Sweaters: 3 ways, of the non-freaky variety

I have way more, but these are the solid ones...
for simplicity sake

This time of year is just the worst.  It's been 40 degrees and raining for the last 4 or 5 days.  When it doesn't rain it's windy and it threatens rain.  There's dozens of solutions from staying in and drinking pot after pot of hot coffee to staying in a hot shower all day to burning your furniture for warmth.  But theres only one that lets you interact with society, and that's layering sweaters.  I take you from business to the great outdoors after the jump...

Sweaters are probably my favorite layering piece because they can go anywhere.  Take this otherwise extremely (for me) conservative outfit.  If you're businessing for some less-fancy type of business (i.e. no suits every day) gray pants, a navy jacket and a tie will pretty much always be a safe choice of outfit.  But that's booooooorrrrrrrrring.  So punch it up, a simple, thin wool sweater in a bright color makes this outfit way more of a statement (that statement being "look at me! I'm wearing a sweater!") than just the basic pieces.


Sweaters also have a much more subtle advantage as a layering piece in that they let you take off your jacket without destroying your outfit.  If the sweater fits well it means that you can change up your outfit, add way more color if the sun comes out, or just not feel like you have to wear the jacket all day every day.

just when you're fluffing your
hair (or just posing like a jag)

Of course, they're perfect pieces for much more casual outfits too.  For instance...

Here a bulky cotton sweater is great for the kind of days Portland has been having lately.  The extra bulk means the lighter fabric stays warm, it also helps fill out an outfit with other bulky items in it like my boots and this slightly-too-big harrington jacket.

These Sorels might look a little funny with a slim merino wool sweater, but look killer with a comfy cotton v-neck and chambray shirt (this is, very genuinely, one of my favorite errands outfits).  Plus, if the chambray is orange, it gives you just enough color so you don't want to jump out of a window because of the weather.
Also, you can totally wear a v-neck without a tie, if you wear a colored t-shirt under it.  Then you still get a bit of color at your neck without having to wear a tie.  People won't really notice too much, but they also won't notice a ratty undershirt or profuse (or in my case sparse) chest hair poking out.

Then again, if you want a middle ground, maybe to a dinner party (if you go to those sort of things and heckle non-tie wearers like me and my friends) you can split the difference, just wear a thin cotton-wool with a non-silk tie.





This is totally what I would wear to a dinner party.  Know what I'm saying?  Eat some HAM!

Oh!  And also I'm wearing argyle socks.  And my bucks are getting nicely beat up, like most shoes should.