Style Scenario: Color Blocking for the Dog Days

What are you going to wear? Sometimes it’s good to look at a few suggestions then add your own tweaks and ideas. That’s what these are for. If you think winter can be drab, the dog-days of summer can get there too. All this khaki and white and light gray. So let’s inject some bold, solid colors into the mix. Keep it light and breathable though. It’s hot out there.

The Sportcoat: Spier and Mackay Washed Cotton Green Sportcoat – $149 ($198). Crisp. Some softness to the fabric. Nice and light. Totally unstructured and unlined, but not wimpy or fly-away. Good for year round use. They break in terrific too as they start to mold to the wearer’s body. Looks a little more true-olive in person, with a bit less yellow “in” the green. Size shown at the top of the post is an unaltered 40R contemporary fit on 5’10” 190 lbs. If they don’t have your size? You can always go Suitsupply. But those cost quite a bit more.

The Sunglasses: Kent Wang Browline Sunglasses – $55. Kent Wang specializes in bang for the buck. Also available in black if that’s more your thing.

The Shirt: Banana Republic Slim-Fit Tech-Stretch Cotton Shirt – $49 ($89.50). A cotton/tech-blend made to help keep you cool. Button down collar keeps those points in line even on the most sweltering of days.

The Pants: Banana Republic Aiden Slim Fit Core Temp Chino in Navy – $50ish ($98). Bold blocks of color, but nothing crazy. We’re not wearing aubergine and salmon here. The grand champ of tech pants. Full list of our top 10 tech pants can be found here.

The Watch: Timex Mens Todd Snyder Black Jack 40mm – $64.99. More boldness, without going over the top. Nice price too. But really, this isn’t a hard one. A diver on a NATO works great here too. As does many a dress watch.

The Belt: GAP Basic Leather Belt in Brown – $30ish. Thought about throwing something new in here for the heck of it… but then I’d be doing something purely for the heck of it.

The Socks: Smartwool Desmond Crew Socks – $16.99 ($21.95). Fun dots, but they’re low contrast against the rest of the sock. So, subtle. Subtle fun. Like a shy clown. THOSE are the ones to look out for.

The Shoes: Allen Edmonds Howard Suede Derby Sneaker – $129.97 ($245). Shown at the top of the post are the long gone Banana Republic Tully sneaker chelseas. But really, any gray suede sneakers here will do. Or, gray suede chukkas, or true chelsea boots, or… heck, even some gray knit sneakers would look good here. It should all work.