Thatisbeyond… Accessorising a suit beyond the office!

Many professions require men to spend a lot of time in a suit, its just part of the job. As visionary as designers get ( we saw a brief flutter of short suits being acceptable) it is only really in the arts that we saw this take off.

What can sometime be problematic is that when it comes to a special occasion men really have very little choice but to sport a suit also, and if you are anything like my brother in law was last year, it meant another 14 weekends in a suit!

I think that most would agree that, this suit would be a different suit to the one that you sport during the week, but with so many occasions how do you accessorise the look to change things up a bit and add a bit of whimsy to the occasion? Well, I have a few suggestions! But please, whatever you do, stick to a colour pallette. (don’t mix coloured metals) A man popped into my work with silver, gold, and brushed copper all accessorising one outfit, and to be honest, he may as well have not bothered at all, because it makes him seem like he had even less style!

Pocket Squares – weddings, engagements, birthdays, you can afford to add a splash of colour – the current fashion is to show just a snippet of the fabric to break up the expanse of plain suit fabric, but I think for a summer event it is more than acceptable to make the pocket square a feature. This one is a great example from Paul Smith retailing at £50 pounds and shows a lot of personality, pair this with a plain tie, and try not to match it too closely to the tie, because it will just look too officey!

Cuff links – when the jacket comes off, you still want some focus on the outfit, and cuff links are a great way to do that. Personal to you it’s a great way to show some personality and a great talking point if they are a bit different. I always get comments from girls and guys about my choice if cuff links!!! Some of my favourites are these Harry Potter ones.
They are a bit different because of the smoky brushwork, and because the face of them is quite sizeable. I also happen to like Harry Potter (judge all that you like) and so it’s also a bit of me.

Tie clips – firstly practical if you are having dinner (you don’t want the tie dipping into the soup!) but also look great. A classic silver or gold works well, but there are also loads of much more modern designs for the the more adventurous man. I also checked out a nifty one on line from notonthehighstreet.com, you can personalise them with a small map, incorporating where you come from into an outfit, and that really personalises it to you. (Also a great gift for a groom – a map showing the site of the marriage?!) at £18 this is a snip.

Ties – us guys can certainly be a little more adventurous than our usual office attire and get quality and whimsy from our neckwear, suitupuk has a good selection of qualities ties that will develop the look much further.
I particularly like the red and navy silk striped tie, and a much more fashion forward design, the orange with blue silk knitted tie. On a side note, you have to check out the ‘Tie Club’ a monthly membership that delivers quality silk ties to your door. Its easy and a quality product, this is something I am looking forward to trying out in the future. For more information, why not visit www.suit-up.co.uk

So in short accessorise and show your personality in your choices and its guarenteed not to fail.

TIB