Style: My Favourite Summer Combination

For the first Sunday of 2014 I decided to revisit a colour combination ensemble that I have liked for a few years. The light khaki jacket, navy trousers, and the red and white candy stripe shirt. Long time readers of this blog will know of my affinity for this combination, especially that it goes back a few years, circa 2009. I posited about it this exact combination back in 2010 and the look and style is still relevant and timeless. Looking at the previous post one can tell that not much has changed, however, I decided to tweak a few things, here and there, especially in terms of accessories and fit.

It's no secret that my body has gone through some changes, most notably, losing a considerable amount of muscle mass, which necessitated the taking in of this jacket on the sides. Just so as to achieve a more taut fit. The candy stripe shirt is one of my favourite shirts and it's still in pristine condition after 5 years of wear. I added a few changes though; the sleeves seemed a bit short at the wrist, so I had a piece of white fabric inserted at the wrist/ cuff just to elongate them a little. The opening at the cuff was also a bit too loose, so I inserted an extra button on the sleeve cuff so as to have a more restrained fit around the wrist. Even with the second button fastened there is enough space to fit a slim wrist watch. So, I think the alterations were well worth it. At first glance one would think that the tie and pocket square are a matching set, that's far from it. The inclusion of this tie in this ensemble hasn't changed (it's a thrifted piece I picked up for R1 if I recall correctly), the pocket square is a different story. I purchased it at Markhams in 2012 and thought it would add a nice touch to this and a lot of other summer ensembles.

My menswear and style journey is an interminable one, and the journey leads me to a point where I have to concede a few things. Polyester is not your friend, polyviscose is not your friend either, don't even get me started on various other blends of polyester. These particular trousers are viscose, a terrible fabric for summer and even more terrifying a fabric to be used in menswear. I never bought them, I got them from home when I visited a few years ago. It's about the only 'proper' pair of navy trousers I have, somewhat appropriate for summer. I wear these in small doses though. Church was only 2 hours and after that I went straight home and changed. Viscose may be light, but, it is not breathable. Be prepared to sweat profusely if you're caught wearing viscose. Just because they are viscose it doesn't mean I will get rid of them however. I just need to know the time, place and duration I can wear them whenever the need arises. This does mean that I should step up my efforts to purchase linen, cotton and tropical wool trousers for wear in summer which will be much more appropriate.

PG: Man to man, generation to generation.