
grey Summer
suit with your black shoes. The tertiary
color, tan, can be used to bring in an ecru
or light tan shirt ... all of which can be
finished off with a black & silver tie and
pocket square. Though
virtually monochromatic, if done well this
can yield a stunning - and thoughtful -
combination of colors.
Check out the photo in the right-hand article for great Magica coordinates.
The World of Orange
Finally, for the truly self-confident, I'll take a quick stab at the world of Orange. Works fabulously with Greens or Browns in the Suit realm. Shirts include Yellows, a range of Greens - especially Musk, and even some bolder Blues. If you've got the moxie to sport Orange, don't "chicken out". You've already decided to Be Bold. Strut your stuff with confidence and elan. One thing of which you can always be certain with Orange accessories which, by the way, are all the rage for the 2012 season, is that you will be Noticed!
WHAT'S NEW & HOT!
NEW LIMITED EDITION:
BELTED KIMONO AND
HOT SHORT COORDINATES
Zimmerli's Beautiful Swiss Cotton
Kimono in Misty Rose and Silver Orchid. The Misty Rose also matches perfectly with our exclusive Pureness MicroModal intimates shown below. Click any photo for more.
The New Fall Pajamas Are In
Traditional Checks in Cotton
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Greetings!
We're constantly asked ... "which color socks should I wear with which suit, skirt, shirt, etc.".
In this issue, in short form below, are our
thoughts on the matter.
Of Note Coming this Fall:
A Brand New - and hot addition to the Zimmerli Women's repertoire will premier this Fall along with the debut of our newest line, Gerbe-Paris fine French Hosiery.
Iryna lends cache to both:
The daring but Oh!-So-Soft Zimmerli Pureness MiniDress ends with the slightest flash of bare as a sensuous segue to the stunning lace-infused Gerbe Plumetis 10 stay-ups.
Gerbe-Paris: The finest in French Hosiery since 1904.
Back by Demand:
After so many requests for more of the men's Limited Edition Dandy, we were able to get another few pieces made by Zimmerli. Click the photo ...
when these are gone no more will be made.
Best regards,
Joelle Kelly & Alexander Kabbaz
P.S.: Almost forgot about that Hundred Bucks I Promised!
Place an order of $295 or more
by midnight Friday, July 29 and we'll send you a $100 Gift
Certificate good as cash at checkout right through Labor Day!
But wait - there's more.
Double your order ... and we'll double your certificate! Triple? We'll do that too! $300 to use
any way you want. And the fine print? You
know us better. We're old-fashioned. We don't
believe in fine print.
In a hurry? Shop now!
In Response: Due to the number
of requests, we have now
made all the Sartorial Excellence News
articles
available on our web site. Click here and choose Option 8.
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| Proper Dressing - Color Coordinating Your Socks |
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Conservative
and Contemporary
Styling for
Every Occasion
- - - by Alexander Kabbaz
An often hotly debated topic on the major
clothing and fashion forums, which color of
socks to wear with which clothing, is a
personal decision ... but one with rules.
Following are the generally
accepted conservative parameters ... and a
few of the more sophisticated ways in which you
can differ while remaining within the
boundaries of good taste.
In this article, I
refer only to plain-colored socks. Patterned
socks - stripes, argyles, harlequins, and
novelty designs - require a further overlay
of style coordination which is preliminarily
discussed in the article to the left. For
these purposes, suffice it to say
that the most conservative dressers will wear only
succinct and muted small patterns. Those of a more
contemporary ilk who sport stronger patterns will
regard the sock's predominant color as the
guiding one.
Let's focus on four areas:
- Conservative Color-coordination - Dress
Clothing
- Conservative Color-coordination - Casual
Clothing
- Contemporary Color-coordination - Dress
Clothing
- Contemporary Color-coordination - Casual
Clothing
Author's Note: The photos below are solely examples of some of my favorite sets. They are purposefully not linked to any of the "buy me" pages. Come up with your own ideas! :-)
Conservative
Color
Coordination:
Dress
Clothing
Here the debate centers upon whether socks
should match shoes or suit/skirt/dress. A few
simple caveats cover it:
For black shoes, there are two equally
vehement - and equally justifiable - schools
of thought.
One ordains: When wearing black
shoes, wear black socks. In most cases, any
other color combined with black can be
jarring due to black's harsh aura.
The other
mandates, with equal fervor: When wearing
black shoes, match the socks to your
trousers.
Neither is wrong. Go with whichever
you feel more comfortable.
With brown, cordovan, or other non-black
shoes you have more freedom. Here the most
acceptable conservative course is,
again, to match your sock color to your
trousers.
For example, brown suit
with brown socks, charcoal suit with charcoal
socks, or navy suit with navy socks. Even in
more contemporary firms, one can never go wrong
with these color combinations.
Some of the
more staid, old-line firms may frown upon any
but black shoes ... in which case observe
either black socks rule religiously.
Conservative
Color
Coordination:
Casual
Clothing
Widely accepted myth is that traditional
casual dressing equates with the
"anything-goes-casual-Fridays" outlook.
Nothing could be further from reality. From
the top down:
The Blazer: A navy blazer
is most often seen accompanied by grey or
khaki trousers. The best course to follow is
to match your socks as closely as possible to
your trousers. However, better than a
non-matching relative from a grey or khaki
family member is to wear navy socks as close
as possible to the shade of the blazer.
On
the next rung down the ladder comes the "odd
jacket" or "sport coat". Again,
the safest
course is to match socks to trousers or socks
to shoes. The truly conservative dresser will
not want a divergent third color playing
peek-a-boo at the juncture of trousers and
shoes.
Finally, at the least formal end of
casual dressing we encounter the sweater
or
polo shirt. And again, the most common
matching ground will be the same as the
previous two ... although closely matching
the sweater or polo shirt is also
acceptable.
Let this cause confusion,
matching your socks to a white polo shirt is
not acceptable unless playing active sports or sailing.
In this instance, match socks to trousers.
Contemporary
Color-coordination:
Dress Clothing
Color can be beautifully coordinated and
stylish without observance of the "match
socks to shoes/trousers/skirt" maxim. Though
barristers best not read on ... and
members-of-the-boards of old-line banking or
investment firms ought do likewise ... sock
coordination is one of those areas which can
let personality shine through.
Add a bit of
panach� to an otherwise traditional "uniform"
and stand out with flair while keeping within
the bounds of elegance. Sporting less
conservatively colored socks is not like
wearing an orange business suit to the weekly
vice presidents' strategy session. Granted,
it is a bit more "work" and best done after
that morning shower has had its waking effect.
Where to begin? Begin by relegating the color
of your suit or skirt to the back of your
mind. Don't completely ignore it - blue suit
with Kelly green accompaniments can wake the
dead. Instead, concentrate on
shirt/blouse/tie/scarf/pocket square ... your
more colorful items of apparel. The easier
two are shirt/blouse and tie/scarf. Locate a
particular color - one which stands out such
as the blue of your shirt or the base color
of your tie. Now to your sock collection.
Find one which matches ... or is close enough
to coordinate with - your shirt or tie. Here
are a couple of examples:
Pink Pima cotton socks with a pink
shirt/grey tie accompanied by a flannel grey
pocket square sporting a pink Swiss dot
around the border to accompany a charcoal or
grey suit.
Atlantis or Ocean blue cotton socks,
light blue shirt with Atlantis pinstripes,
plain blue pocket square with light blue
ribbon edge and a blue/light blue dotted tie
coordinated with a navy suit.
Think your
way through your own shirt and tie wardrobe
and you'll undoubtedly come up with at least
a few handsome combinations.
Contemporary
Color-coordination:
Casual Clothing
This is the most adventuresome of all areas.
The basic tenets of Contemporary
Color-Coordination for Dress Clothing all
apply. However, the scope of your universe is
vastly broadened. Colors can now coordinate
among not only the standard items of business
apparel, but also the sweater, polo shirt,
sport jacket, belt ... perhaps even a
particularly noticeable lapel pin. Use the
color-coordination principles in the
foregoing paragraphs and apply them to the
greater breadth of the additional articles.
Feeling a bit more stylish? Consider the
possibilities of complimentary color vs.
matching color. Yes, orange is in fact the
compliment to blue. Why? These colors, as well
as Yellow + Violet and Red + Green are direct
opposites on the color wheel, the use of
which I'll write about in a future issue.
Color
Coordination:
The Wrap-Up
For now, remember that when wearing a
business suit, one is neck to ankle in a
solitary color/pattern. Some say "proper" ...
others opine, "boring". The exceptions
include necktie/bowtie/scarf, shirt/blouse,
pocket square/handkerchief, socks, shoes,
and, secondarily, possibly belt, jewelry,
walking stick, boutonierre, lapel pin, winter
scarf, coat, hat. There should definitely be
a very concerted effort to come to some sort
of complimentary and/or coordinating color
theme amongst the first
furnishings/accessories group. There should
also be a strong awareness that the secondary
furnishings/accessories group can have a
strong impact - good or bad - on the first group.
Even in a business environment, socks are one
of the few places where we can flash a bit o'
dash, exhibit a touch of �lan, claim the
rights to color, confer a modicum of contrast.
The possibilities are endless, thought is
necessary, the effect one of a person who
considers dress carefully. And, as many will
undoubtedly register, the opportunity for
screw-up is limitless. In short, tastefully
executed, socks can be one of the subtle
manifestations of your personality and style.
Don't bypass the opportunity.
NEXT WEEK
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ANNUAL SOCK GRAB BAG SALE
Discounts from 50% to 75%
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