Transitioning Into Spring

Spring is officially here.  In Virginia, we had essentially a week of warm weather.  The problem is that it while the high was around 70, the starting temp would be around 45 degrees.  The last thing you want to  do is go from wearing flannel and boots to madras and boat shoes overnight.  By mixing some F/W pieces with S/S pieces, you can have a look that is seasonally appropriate both aesthetically and functionally.

Blazer and Pants-RL Rugby | Shirt-Modern Tailor | Tie-Club Room | Tie Bar-Kenneth Cole | Shoes-Bass Dover | Glasses-Warby Parker | Sunglasses (in pocket)-Merona | Bag-unknown (gift)

 It's important that one be aware of the weather when dressing.  When seasons change, you should ease into the new season's clothes as opposed to diving head first.  I can remember how many times in college as soon as the snow melted, someone was rocking shorts, flip-flops, and a Northface.  It's not enough to just get the clothes to coordinate with each other: they should also coordinate with the weather.  Since it was going to get near 70 for the day, I knew I would be fine to go sockless (also my boss was out of town, so I knew I wasn't going to catch flack for it).  The day's starting temp was about 45, and I didn't want to wear a coat over a  cotton blazer.  Instead I grabbed a half lined herringbone wool sport coat and went on my way.  I was more than comfortable all day as the jacket was warm enough in the morning and not too warm in the afternoon.

One style "rule" is that your leathers should match: brown shoes, brown belt, brown bag.  As with most style rules, one should learn how to break it.  The easiest way to break this rule is to keep everything close in tone.  My shoes are burgundy, my belt is a dark brown, and my bag is black.  If the shoes were cognac or chestnut, this would look off.

The shirt that I am wearing is from Modern Tailor.  It is one of their $20 blue oxfords and I am thoroughly impressed.  Because the shirt was so cheap I decided to make a few upgrades.  I went with the contrast club collar and I was surprised to find that it was essentially a spread club collar.  It creates a different look than many of the pinned club collars that you see on the interwebs.  I also upgraded to the mother of pearl buttons.  In total, the shirt came to less than $40 shipped.  Rather than entering my measurements, I entered the measurements of a shirt that fit me well already and the fit was great.  They have a ton of great looking fabrics at varying price ranges and really the only qualm about my Modern Tailor experience was the fact that the shipping website is in Chinese and once it leaves China I had no idea where it was until it arrived (about 2 weeks after ordering).