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The Seasons BLOG
24th April 2012
Smarten up your act with spring's menswear trends
Fashion can be a cruel and fickle mistress, especially when men are trying to find their own style and are only hearing words such as 'smart', 'casual', 'debonair' and 'whattheheckisthat'. This confusion is precisely why things like novelty ties exist.
So when we see a well-dressed man on the street, we're caught between hating him on instinct and wanting to run over and casually beg for the name of his tailor.
GQ Magazine reckons style knows no age limits - which is why Jarvis Cocker is still rocking the geography teacher look at Coachella festival 35 years after rising to fame with Pulp.
Freddie Fox also made the publication's list of top ten best-dressed of the week having donned Emporio Armani for the Oliviers ceremony. A crisply pressed handkerchief and highly polished black patent leather evening shoes finished off his effortlessly smart look.
Messrs Dolce and Gabbana tried out a new take on the smart/casual conundrum at last week's Vogue Festival, pairing a mismatched shirt and waistcoat underneath a dinner jacket with (traditionalists: brace yourselves) jeans and navy brogues.
No matter what you wear underneath (and we do suggest you put something on to avoid the inevitable phone calls to the police), a trench coat can instantly smarten up any outfit. Make like Jude Law and team yours with a charcoal grey three-piece suit for a city slick look, or play it cool with dark Paul Smith jeans for a pulled together weekend outfit.
Meanwhile, Observer men's fashion writer Rick Edwards reckons the current double-breasted trend works well for office overcoats, but it can be too formal for a lightweight spring trench.
"It's worth looking for 'unstructured' examples," he pointed out. "I'm still not 100 per cent clear what 'unstructured' means in the context of clothing, but it definitely works. And can always be dressed up, should you wish."
If you can't be doing with a longer length coat, a casual blazer can do just the same job at smartening up a jeans-and-shirt combo. Oliver Spencer has such an offering in navy, which makes an ideal addition to your spring wardrobe as it will keep you dry in those pesky April showers.
