Mixing and Matching

Monday, March 17, 2008:
Today I had more meetings that I remembered so I was glad that I wore a comfortable sitting suit. I love my cotton/wool herringbone suit. Anyways, as I've eluded to, I am getting down there in tie selection and in order for me to keep on schedule I need to continue to push on through, and therefore leave behind all apprehensions. For some reason I have had a fear of mixing patterns and stripes, but a wise bird told me if I chose two patterns at different scales then everything will work out just fine. Breathe easy, I think she said. The tie I wore was a selection from JCrew that I bought in high school - probably junior year. I had convinced my mother that I absolutely needed this navy tie with red stripes on it and that it was different than anything else I owned. Totally different. I swear. It is, and I have to say that as far as striped ties go, even navy and red ones, a little different and fun. And it ties really nice, even for being so old.

wood and flowers

Thursday, March 13, 2008:
I feel like my jovial attitude helped pull off today's combination - it was either that, or this new combination actually worked on it's own. After the last couple weeks, I think it was the ether my brain was running on that made it all ok. Today's selection was a Ted Baker I bought at Nordstrom when I was on a shopping trip with my friend Natale. I remember being slightly confounded by the salesman who directed me to the Ted Bakers, and that's where I was headed anyway. Ok, it wasn't a funny story or even an interesting one, it was just a story. The tie is a light turquoise with light blue flowers outlined in brown in an overgrown mess. It's more of a stretch, I guess, in the design column, especially when paired with my brown herringbone suit. It easily goes with a tan, khaki, or gray suit, but I hope my cheerful nature made up for it.

tiny dots

Thursday, March 6, 2008:
I continued my excursion of mixing up the tones I would normally select with other options. I wore my herringbone suit with a blue shirt with a navy tie silk with tiny green dots. Yesterday I chose a suit/tie combination with a cooler tone and I wasn't truly happy with it. Today I worked with the same theory but I think I chose a little wiser of a combination and I felt better about it. It's funny how you can feel uncomfortable in a combination that you feel doesn't work. Yes, I know, my girlside is showing.

Brown tie on Tuesday

Tuesday, January 22, 2008:
Today I was in a pinch to grab a tie, but I wanted to wear navy. Also, I wanted try to reach back and pull out something I haven't worn in a long time, which by the way is a huge part of this journey. What is not part of this journey, well, not necessarily anyway, is that I will throw these ties away. Maybe, just maybe, I find that the luster has faded from a certain one, or that another no longer snaps into a perfect dimple, I will then, perhaps, find a nice shady spot in the back garden and place it to rest. Ok, having said that, today I paired a simple light blue shirt (I have a lot of those) with a brown tie with crosses of dark blue and light blue. It's Tassa Elba, which I think is Macy's top end brand, and I got it soon after I first moved here. I think it was my first trip to Macy's and I was unescorted. . . that day I also bought an orange tie and a striped shirt combination (which wins all the time). Needless to say this is one of those ties which is a little complex and therefore finds its way into the back, but it turns out a simple blue shirt and a navy suit brings it to the front again. Three years later. . .