As much as I am delighted by the summertime sunshine in London; with the heat getting more and more unbearable everyday, I ran into a situation where we all found frustrating during this time of the year -- not being able to wear multiple layers of clothings to accessorize ourselves. This, in fact, made it fairly challenging sometimes to put on an outfit that is rather-breathable yet at the same time elegant.
Taking consideration of such circumstances, I have come up with an outfit that I found quite appealing, and particularly versatile for roaming around different parts of London during the sunny weekends. I here to present you with the latest addition to my collection of City Weekend Look.
Before I describe each part of the outfit and how they compliment each other, I must admit that lately I have become quite attracted to the pairing of panama hats with waistcoats. This style that I put forth is probably inspired by the mixture of Gui Po, Brian Sacawa of the He Spoke Style, and the costumes from the Great Gatsby.
The reason why I liked pairing the hat with waistcoats rather than a blazer or a shirt is because while it is more breathable than wearing a jacket in summer, it is more elegant than just wearing a dress shirt. But this is just my personal preference. On top of that, I would say it is also an act to return to classic menswear I suppose, since the general perception of formalwear is mostly constrained to be two-piece business suits nowadays.
With all that said, let's dive into the details of the outfit without further delay.
For the basics, I have a light-blue cutaway-collar shirt from Boggi Milano matching with a pair of white chinos from Club Monaco. This combination is timeless and extremely versatile so you cannot go wrong with that.
With regards to the collar choice especially; while the cutaway-collar could increase your perceived body width when buttoned up, it could also bring casualness to your outfit when buttoned down as it could show more of your neck when compared to some of the pointier collars.
Now, you could just leave it like that and pair it with the panama hat. For me personally, however, since this is a pair of fedora-style panama hat and has a black band after all; wearing just the shirt and the chinos wouldn't necessarily match the formality of the hat.
Thusly, I decided to elevate the outfit with a teal waistcoat from Paul Smith. What is good about this color is that it is between the blue and the green family on the color spectrum. In other words, while it resonates very well with the light-blue shirt, it could still stand apart since it has some shades of green.
As for the socks, I decided to go with a multi-tone one, with blue and green as the dominant color so it compliments the outfit as well.
For the shoes, I would go for a pair of monk-straps with medallion in light-brown as the overall outfit is rather light and causal. I would suggest you to wear some brown accessories as well as it could balance out the strong blue and green in the upper body. However, if you happen to have a pair of blue leather shoes, I would say this is the right time to throw that in.
This is City Weekend Look #2 for you! Do you like how I match the outfit? Comment down below to share your thoughts! Also, click here to check out part one of the series if you haven't!