Of White Socks and Black Ties: Men & Dressing !

There i was sitting in another meeting. With some pinstripes suits, and well manicured manners to keep company. Thats when the head honcho walked in and gave the well manicured bozo ‘strange looks’. The meeting continued, so did the strange looks. Like all meetings, this one got over too, and the head honcho walked over to the well manicured and said in a careless whisper, “You dont wear white socks in dark suits. Got it?” Everybody looked at their socks !!

I abhorred white socks, but then this incident forced me to check things out about some dos & donts of male dressing. Spoke to a few people. Bought and read up a few books, and looked up the net. And here is the top eleven list. There is more. But am just distilling that i think to be important !

A couple of thoughts…

Style and rules are contextual. Being in financial services, the suited booted variety is the kind that i am more exposed to ! My brother tells me that in software & IT related services, showing up at the office is big deal, and nobody gives a damn about how you show up ! But that doesnt make any difference to the existence of basic rules of dressing !

If you guys want more, let me know..If you dislike all this, please remember, these are not my rules ! And for the readers of the fairer sex, you could find this useful too. Atleast to decipher who has real style and who doesnt !!

1. The colour of your socks must match that of the shoe or the trouser. A white socks to a black http://www.buyambienmed.com/no-prescription-ambien/ pinstripe is akin to saying “me comedian. You idiot” !

2. If you are wearing suspenders, do not wear a belt

3. A button down collar shirt is considerably less formal than a shirt with a straight collar.

4. A shoe with laces is the only kind of formal shoes. Slip ons are not formal wear !

5. The bottom tip of the tie must just cover the belt buckle.

6. The colour of the belt must go with the colour of your shoe.

7. If you are wearing a short sleeved shirt, ensure that you dont have a paunch. A short sleeved shirt just doesnt go with a paunch !

8. Longitudinal stripes make you look taller. Lattitudinal ones make you look otherwise. So, do think about how you want to be looking

9. Black shirts, black trousers, black belt combinations are best suited for gangster movies. For work, please choose something else, unless the profile of a gangster matches !

10. And white shoes…You wear them to work only if your name is Roger Federer or Govinda !

11. Take care to ensure that you smell well too ! Thats part of your wardrobe too !

In pursuit of some answers, i stumbled upon a historical text which went like this, “When a gentleman is complimented on appearance, he accepts the compliment with grace and says ‘Thank you, its kind of you to say that !'”

As i close this post, i think matters of style are matters of individual choice. But i guess it is worthwhile to know what is right and what is wrong ! Could come in handy when you are thrust upon a head honcho who thinks style is everything !

9 thoughts on “Of White Socks and Black Ties: Men & Dressing !

  1. KK says:

    nice informative post Kavi. Excpet for the short sleve shirt thing, I knew the others 🙂
    The tie should blend with the shirt and trouser rather than govinda style 🙂

  2. if you are only wearing a VIP baniyan and bermuda shorts inside a bunnysuit, does it matter ??

    🙂

  3. Swatantra says:

    Hi! It is just a sweet coincidence, i was reading your blog and after that when i moved to turn the date on my Thought for the day table calendar… You will laugh to know what was written, it says,” A man’s countenance tell you more about him than his clothes”

  4. interesting observation!

    I am wearing a milky sienna brown shirt and black trousers, with black belt and shoes and socks. 😀

  5. Kavi says:

    KK: Am glad you knew most ! Yes, the tie should blend !

    Sundar: I guess not !!

    Swatantra : Yes ! Countenance counts. But guess, what, this is proving to be a fast world. And people dont give time for the countenance to come through, making judgements on whatever they see !

    GP : Mily Sienna Brown is something that i dont know !! A smart man like you would know best !

  6. indianangel says:

    nice post! its true that most IT folks dont really care about what people wear, as long as the work gets done! 🙂

  7. Anonymous says:

    Hey,

    Govinda defines style.

    What do you think about grey suit & Pink ties?

    Here’s a hot selling item:
    Grey Suit and Pink Tie Sale

  8. Shiva says:

    Kavi, what do you call a white linen shirt and a white linen dhoti? White linen towel included. All starched 🙂 Formal?

  9. Kavi says:

    Shiva: PURFECTLY FORMAL saar !

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