Brown Is A Great Colour. Just Sayin'

Summer's gone and Autumn has fallen upon us. Our wardrobe is most often inspired by the seasons' colours. You look around and you see trees everywhere turn orange, red, brown and yellow.  Now is a good time to bring out your earth-tone garments/accessories and wrap yourself up in mother nature's warm cozy palette.

Let me introduce to you the brown suit. Brown is often overlooked as a suit colour and it doesn't seem to be as desirable as its navy, grey or black counterpart. There seems to be a stigma behind the brown suit: It looks dated and is only for mature people.

Okay, brown is sort of an old-person colour. I'm guilty of thinking like that. I personally don't wear a lot of browns because it makes me look more mature than my real age.  I just don't wear the hue well.

BUT, if you happen to be the kind of person who loves brown and wears it well, consider yourself lucky because you've got one more colour than all the rest of us to wear! Take my brother-in-law for example. I think he wears a brown suit REALLY well (um, yah, I indirectly called him old but he looks good, so it's all good!):

He wears his rich brown suit (made with love by Balsam Tailors!) with an airy baby blue shirt that has a white collar and finishes the ensemble off with a light grey tie. I imagine a good analogy for that is having a cup of rich authentic Belgium hot chocolate and adding a dollop of whipped airy fresh cream to it . Mmm... Cold-weather cravings. ;)

Here's another way to wear the same suit pants. I made him put on a royal blue Mandarin collar shirt that really compliments the brown pants and cognac boots. Yes, I MADE him do it. And I also MADE him put on my really cool tribal pattern scarf with tons of bright fall colours in it to complete the Fall look.

Not only did I MAKE him put on the clothes I wanted him to put on, but I also MADE him pose for me like this:

In the end, he MADE me leave his house. Haha.. 

Jokes! He's truly an awesome man for letting me dress him up and photograph him. :)

Tuxedos Aren't Just For Fancy Galas And Weddings

A lot of people often think a tuxedo is reserved for very special occasions. That used to be the case. A very long time ago. 

Nowadays, people are more at liberty to express themselves in however they want to dress. Also-- getting multiple uses out of their high-quality garments is a preferred choice for many young folks out there, especially with all the fast-food clothing stores that sell cheaply made tops and pants that exhibit poor construction and fabric quality that fall apart quickly, which in turn ends up costing the buyers more money in the long run if they need to replace those items.

Take this blue tuxedo for example:  

If the jacket and pants are worn together, it's pretty clear that this IS a formal tuxedo.

 

But if you take the jacket and pair it up with a casual pant, the overall feel of the outfit becomes a hip street-wearable ensemble.

If you want to wear the tuxedo pant (pictured above are the same pants in the first picture) on its own, that's perfectly fine too. It just looks like a pair of regular dress pants. Here's a tip: If you want to be able to wear the tuxedo pants as a pair of normal dress pants, make sure to order a pair without the satin trim down the sides of your legs. 

So as you can see here, our model pictured above, Sam, is sporting a pair of tuxedo pants that doesn't really look like tuxedo pants anymore. How versatile is that? :)

Need A First Custom Suit? Come On In. Matthew Did!

Matthew walked in with a kind of smiley shyness to him, asking for a custom suit that he'd be wearing to his sister's wedding. I don't blame him. It's his first custom suit. Many people are unsure what to expect when they walk into our store. They feel a little intimidated or even overwhelmed by the whole suit-making process. 

It's really quite simple: Think of us as your friend and we're just here to help by giving you professional and stylish advice! There's no right or wrong. Style is a very personal thing. If you feel a little lost, we're happy to offer some suggestions. And if you know what you want, we'll help make your ideas into reality.

Together, Matthew and I, picked a dark grey wool suit that could easily be worn again for other occasions or even to work. A dark grey solid suit is a great base to build upon. You can start off with a more conservative look by pairing it with a shirt that has a subdued colour or pattern. If you choose to take it up a notch, you can finish the suit off with brighter colours and wilder patterns, topping everything off with lavish male accessories like tie-clips and cuff links!