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mensusa

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Mens Suits Patterns

A pattern is a great way to make a you stand out a little or throw a little bit of variety into your suits. I'm only going to be talking about patterns you might find on an ENTIRE suit, so I will be leaving out tweed and plaid here. While these are excellent patterns, and can be very professional, they are very rarely found on an ENTIRE suit. Instead, they are more likely to be found on just a blazer.
Stripe Patterns
The most commonly found type of pattern on a suit is a vertical stripe of some sort. There are actually four distinct types of stripes found on suits, and they vary in impact, from low, to very high. As a rule, you should NEVER buy a horizontal stripe suit, it will make you look shorter and fatter than you are, and who wants that?As far as stripes go, it is not uncommon to find different types of stripes on a single suit. A common combination, for example, is a Shadow Stripe (or Tone-On-Tone) paired with a thin pinstripe. Whether this is good or not is completely a matter of personal taste: if you like it, go for it.
The Shadow Stripe
The lowest impact of the stripes, the shadow stripe is generally only a slight difference in texture or shade, rather than a different altogether color (such as white on black). A shadow stripe will always be a solid line that goes all the way down the fabric.
This is a shadow stripe suit. Note how the stripes seem just a little bit different from the other fabric. This is also called a Tone-On-Tone stripe.
The Rain Stripe
The next level up in impact is the Rain Stripe. A rain stripe is a straight line of dots that that go down the front of a suit. It is similar to a pinstripe in that it is a different color from the main fabric, but differs in that it is a line of unconnected dots rather than a single solid line.A classic white-on-black rain stripe. Note that the dots are not connected.
The Pinstripe
The pinstripe is the classic stripe of suits, and is generally the first thing that comes to mind. It is a straight, solid, thin line of a different color than the body of the suit that extends down the length of the suit. Classically, the pinstripe is white, regardless of the background fabric color, but these days, you can get many different combinations.A classic white-on-charcoal pinstripe. Notice that the line is solid down the front of the fabric.
The Chalk Stripe
The Chalk Stripe is the largest and most visible of the stripes. It does make a somewhat bold statement, and certainly draws attention to itself. It is similar to a pinstripe in that it is a solid line of color, different from the background color, but a Chalk stripe is considerably thicker. Generally, anything thicker than 1/8" is considered a Chalkstripe, thinner is a Pinstripe (just a guideline).
A white-on-black chalkstripe. Note how much more this stripe stands out than the pinstripe above.
Geometric Patterns
As there are different stripe patterns that can be found on suits, there are different geometric patterns that can be found as well. They vary in impact from the very subtle to the very bold
The Nailhead
The nailhead is the most subtle geometric pattern. It consists of a solid background color and little "pinheads" (or small nailheads) of fabric spaced at regular (and very small) intervals. The effect of this pattern is that the background color tends to overshadow the nailhead pattern, but the nailhead pattern can easily be brought to dominance by wearing a tie or shirt of the same color (this make the eyes much more likely to pick up the less obvious color in the suit). This can be a great suit multi-purpose suit.A light brown/grey nailhead. The colors are close enough that when worn as a suit, they can merge together.
The Glenplaid
The glenplaid is a traditional English pattern, and not to be confused with a multi-color plaid. In this case, there is again a strong base or background color, but instead of little "nailheads", there is a different (or in some cases MANY different) colors of threading running through that creates multiple square patterns on the fabric. This is generally very subtle, and I'm not kidding when I say there are MANY different threads. I've seen a fine Ermengildo Zegna suit that had a glenplaid made up of not less than 8 different color threads!A stone and grey glenplaid color.
The Houndstooth
The houndstooth is the most impacting of the geometric patterns. Two different colors of thread are generally involved, and there is no "background" color. Each threading is used equally. The fabric is woven in a certain design, often similar to a tiny lightning bolt. When the colors are very different, this pattern really stands out, but it can be made more subtle by using colors that are similar.A houndstooth. Notice that neither color is really "dominant" in this case.Well, that's about it. I've given you an in-depth primer into the various colors and patterns available and suitable for a professional suit. Remember, if you're in doubt, Navy Blue!.

mensusa

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Mens Suits Patterns

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