Here's the story of Bonnie and Clyde

If you didn’t notice it here, my friend Bizi and I worked on our first (of many hopefully) collaborative photo-shoot. Normally here at Midwest-Dressed I offer simple, foundational style tips to help you get the ball rolling on upgrading your wardrobe. Hopefully now, you can start to see some of my advice in action. And, with summer coming and my schedule clearing considerably, I’ll be able to send a lot of similar content your way. 

The inspiration here was 1967's "Bonnie and Clyde," with a modern twist.

Want to step up your suit game without reinvesting completely? First, find yourself a good tailor. Notice my my pants are tapered, and my figure is slim. Warren’s is boxy. That’s an excess of fabric, not fat, and any good tailor can make your suit cut a lean figure, even if you can’t. 

Another simple step? Throw on a pair of crazy socks. This trend seems to have nearly cemented itself in menswear, which is nice because it allows you to break out from the boring browns and blacks you’re probably pairing with dress shoes. Find something that compliments what you’re wearing (or your date) to tie the look together. 

Socks by Happy Socks, Tie by Public Opinion, Shirt by Calibrate, Shoes by Cole Haan

The same goes for ties. The above tie is linen, and cut a bit slimmer (which kind of goes against the spirit of the point collar, dress shirt). Also note, the dark purple and gray pair nicely with the pale purple shirt. There’s no problem with matching colors, as long as you’re not overly matchy by wearing things exactly the same color and shade.

Again, peep below. Silk, purple tie, with a charcoal and white checkered, button-down shirt (which actually has faint, thin purple lines criss-crossing it). You can do a lot with the same color palette if you’re mixing up shades, patterns, textures, etc.   

Tie by Calibrate, Shirt by Gap, Vintage Burberry Hat that was my grandfather's and which I generally don't wear except to theme parties

This time, blue on blue. Shirt by J.Crew, Tie by Clavin Klein

Had to end with a badass pic, or do I sound like a tool saying that about myself? Anyways, simple OCBD, black silk bow tie (although don’t wear a bow tie intentionally untied. More on this later this week). All suits were by Ben Sherman, which I thoroughly recommend. Their pieces are solid quality fabric and construction for the price, and since they’re British based, they’re cut fairly slim. They fit me great off the rack and require only a minimal of tailoring (because all suits require tailoring). 

Shirt by J.Crew, Tie by Bruno Piatelli, Watch by Marc Jacobs, as seen here

Special thanks to Bizi for participating and her wonderful mother for taking pictures/putting up with us for an afternoon. Lord knows I was hungover.

More news as it develops,

MD