Buy New Shoes
The change in temperature is always a good reason to change shoe styles for spring. Most men see spring as a cue to stow away the wing-tips in favor of flip-flops. The fashionable man of this season, meanwhile, is bringing out a pair of bucks.
Bucks are emerging as a trend this season not just because it has a characteristic texture (which is shaping up to be a trend in itself), but because brands all over the place have released their own versions in a wider range of colors. With the sheer number of shoe makers doing it, there’s no way to ignore this new development.
One of the great things about bucks is that they’re flexible: you can wear them with jeans for the weekend, but pair them with dark trousers and they’re good enough for the office. It practically spells ‘must-have’.
Preppy Pastiche
Maybe it was all those spring breaks in the Hamptons, or the pleasant weather in the East Coast come May. Whatever the reason, spring is always a perfect time to bring out your inner prepster. Instead of taking the usual route – college mens ties and knits on your shoulders – you could make your little preppy statement via your accessories.
Woven styles are shaping up to be one of the major accessory trends of this season. You could take the European route and invest a Benjamin or so on a nice woven leather bag a la Bottega Venetta, or spring about fifty bucks on a nice leather belt from J Crew.
Either way, adding that woven texture is the subtler way to add a bit of preppy luxe to an outfit. It’s very understated – most people would probably have to look twice at your outfit – yet effective at making the point. You can even wear the look to the office; black woven belts still manage to stand out against black pants. For full nattiness marks though, a brown woven belt over gray trousers is the only way to dress this season.
Brown and Blue
While we’re on the topic of matching accessory colors, it’s worth nothing that brown is also a great color to match with navy. Most men would wear black leather with navy, but brown is an even better complement because it adds a touch of cultured luxury to your outfit, very much like brown leather adds Anglo appeal to a gray suit.
The next time you’re going to wear a navy suit, try matching it with a belt, a bag and shoes in brown leather. Everyone at the office will be sure to notice how your style status suddenly went from clerk to CEO.
