Mix Those Textures

Now that it’s autumn in the northern hemisphere, and the temperatures have dropped a bit, I’ve been bringing out heavier weight clothes—the flannel trousers, winter weight sport coats and wool ties.

After a summer that was often too hot to even muster a sport coat, not only is it nice to be able to put on a jacket without immediately sweating, but the specific textures of fall and winter are a pleasure to be reacquainted with.

Flannel, tweed, ancient madder, cashmere, Shetland, and I’d include oxford cloth, which is often too warm for me in the summer (at least the oxford shirts I have; I know there are lightweight weaves that work in the summertime). Nothing pairs better than a tweed jacket, oxford shirt, flannel trousers, a cashmere knit tie all with suede shoes.

Or does it? In fact, I prefer not to put together all those textures all at once. I find that when I do, I feel extra bulky—a little too fuzzy. Instead of an oxford shirt, I’ll wear a broadcloth shirt. That actually helps make the other textures shine all the more, providing a sort of simple backdrop for them to be even more appreciable.

The same goes for shoes. While I wear suede shoes most of the time, particularly with blue or white denim, I find that if I’m wearing flannel trousers and a fuzzy sport coat, there’s too much softness going on. Instead, I’ll sometimes put on calf leather shoes. It balances out the fuzzy textures, same as a broadcloth shirt under a tweed jacket.

In my mind, this is akin to exercising restraint in wearing accessories, or patterns, or layers. Just as the old Chanel adage to put every accessory you want to wear on, then remove one item is a useful rule of thumb, thinking of textures in the same way can make your fits more balanced.

My outfit yesterday is an example of me doing this. It’s a faux-tweed jacket that’s actually quite soft as it’s got 10% cashmere, worn with an ancient madder tie and flannel trousers. So I balanced those fuzzy, soft, and chalky textures with smooth broadcloth in the shirt and calf leather for the shoes.

While it’s outfits of excess—loud patterns all combined, or tons of accessories, or extreme tweed combinations—that tend to get the likes and pins, in real life I believe your style should be noticeable for its good proportions, flattering fit, and tasteful combinations of pattern, texture and color. That’s not to say it must be boring. But as my grandpa the upholsterer and interior designer would say, if everything stands out, nothing stands out.

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Navy textured wool blazer