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Affordable Men's Style

orange small doses header

The Suggestion: Orange in small doses.

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Above:  Old Navy Wool Blend Blazer, Banana Republic Merino V-Neck, Express 1MX.

Orange gets no respect.  No one drives an Orange car (there are exceptions.)  Red heads get picked on.  And the Burnt Sienna Crayon always went unused in the box of Crayolas.

The key is moderation.  If you’ll be covering a good chunk of your body in this color, stay away from true, Syracuse-style-orange, and stick with colors that are more copper or rust.  If you want something as bright as a bag of carrots, limit its use by way of accessories, clothes you’ll layer over, or sub colors in patterns.  Still not a believer?  Examples follow.  Just don’t wear these all at once or you’ll sprain an optic nerve.

 

The Sweater:  Banana Republic Merino V-Neck – $44.62 w/ BRBOOST ($59.50)
Want white? Skip the tee and stick with a button up.

One of the best V-necks out there.  BR is perpetually on sale, but their Merino V-necks are honestly worth full price (just don’t tell them.)  Wait for a code of course.  25% off is good.  30% off is usually worth jumping on.  The collars on these don’t dip super deep like their silk/cotton/cashmeres.  Slightly fitted.  Could be tighter, but if you’ve got a little around the middle, then you’ll be happy.  Perfect under a black moleskin, blue wool or cotton, or grey tweed blazer.  25% off code BRBOOST expires 1/31.

 

The Tie: Thomas Pink Made in Italy Silk Knit Tie – $59.00 ($105)
Not too collegiate looking.

Still a splurge ($59 for a tie is pricey for most of us) but made in Italy and the silk knit is something that can work year round.  Notice that even though it’s a minor piece, like a tie, the dominant color isn’t orange.  Wear it with a medium to lighter grey suit.  Extra points if it’s flannel.

 

The Pants:  L.L. Bean Signature Bean’s Canvas Cloth Pant – $69.00
A real unique color.

Expensive, but the perfect blend of not too baggy and not too slim.  Leaning more towards roomy, but if you’ve got bigger legs, then you’ll appreciate the extra room in the thighs.  Straight legs.  Great darker orange color.  Ships free and plenty sturdy.  Hang out for a 15% off (or even 20% off) code and you could end up real happy.  (Want a much trimmer fit?  Go with Rugby’s Vintage University Chino.  The color is more of a true orange, but they cost just under $40.)

 

The Dopp Kit:  Marc New York Canvas Dopp Kit – $19.97 ($59.50)
It'll stand out in your dimly lit bag.

Hard to get more subtle than a bag that’s inside of a bigger bag most of the time.  Tough to find in this color, but the Marc New York Canvas Dopp Kit is a combination of waxed canvas and leather trim.  That’ll do.

 

The Socks:  Gap Thick Stripe Socks – $7.50
Keep the rest of the outfit toned down.

They’re like Target’s Merona socks.  Only a few bucks more expensive.  Don’t pay full price.  Wait for a sale.  And even then, maybe wait until you need something to tip you over the $50 free shipping threshold for another item.

 

The Watch:  Seiko Orange Monster – $170 – $200
Underwater visibility = priority

A favorite of the dive watch / affordable automatic crowd.  Beastly in it’s proportions without getting too big across the dial.  Rubber band, nice thick bezel, and the orange dial sets it all off.  Image credit: Daystar.

 

The Shoes:  Hawkings McGill Wingtip Boots – $54.99 ($88)
Cognac leaning orange. Still plenty of brown tones.

Deceptively good looking for the price.  Hell, GQ even featured them in a slideshow (not sure if the photog/editors knew how cheap they are before they snapped the shots.)  They’ve held up extremely well for me with one exception.  The toes scratch up easily, but a bit of colored shoe creme will hide that damage.  A steal for the price.  Jeans.  Awfully good with jeans.  Ships free since U.O. gets it to you at $50.  Full review here.

 

The Bag: ASOS Canvas Barrel Bag – $31.33 ($62.67)
Hard to miss. Not the best for carrying large amounts of unmarked bills.

Cheap.  Real cheap.  And at 23×16.5×13.4 it’s got some good size to it too.  Big enough for the gym and then some.

Do you stay far away from orange?  Should anything be added to the list?  Leave it below…

Comments

  3. I’ve been looking for an orange canvas belt for months.

    UO had one but I’m looking for something a little nicer.

  4. Watch is on my wish list. And I am checking those shoes out right now at that price! Did yours fit true to size?

  5. This is fairly off-topic, but I just don’t understand the appeal of knit ties (especially with square bottoms) like the one pictured above. Silk, wool, soft cotton, all wonderful looks and materials in my opinion.

    Knit ties, on the other hand; seem ugly, cheap and dated.

  6. Man this is a great post. Orange is like the red-headed step child of the color family. Litterally. But I’ve got the sweater and have been seriously looking at those boots since the last post about them. Any comments about them?

  7. I love orange. Looks amazing under my chocolate brown cord blazer. I think you have to be the right coloring for it. I don’t think it would work with pale skin, but it looks great with my brown / olive complexion. 

  8. I feel more comfortable wearing an orange-toned shirt or sweater versus pants. The pants border on a solid color GTH, which I would be happy to wear once, but they’d have to be cheep cheep.

    The orange bag is a great idea – easy to find at the airport carousel in a sea of black body bags.

  11. Orange is one of my favorite colors. The perfect accent for the cool blues, greys, and browns that I prefer to wear as a blond guy. It goes great with olive green, too.

  15. Good post.  I like orange but never own any.  I live in SEC country, so wearing orange would associate me with Auburn or Tennessee.  I can’t let that happen.  Don’t judge.  That’s just how it is.

  17. Go-to-hell pants are legit awesome. You just can’t wear them every day or you risk becoming “that guy” who wears pink chinos all the time.

  19. I’m with you on this. I went to a Catholic high school in the late 1970s and many of the guys used to wear them with a plaid Western-style shirt to comply with the dress code, and I think that somehow turned me off them. But then, being somewhat older, I tend to dislike whatever is loved by the 20-something style bloggers (see also: selvedge denim, sport coats with patch pockets that are way too short, double monks, etc.)

  20. They did for me, yes.  I usually wear a 10.5, and I got them in a 10.5.  Had a couple other guys in a different post ask for an update on how they’re holding up.  Plan is to do that either late this week or next week.

  21. I have two burnt orange cable knit sweaters that I don’t wear anymore, but only because they’re both worn out. They’ve gotten a lot of use, and have received a lot of compliments over the years. That being said, I’m not clamoring to replace them any time soon. It’s really a fall color to me and with spring coming up, I can hold off for a while.

  22. The Banana Republic merino sweaters are not the best quality. I had a small hole in mine after 2 or 3 weeks. For the price it’s OK if it lasts but it’s not a great quality of wool either. Cheapest merino you can buy.

  23. I get many compliments on my orange cashmere scarf.  I also put bright orange laces on some tan suede oxfords, and they go over pretty well too – I just have to wear subtle socks with them.

  24. As a red headed man, orange is on the permanent do-not-wear-ever list. Well maybe a bag or some socks…

  26. Ha!  I wondered when someone was going to bring up UT.  I live in Austin, lots and lots of “burnt orange” clothing around here.

  27. Is this from last season’s sweaters?

    I have two BR “extra-fine merino” sweaters from nearly 3 seasons ago that are holding up perfectly. They are my favorites.

    I have Gap merino sweaters and you can definitely tell the difference.

  28. Gotta disagree.  I’ve had my orange (top pic) for awhile now and it’s holding up great.  Same goes for a camel colored one from last year.

    Now GAP’s tissue thin merino wool sweaters from this season… not so sure about those.  I don’t think they’ve been selling those since the start of the fall though.

  29. I agree with you on the selvedge denim, knit ties, and short jackets.  Even though I’m a 20-something myself, I fail to see the appeal in any of those things.  Besides, what’s so wrong with a normal tie anyway?

  32. BTW, Banana Republic Merino V-neck sweaters are 12 DOLLARS in store right now during their season clearance in the San Francisco Bay Area!

  34. I kind of wish I could wear orange, honestly. It’s a nice autumn color that adds just a little more variety. But someone would kill me if I were to wear it.

    Fun fact: I accidentally wore an orange T-shirt in my student ID picture.

  36. Bought it at an outlet in December. Could be the outlets have inferior quality. Would not surprise me. Good to hear others have had better experiences.

  39. I really do NOT recommend the sweater.  I bought three of them and they pill unbelievably quickly.  I bought some Nordstrom brand merino wool v-necks on sale last year and I don’t remember them pilling at all during the season.  The BR ones pilled within the first 3-4 wears.

  40. I love Orange. I also find it is a color that gets better the more beaten up and weathered it gets.