Edward
Bartender
- Messages
- 25,074
- Location
- London, UK
I have a hazy memory of a circa-1990 fad in British menswear, which was also a thing in Japan at the time (perhaps where the Brits' inspiration came from) for wearing a shirt with no tie, and the top button done up (rather like some of the early images of Peter Capaldi as Doctor Who). Punch magazine at the time even did a cartoon with a posh restaurant that had the sign "Top Buttons must be Fastened" as a parody. It didn't last, though it has come back around in recent years on both television and politicians. I will find it a great shame if the tie does die - it's not much in menswear that is so gloriously, flamboyantly un-utilitarian, there solely for decoration.
I would agree that the pocket square is rarer in the UK than the US... and does indeed look to have been so going back. It's more of a dandified - and I suppose perhaps an upper class - affectation. I wouldn't dream of going out without one in my jacket but certainly it's no more a historical 'norm' in the UK than, say, the spearpoint shirt collar that is so ubiquitous at vintage themed events.
I hear you on everything save the jeans with the blazer..... when I was in my early twenties, I did that a lot, and I like to think I pulled it off with a Keith Richardsesque swagger. Now I'm fat and middle aged, it's a look that can be too Jeremy Clarkson for comfort.
You're bang on about tucking the shirt, though. I don't like an untucked shirt at the best of times, but there's something downright absurd about one with a suit. Always makes me think the wearer is trying too hard to rebel - like the kids who wore their shirt untucked with their school uniform.
While the rest of your posting makes excellent sense and truly helps, I disagree with what I have quoted from it. To me the pocket square belongs to a MORE formal "mode" than does a tie, and magnifies the incongruity of the tieless-but-jacketed look. I would only wear a pocket square (and then, probably, only a plain white one) at formal occasions such as weddings and funerals with the type of suit appopriate for those functions. Despite what Edward says, pocket squares have always been rather rare in the UK, and my views on their appropriateness could have come from that.
I would agree that the pocket square is rarer in the UK than the US... and does indeed look to have been so going back. It's more of a dandified - and I suppose perhaps an upper class - affectation. I wouldn't dream of going out without one in my jacket but certainly it's no more a historical 'norm' in the UK than, say, the spearpoint shirt collar that is so ubiquitous at vintage themed events.
Suit without a tie is hard to pull off. If you're not going to wear a tie then wear a blazer. I often wear cowboy boots/dark jeans/ fitted shirt/blazer.
**And please, for the love of God, tuck in your shirt.
I hear you on everything save the jeans with the blazer..... when I was in my early twenties, I did that a lot, and I like to think I pulled it off with a Keith Richardsesque swagger. Now I'm fat and middle aged, it's a look that can be too Jeremy Clarkson for comfort.
You're bang on about tucking the shirt, though. I don't like an untucked shirt at the best of times, but there's something downright absurd about one with a suit. Always makes me think the wearer is trying too hard to rebel - like the kids who wore their shirt untucked with their school uniform.
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