The "Rules": How I Break Them

When I go back to work on the day after a big snowstorm, I like to dress down a little more than I otherwise would (especially if the storm has kept me home the previous day). I guess it's my way of pretending that I'm sitting around at home drinking cocoa instead of getting back to work, or something. But it does represent the only time I allow myself to break my own rule about what's appropriate to wear to work.

It's not like there's any specific dress code in my office; it's just my own personal code and beliefs. I got to thinking about this a little more the other day when I saw the post over at Put This On about breaking the rules and conventions of style. Since I don't go to work in a suit, or even in what would generally be considered business attire, I don't really have to be concerned with the rules (though I am generally familiar with them, by and large). In my situation, it's more like "what conventions of adult male dress don't apply to me?" or "which ones do I choose not to concern myself with?"

Probably the biggest one of these, at least as far as most men would be concerned, is that I don't wear navy blue. Ever. I just don't like the color, it does nothing for my appearance, and I get by fine without it. (I feel the same way about yellow.) This isn't something that I arrived at overnight, and it's not recent. The last time I can recall owning a navy blazer is when I was a senior in college, some 25 years ago. During the course of that year, I experienced a major shift in my tastes and style in clothing, and I gradually replaced the navy items in my wardrobe with black and, later, dark gray.

I don't miss having navy sweaters or pants or socks; in a situation where a man would typically wear a navy blazer, I would and do substitute a patterned sportcoat, like a herringbone tweed. Not everyone would be okay with this, which is completely understandable; a navy blazer is considered one of the foundation pieces of a man's wardrobe, but it simply doesn't work for me. I don't care much for light blue shirts, either; I have one, but it's an end-on-end fabric so there's a bit of visual texture to it. I like blue just fine, but I prefer my blues to be bright or deep, without approaching navy.

(By the way, denim doesn't count in the "no navy" thing, because it's a combination of dyed and white threads, and because there are so many shades of blue denim.)

I don't especially care for sport jackets with patch pockets either. In certain instances, like on some styles of tweed jackets, they make sense, but I just don't like how they look. Plus there's still the whole Miami Vice thing, one of the blackest marks on our collective male fashion consciousness. One word: espadrilles. Espadrilles. On MEN? I had a girlfriend at the time who thought it was hilarious—she used to taunt me, "Are you sure you don't want some espadrilles?"

Elsewhere in footwear, I have no interest in desert boots, monk straps, wingtips, Bean boots, or tassel loafers. All of these are considered staples, maybe even classics, and all of them are newly returned to popularity, but none of them are shoes I want to wear, mainly for aesthetic reasons. And that's fine, because there are plenty of other shoe styles I do want to wear.

I don't like wearing my jeans cuffed, and I can't stand the high-water look. I see guys wearing it and I think, How could you not know your own pants size? and Aren't your ankles cold? I can't respect anyone whose pants end two inches above his shoes, because I just think he looks like a clown.

My real point is this: what works for me may not work for you, and vice versa. Figure out what works for you, and put aside what doesn't.