Rules For The Well-Dressed Man

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21209, 4 September 1940, Page 4

Rules For The Well-Dressed Man

IS YOUR HUSBAND MINUS CLOTHES SENSE ? I F she has been properly brought up, a married woman gets over the My-George-Right-or-Wrong stage in a reasonably short time. Her next step, if she has any regard for appearances, is to cast upon George the eye of friendly criticism. As the rosy mist that has so far protected him disperses, one of the first things to meet her enquiring glance will naturally be his clothes. Should she find no improvement needed beyond tweaking his tie straight under cover of the morning goodbye kiss, she has been born lucky. For the average young matron life in this respect ds not quite so easy; a few kit-inspections reveal an ingenious aptitude in her man for incorporating “something wrong” in his toilette just on those occasions when she wants to see him well turned out. This is going to give her headaches, and will probably lead to that state of nervous tension in which a normally tactful wife may be tempted into such irritatingly unhelpful remarks as : “What they think of you at the office I don’t know”—“That Mr Brown up the road, he always looks so smart”—“Why can’t you get a nice sports suit like Mr Smith’s?” —and so on. And, perhaps, on and on. Should her man possess his full share of primitive male truculence he will, of course, immediately close ud with oysterish grimness and it will bo quite impossible to do anything with him for a very long time. The more or less civilised male, i.e., the man who is more or less anxious to avoid trouble (and women may be thankful that he is as plentiful as he is), may, on the other hand, decide to make concessions. So a day or so later he appears before her horrified gaze in a new hat that makes him look exactlv like a music-hall comedian’s idea of a Cabinet Minister, or a new shirt and tie that shriek to heaven to be allowed to part, or a snorts rig-out that can only be described as Chaos Come Again. Wife can now do one of three things : Repeat the scream she gave on first seeing Frankenstein’s Monster: burst into helpless giggling; or, taking herself firmly in hand, sit down alone somewhere and analyse the situation as calmlv as she can. The latter move is recommended as being least likely to involve a Deed of Separation. If she has followed this sensible course, her meditations will, with luck, lead her to the reflection that criticism without the accompaniment of good advice is not likely to get her very far. She will have seen that the poor chan could hardly be expected in cold blood to buy things exactly like Mr Brown’s or Mr Smith’s—even the simplest male is apt to shrink from such imitations. She will also have realised that he has done his best to please her and is probably not entirely to blame for the results. Quite properly, she will draw a moral : If her husband can’t choose the right things for himself, she must learn enough about male clothes to be able to advise him. Tip Worth Consideringr The following tips will help any wife who wants attain this not impossible ideal. First, however, an important general principle : The secret of a successful masculine wardrobe is, that it contains nothing decorative, and, however modest it may be. nothing of poor quality. After the foundation has been laid with suits and overcoats of reallv good materials and discreet cut (one good suit or overcoat is literally worth two cheap ones), any adventures in accessories should be confined to colours and patterns that no more than subtly underline such good points as the masculine physique, or an individual male, possess. This rules out all arty or “modernistic” designs, waisted coats, exaggerated shoulders and such-like irregularities. It is a wife’s duty to her own background, as much as to her man’s popularity, to forestall any tendency to the exotic. A genius once discovered that with good hats and shoes a man is always well dressed. We might improve on this dictum by saying that without them he can never hope to be. Although you are rarely, if ever, consulted about these items, there is scope here for active diplomacy. By the way. there are no respectable colours for a man’s hats but grey, brown or black, or for his shoes other than black or brown. If he should be trembling on the verge of buying ties, you will never be wrong in advising him to get striped or spotted patterns in simple combinations of blue, grey and white, or browns. These are essentially masculine, and are also smarter than any other colours. His worst mistakes with shirts will probably arise from deficient colour-sense. Pink, red, yellow and green when combined in shirt patterns produce an effect of publicly exhibited underwear, which shirts are definitely not meant to be. If he wants these colours in his nyiamas, let him have them: the bedroom is their place, and there let them stay. Play for greys, blues, browns and white; small stripes, lines or faint checks.

Coloured handkerchiefs need care. See that he chooses them very gingerly, making only for those that will tone perfectly with his shirts and suits.

Evening kit is considered to be outside your province. But it Is so important that every art and wile at your command should be brought to bear in luring your man to a very good tailor, should he show symptoms of looking elsewhere. “Reasonably priced” dress clothes may put up a show for a while, but before long they may well ruin a party. Wives who have thoroughly absorbed the maxim that masculine beauty is best when least violently adorned, are in a good position to prevent their men appearing as Hollywood harlequins on holiday or sporting occasions. Base your suggestions for holiday wear on the ideal outfit : Light-weight felt hat in silver-grey or brown; sports coat not of many colours; plain white or cream sports-shirt; grey or white worsted or flannel trousers; pullover of modest hue (blue, grey or white is best); ties and silk scarves in cheerful but unalarming colours; sensible shoes for walking and games. This outfit, with the possible addition of a suede golf jacket, will get him through every holiday event in perfect taste, from pre-breakfast tennis to cocktail time. With a dark suit or dinner-jacket for evening, his clothes will be off your mind. What is more important still, on him they will never steal the show from those heavenly frocks of yours !