Summer Fashion Basics for Men

Sharp Summer Style for Men

mens-summer-fashion-basics-2011Autumn and winter are fairly straightforward seasons for men’s style. You start with a bunch of layers in white, gray or navy, and then keep piling them on until you’re warm enough for the elements outside. Summer, meanwhile, is a whole other ball game. Heat, precipitation and the demands of seasonal activities all play a part in the fashion you wear, making things more than a wee bit trickier.

Fit, Fit, Fit!
Looking too casual is another major problem with men’s summer fashions. You want to be comfortable, but don’t want to be mistaken as a homeless man either. Fit is the key element that will help you hit the iffy balance between the two descriptions.

A very wide variety of fabrics and styles are very appropriate for summer: they’re light, breathable and don’t attract sweat patches. Linen and seersucker are just two of a very big number. The only remaining problem is that many of the pieces you’re likely to find will make you look like a retiree in the Bahamas.

Fit is the magic bullet to this obstacle. Any summer-weight fabric will look just as sharp as their wool or tweed counterparts if they fit like formal attire. Cargo and camo pants in cotton and linen drawstring pants will look much more luxurious and sophisticated when they’re trimly cut and fit you like your office trousers. You might not be wearing a tie on a summer night, but you’ll seem no less elegant.

Summer Versions
Men’s fashion relies on a few key pieces to set the tone for any outfit: neckties, shoes and suit very often define how dressy your ensemble is. It’s a paradigm that applies even in the sweltering heat of summer; you just need to learn how to work with it.

A suit, for example, is one of the unquestionable pillars of formal men’s fashion. You can channel that vibe by wearing just an unlined sport coat instead, and then swapping out the shirt and tie with a more casual (and preferably summery v-neck) tee. There’s a dressed down and comfortable vibe to the whole assembly, but you maintain a gentlemanly air with the jacket. It’s balancing acts like these that are the height of summer style for men.

Dressed Down Style
The heat is obviously one of the biggest issues when you dress up in the summer. It’s an even bigger concern when you consider that men’s fashion is almost always dressy by default: neckties and suits are seen as ‘standard’ style fare for the grown-up guy.

Dressing down without ending up looking sloppy requires the right pieces, specifically ones that were made to be worn in a dressed down outfit. Shirts that were made to be untucked (their hems are higher up so that the tails aren’t all over the place) and dark jeans that purposely show off your ankles (nothing’s more casual than exposed skin) create a laid-back effect that’s still somehow put together.

Whatever you’re wearing, you can quickly add a dash of summer attitude by rolling up the sleeves. Are you wearing a button down? Roll up the sleeves. Are you wearing a jacket? Roll up the sleeves? Do you have a cardigan on top? Roll up the sleeves. It’s a move that makes the whole outfit comfortable and bad-ass, all in one go.

Other Suggested Readings:
Guide to White Pants
Summer Fashion Rules 2011

Your Mens Ties Team

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.