There's A Pair In There... How To Match Trousers With Blazers With Bow Ties

When we embarked on the design of our most recent silk that arrived, an art deco styled silk in champagne and beige, I was at a loss as to what on earth it could be paired with. I just felt we needed to experiment with champagne. When I was a kid there was a champagne Mercedes Benz that I used to see driving around my neighbourhood and it was such a lovely old timer, an early 80's saloon that had that very pungent leather smell inside and the last of the wind up windows. Funny that automated windows were a luxury not thirty years ago.

When the silk arrived I named it Domenico after a chap I promised I'd name a bow tie after. When I tied it I was reminded of the fact that I had absolutely no idea what to pair it with. Luckily Michael Ferns, a cloth merchant with Hunt And Winterbotham, stopped past and in the course of conversation we came onto the topic of wool, silk and linen mixes from the Portofino range when he mentioned that the John G. Hardy bunches had some very good bang for your buck cloths for jacketings. The bunch below has one in particular that I like which works well with Domenico. It's the first of the bunch and it's suggested to be paired with a taupe but my advice is to disregard the recommendation from the bunch -  and the fair warning from Mr. Ferns that you can't wear the jacket with the pants or else you will wear the pants out after a week. Disregard it all, because the way I figure it, that Domenico bow tie, a full suit in that sandy window pane check and a white shirt would make such a striking combination as one tramped their way down George Street that you would overlook the fact that your pants were shredded in the crotch by the time you arrived at Circular Quay. When a cloth is 255 grams (8.25 oz) 52% silk, 48% silk it's not right to run it through the paces of a full suit, but by the same time, how often do you think you would wear a suit like that without people telling you that you were 'killing it'. 

By 'killing it' I refer to the fact that when one has a very unique piece it must be worn very sparingly for fear you will be remembered as that guy who is always in 'that' suit. You can go incognito in navy, grey and black, but you can't quite do the same in the wool below.

Either way, there's a pair in there, as a jacket and a bow, as a suit and a bow, as a trouser and a bow. Alas, we've found a home for Domenico.

John G Hardy wool bunch - perfect for our bow tie Domenico. He's sitting at home on the top window pane check in sandy hues. A 52% wool and 48 % silk mix cloth.