Thu, December 18, 2008
When it comes to menswear, the most heinous of festive faux pas is of course the yuletide knitwear seen on Colin Firth in Bridget Jones's Diary. If there were ever a case for using a body double for a clothed, rather than a nude, cinema sequence then this was it. Seldom has a more humiliating costume been inflicted upon an actor.
It is a powerful warning as to the perils facing men when dressing for Christmas. I find that it helps to think of the weeks around Christmas and the New Year as a sartorial marathon. To spend your whole year dressing soberly and with restraint only to lurch violently into polychromatic Christmas themed party-clothes for the closing weeks of the year is a little like being a couch potato until the day before the London marathon and then hoping to win, or even finish, without a heart attack.
First of all, anything featuring reindeer, Santa Claus, sleighs, snowmen, holly, ivy, mistletoe, coaching scenes or partridges in pear trees should be left to greetings card manufacturers. If you have to allude to the feast of the birth of our Saviour in your wardrobe, do so subtly with rich textured fabrics. A silk and cashmere scarf, such as the ones at Dunhill (£115, 0845 458 0779), adds a touch of dramatic elegance. While a silk pocket handkerchief from Parisian Chemisier Charvet (not matching the tie or the shirt, but complementing them; £49, 020 7439 2510) is a good way to spruce up a dark suit.
If something a little more dressy is required, then a velvet jacket in navy blue or black (Ralph Lauren currently has a very tasty single-breasted single-button example for £750, 020 7535 4600) will carry one through most seasonal occasions with aplomb. Pair it with a cream or bone-coloured silk shirt from Emma Willis (£190, 020 7930 9980), who has been experimenting with tone-on-tone silk and cotton shirts that have the luxurious handle of a dress shirt with the practicality of a cotton. You could say it is a credit crunch beater, as you can wash it at home rather than taking it to the dry cleaners.
The beauty of the velvet jacket and cream shirt combo is that it can be dressed down with jeans or serve as a dinner jacket if required, although the usual happy medium involves velvet slippers, dark wool trousers and no bow tie. "This is known as Gloucestershire Half Change," explains Emma Willis. "My father is very keen on Gloucestershire Half Change."
But the key thing to bear in mind is that, rather like dogs, party clothes are for life, not just for Christmas. "Anything that looks like it has been brought out once a year is a real turn off," says And a Rowland, proprietress of tailor Anderson and Sheppard. "It is like men who bring out their shooting suits in pristine condition: it just doesn't look right.
"Just by upping the texture and using subtle contrasts, men can achieve so much more. It is much better to play with the accessories: a richly coloured pocket handkerchief or a pair of vintage gem set cufflinks from the 1920s and 1930s are much more elegant than a themed tie or an overdose of red and green.
"Only someone like my friend Ozwald Boateng can carry off a tangerine coloured corduroy suit (tangerines, of course, being
a festive fruit), which he wore the other day when he was filming for a BBC documentary," Rowland adds.
"He looked wonderful, but I can't imagine many others being able to wear it anything like as well."
I suppose Colin Firth should be grateful that the costume designer of Bridget Jones's Diary didn't think along these lines.
(telegraph.co.uk)
