What to wear to the dressed up Holiday Party
Whether it’s a company Christmas Party, New Years, or just a bash at your house, over the next past three days you’ll find you’ve found three different (and hopefully useful) suggestions on what to wear to one of the many holiday parties you’re sure to attend.
Location: Nice restaurant, hotel, a decked out private home, etc…
- Alfani RED Subtle Red Checked Shirt – $24.99 (reg. $45)
- TheTieBar Subtle Texture 2.5″ Black Tie – $15
- ESQ by Movado Filmore Watch – $195
- Kenneth Cole Fine Man Oxford – $158.00
- Indochino Ultimate Grey Three Piece – $419.00
All the guys will be in suits. And most likely they’ll all look borderline identical. Black or charcoal suit, white shirt, blue or red tie. It’ll look like a G20 summit minus the Saudi contingent.
It’s not the safest play, but going with a medium gray suit gives you the option to wear not just dark but a solid black tie. Now, if you want to hedge your bets, feel free to skip the red checked shirt and go with a pale blue. You’ll look downright British. The red subtle patterned shirt is unique without being overwhelming.
For the rest of the details, mix a modern silhouette shoe with a traditional Roman numeral watch. The Kenneth Cole “Fine Man” oxford might be a little pointy for the more conservative dresser, but they are one of the few sleek, closed lacing dress shoes you can find for under $175. Too bad the Italian made Kenneth Cole Mister Man is no longer on sale. I want to say those dipped into a similar price range earlier this week. Perfect shape too.
Other shoe options include the Ted Baker Hake (check the stitching on the heel), and CK Gareth 2. If you’ve got any other suggestions for black lace ups that cost less than $175, feel free to leave those in the comments section.
Will brown shoes work with the gray, or would it be necessary to change also the watch/tie?
my two cents here, Brown DEFINATELY works with grey…(i am picturing a pair of dark caramel wingtips with my grey suit and my mouth waters at the thought) pardon the aside. But I would lose the watch (just me, i know you guys are into your accesories, but if its not functional, then its not really needed in the outfit, although I do own a very nice fossil chrono) you can never go wrong with a dark blue tie with the dude in the indochino pic…
@MM & HM: Yep, what HM said… Brown shoes absolutely work with a gray suit. It’s easier if the suit is a medium gray (like the one above.) Check this piece out from our friends over at Primer Magazine. But yeah, a black tie and black leather watch band at that point is going to be a no-go. Switch it up to a Blue tie and a brown watch band and you’re set.
Is tie bar length independent of tie width? That last pic shows the tie bar extending a good deal passed the edge of the tie.
@Joe: Huh… I didn’t even notice that. I’d say yes, and that looks a little goofy. Too skinny of a tie for too wide of a tiebar on Indochino’s part.
What about too wide of a tie with a skinny tie bar? That seems to be acceptable and even very much deliberate in some cases from what I can tell, and I know one of the tie bars I have is definitely shorter than most ties.
Cheers,
Ben
@Joe: That’s a really handsome pair of shoes. Thanks for the link.