The Style Councillor - who I always enjoyed reading - criticised me indirectly for trying to limit colour choices. Impeccable Ivy sources assured me that navy, grey, dark greens and maroon were good colours for knitwear. Other sources have led me to believe that a pale blue shirt remains the shirt of choice. Choose the wrong shade of blue and you can end up looking like a hospital orderly. Purple seems to be mostly out. Horace and RS like pink. Anyone for salmon? Peach? Madras - patch or otherwise - defies the rulebook.
You asked for a pair of English made Dessies in UK 8. I'd have offered you one of my pairs, but they are purple.
If trad is to be understood as a subset of Ivy, then pink / salmon seems trad to me, not to mention the squished raspberry pants. The Trad has a post where he talks of an almost salmon pink BB makers OCBD, IIRC. Good writing quality on that blog...
Purple is more Brit, for shirts, or French (jackets, cord pants, shirts, sweaters, you name it). I love it for shirt & socks, would work on a v-neck too.
That's why I didn't even bother Rip.
I either need to dye or sell them.
Was going to add "I can't wear that colour" but then I remembered one of my favourite shirts contains purple. It's a Sero madras with green, pink and some yellow. Never say never eh?
The peach or melon colored oxford was a staple in the 80's. Purple, aka helio, was as well.
I have bits of purple (gingham,bold stripe, and butcher stripe) in the collection. Mercer sent out a sample of peach oxford in the past year.
The whole idea is to use these colors discreetly, not in an overbearing fashion. My favorite combo is a light gray sharkskin suit with one of those striped purple shirts and a black knit tie.
There will be those who will commend you for taking this unusual if bold step. There will be others who assume your policy is "Don't ask. Don't tell."
Last edited by farrago (2010-09-14 09:38:04)
Navy blue, charcoal grey, olive green only for knitwear and jackets/suitings. Blue, blue/white university stripe for shirts, white now unacceptable (JS will not wear white). Khaki and olive drab fine for trousers, jackets (esp.corduroy). Shoes a variation on browns. Black if you insist.
The Exceptions are :
Pink Brooks a fine choice on the right day.
The tie or a scarf can express a non-standard hue on the right day.
Heathery colours on a shetland crew neck on the right day.
That is all.
TM
I also think that the cultural difference between the Mother Ship and The Colonies might play a role. Given our sunnier and hotter climates and seasons, we embrace color in the wardrobe. Clothing designers and retailers are only too happy to cater to this.
I still think maroon and lighter shades of grey work for knitwear. The trick is subtle 'invisibility' - restraint. One is aiming at the opposite effect created by the masses, which is to demonstrate allegience to a 'brand'.
For a while, I was enamoured of the hue of purple that Anglican bishops wear. Then I thought better of it - it is funny enough that a Pinko like myself gets mistaken for a priest (on a dozen of occassions, at least), much less a bishop
Last edited by ParsonOban (2010-09-14 14:41:53)
I can't help wondering if Hunter might not be a possibility.
Ivy colours are generally right for autumn.
Looking forward to bringing out my Brooksgate three-piece tweed whistle.
Funny, wide wale, shit-brown cords with longwings must be the ultimate Ivy geek-wear.
Try them with a really nice heathery Shetland.
I used to have a purple shetland, twenty years ago when cheap shets were everywhere. It was OK.
Purple socks are a nice alternative to navy...
As I said, I don't know the OPH, but isn't that one of its rules: no black, no purple?
That being said, I also got a Madras (a long sleeve) with a bit of purple in the check, it's a Gant I think, to lazy to check... I guess I got some burgundy bordering on purple socks somewhere...
White is a different thing... It's part of the Look definitely...
JS thumbs down is a very personal choice, I guess, and as a personal choice it makes sense, of course... Not sure, but curious if he always rejected white shirts, though... Didn't I see a picture?
Pink is tricky indeed... I really like that rule about "if only on drugs"... that preppy kind of "pink and green" overkill is vile, indeed...
I have a dark green 'Makers' shirt I rather like. An aberration.
A navy BD can look pretty sharp too.
I think I've seen a picture of Jeff G wearing one.
Toffeeman's prescriptive approach raises, for me at least, matching problems. White is better with bottle green.