How To Tie A Scarf

A scarf tied with aplomb adds style and warmth to your winter wardrobe. A scarf, in its basic sense, works because it surrounds and protects your neck and keeps cold drafts of air from spiraling down your collar, leaving you susceptible to catching a chill.

Once you know how to tie a scarf around your neck in different knots, you can leave that parka you shuffle around in at home and actually begin wearing the stylish men's winter coats you’ve been reading about. So here’s our guide on how to pull it off, as well as our suggestions of the best jackets to rock each knot with.

Parisian Knot




The Parisian is the most popular knot. Here’s how to tie a scarf in a Parisian knot: Take the scarf in both hands and fold it over lengthwise; drape it around your neck; insert the loose ends through the loop hanging in front of you and pull them through. You can play with the tautness of the knot and the thickness of the scarf by doubling the scarf lengthwise, if you wish. This knot looks great on a short leather jacket with a notch collar left down. On a very cold day, you can tuck the scarf into the jacket and pull the zipper up.

Once-Around Knot



The once-around knot is your entry-level knot for all those brisk days when you need a little extra comfort but don’t want to go with complete arctic readiness. Most men will use this knot for a quick commute to work or an evening out with a fitted blazer. The point of this knot is casual warmth. To learn how to tie a scarf in a once-around knot, drape the scarf around your neck allowing one end to be longer than the other. Take the long end and bring it around your neck and let it fall over your chest. If you have a long neck, overlap the scarf in back just a bit so that most of your neck between the jacket and the base of your skull is covered.

Loose Once-Around Knot




The loose once-around knot is more about fashion and having the scarf with you “just in case.” Pair the scarf with a duffle coat or any hooded snorkel jacket for a rakish look of adventurism. When it comes to knowing how to tie a scarf in a loose once-around knot, the same rules apply as the regular once-around knot: Drape it loosely as though you haven’t the time to finish the job right.

Twice-Around Knot


The twice-around knot challenges the Parisian as your go-to knot on those cold days. In fact, if you like the Parisian knot, you might change up your look with the twice-around just for fun without sacrificing warmth. Unlike the Parisian, however, you’ll require less of a collar on your jacket because this knot takes up a lot of room. Here’s how to tie a scarf in a twice-around knot: Begin as you would with the once-around with both ends hanging in front of you, but make sure one is significantly longer than the other. Take the much longer end and circle it around your neck twice; do this without making the knot too tight. Getting the lengths of the ends to match up or come out relatively close will take a bit of practice, but a knot like this will make all the difference on a cold day. This one is perfect for crew necks and Mandarin-style collars on a short leather jacket (and is easily tucked into the jacket for extra warmth).

bundle up

Every man has that moment in the morning when he must decide how he will face the elements. Do you wear what you really want and suffer or do you go with the urban version of a survival suit -- the ski parka? With a scarf, however, your winter wardrobe expands and becomes adaptable to the changing weather, all while helping you face the frigid elements in style.

Article By Michael A. Lubarsky

How to take care of your suits

Almost everyone wears a suit some time in their life. It’s easy to purchase a suit, but salespeople rarely tell you how to care for a suit and may not know how themselves. If you care for a suit properly, it should last many years and maybe even a lifetime



• 1 Hang up your suit after every wearing on wooden hangers to retain the shoulder shape. Keep it separated from your other clothes so it can air out.

• 2 Brush your suit off with a suit brush after wearing to remove hair or lint. You can purchase a brush at a men’s clothing store.

• 3 Steam your suit after wearing, if needed. A steamer will remove wrinkles without ironing.

• 4 Clean your suit only if really needed—when it’s stained or soiled. You should clean it only a few times a year. Cleaning can cause it to lose shape.

• 5 Have your suits wet-cleaned rather than dry-cleaned if possible. Wet-cleaning doesn’t use dangerous chemicals and helps retain the shape of your suit.

• 6 Remove the plastic covering after bringing your suit home from the cleaners. Plastic gives off fumes which can weaken the suit’s fibers over time.

• 7 Store your suit in a garment bag, which can be purchased at a men’s store. Make sure the bag is ventilated or your suit could get moldy.

By Lisa Weinstein

Take Your Wardrobe From Campus To Workplace

General tips

Your wardrobe will depend on your workplace's dress code. Some places are casual, some are quite formal. Ask around, do some research and check out what your potential coworkers are wearing.

Get your suits tailored and seek out pants and shirts in a standard fit (not too tight and definitely not loose). Baggy clothes are for boys, not men.

Work with your body type, and make the effort to flatter your positive traits and disguise your flaws.

Avoid shirts with logos (no button-downs with garish Abercrombie insignias!). Go for dark solids and the occasional splash of color (magenta, purple or even pink are favorable).

Groom regularly. Get a haircut every four or five weeks and shave daily (including the area around your neck). It also never hurts to master the fine art of ironing; a pressed shirt has won many men many jobs.

Shop smart. Buy business shirts, pants and shoes at big-chain department stores (even Target has some great items). As long as the clothes look clean and sharp, you're home free. Your coworkers will not notice the brands you're wearing, but they will certainly notice how you're wearing them.
office essentials
Suits
Buy at least two single-breasted, two-piece suits. The two-button look is a longtime business standard, but the three-button look has been making several comebacks.

While a black suit always works, a navy blue one is stylistically a better option, as it'll help you subtly stand out from the professional crowd. Similarly, a dark gray suit (with or without pinstripes) provides a number of shirt-and-tie combos.

As noted above, these are business suits, not suits for going on dates or to formal functions. Don't be afraid to shop at stores like Men's Wearhouse, or even to buy second-hand suits. And don't forget that you can (and often should) get your suits tailored.


Shirts/Sweaters

A basic white business/dress shirt (breast pocket optional) and a light blue dress shirt will keep all your bases covered.

To complement these staples, you should also pick up a brown, gray, blue, or beige sweater. For less casual offices environs, these pullovers look great over ties and dress shirts.


Pants

Separate dress pants will give you more potential combinations with different colored dress shirts, ties and blazers. Dark gray, black or brown dress pants and a pair of khakis (no cargo pockets, please) will keep you covered.

To the untrained eye, most dress pants look the same. Khakis can be a bit less forgiving, however, so find a pair that you're comfortable with. Pleats aren't for everyone, nor are cuffs, so be sure to try on your pants before purchasing. You should even try on your pants with the shoes you plan on wearing them with, to see how they hang (especially if they need hemming).

The blazers, shoes, belts, and workbag you'll need to look like a real pro.

Blazers

If you've already picked up a couple of suits, you probably only need one blazer.

As always, stick to browns, grays, blacks, and navys. Avoid fabrics like corduroy and velvet, as well as tweed patterns. While such jackets are cool and trendy, they can be a tad too informal for the traditional office -- only wear them if you work in a less formal industry.

Brown blazers go nicely with khakis, brown shoes and white shirts; gray and navy blazers go best with dark slacks, dark shoes and a gray, blue or white shirt.

Shoes

One pair should do the job. Avoid slip-ons and embrace laces; the latter are a safer bet sartorially. Black shoes go best with dark suits and dark pants. Brown shoes match earth-toned blazers and khakis. Take the necessary care to keep your shoes shiny and replace your laces regularly.
professional accessories
Socks & Undershirts
Always wear white undershirts with your dress shirts.

V-neck tees are okay for guys without ample chest hair. Tank tops are a classic choice, but they don't provide much warmth in colder weather. Stick to the traditional crewneck undershirt to be safe.

Pattern-less black or brown socks go with black or brown shoes, obviously. Patterned socks are a bit trickier, and should probably only be worn with brown shoes (although there always exceptions to the rule).


Belts

Belts should generally match your shoes, so it's best to have one black belt and one brown belt. Avoid cloth belts, studded belts and any belts with oversized buckles -- they are fashionable choices, but are better suited to weekends and nights out. And remember: The wider and duller the belt's leather, the more casual it is.


Ties

When it comes to business ties, less is more. Pick up three or four 100% silk ties with patterns or solid schemes that match or offset at least one color or shade in your suit, blazer, pants, and shirt, as well as your natural complexion (for example, pale men shouldn't be wearing orange). Finally, a wool necktie in a solid color goes well with the blazer-and-khaki look.


Workbag or Briefcase

The old briefcases your father lugged to work every morning have generally gone the way of the Filofax -- most men carry some kind of laptop bag now. Whether your bag is made from leather, nylon, or has a hard shell, make sure it looks professional and is comfortable for lugging around. Over the shoulder messenger-style bags are a cool and sophisticated option as well.

Dress for success

Ditch those T-shirts and ratty jeans that got you through college, and embrace a more professional look that's always in style and within your budget. However young you may be, if you look the part of a clear-thinking, clean-cut professional, you'll command respect and attention from your coworkers and superiors with the right business wardrobe.

Detail is key

Detail is key

•Do not wear an odd-colored suit; alternately, go for something more neutral and conservative.
•These colors include gray, black, navy blue, and brown. Of course, you can add a different dimension of color to your suit with pinstripes. A great thin pinstripe pattern (sometimes in a bolder color) is what makes a dull, neutral-colored suit classy and interesting.
•Choosing the right shirt and tie is your opportunity to play with color.
•Since your suit is a neutral color, it means that it’ll match with pretty much any shirt color as long as the hues are of the same tone. For example, don’t wear a bright green shirt with your dark, charcoal grey suit; instead opt for soft pink or powder blue.

A suit is a suit

•Do not construct a suit from a sports coat and a pair of pants of the same color.
•A suit is a set of clothing purchased together. If you just stick any old pair of black pants with any old black sports coat, trust me on this: The colors, although technically the same, will never match properly.
•Even if you believe the outfit you’ve created looks okay, anyone savvy about fashion will likely be able to tell you’re not wearing a suit simply because the pieces just don’t go together.
•An easy solution to this problem exists: If you need a suit, buy a suit.

Make sure it fits

•Do not wear a suit that doesn’t fit you properly. Many people may find this point obvious. , and yet I often see men wearing suits that don’t fit.
•If you aren’t tall enough to wear a regular, don't buy a regular -- buy the short. If you gained too much weight for your suit to fit properly, you have to buy a new one.
•Dont be scared to make your suits from tailors. You will be surprised that they don’t charge that much. And the suit will be carefully crafted to fit

Men's Blazers

The word blazer is one of the most incorrectly applied terms in men’s fashion. It is typically used as a general reference to describe almost any suit-type jacket, but a man's “blazer” has a more specific meaning. Both a blazer and a sport coat are casual jackets that are worn on their own rather than as a part of a complete suit. Although used interchangeably, the difference between the two has more to do with their fabrication and styling.

A sport coat is traditionally made with an earthy fabric like tweed or houndstooth with three buttons, flap pockets and sometimes an extra ticket pocket on one side. As the name suggests, a sport coat was once meant to assist in the untimely demise of cute, harmless animals like deer or rabbit in the English countryside. Men's blazers, on the other hand, are made of a sturdier fabric than a suit, yet smoother fabric than a sport jacket.

It is usually thought of as single-breasted, but it can also come in a double-breasted ahoy matey version. Blazers also have patch pockets as opposed to flaps, and in the single-breasted variety, it comes with two metallic buttons for closure.

A DISTINCTIVEman

Wearing a suit, no matter how infrequently your life may require it, always seems to beg the question: Who could be responsible for creating something so torturous? The combination of a trouser, jacket, possibly a vest, and traditionally a suffocating necktie is enough to make you feel like you’re being carted off to an asylum in a straitjacket. Indeed, there are days when it does feel just plain crazy to be forced to wear such an irritating invention. Ironically, men’s suits were created for comfort. They represent a 17th century departure from the elaborate, jewel-adorned formal wear that men traditionally wore during the Victorian Era. In the subsequent Regency Period of the early 1800s, British sartorial sovereign extraordinaire Beau Brummell is credited with establishing a men’s suit with a necktie as the standard for smart dressing.

Since then, the suit has followed a variety of evolutionary paths with many (thankfully) ending in at least near-extinction. The nudie suit, an embroidered, rhinestone-covered creation a la Elvis Presley in his latter Vegas years, is a good example of just how bad a suit can get. While trends change over time, all suits should be considered in terms of the cut, button closure, lapels, and venting of the jacket.

The cut refers to the basic silhouette of the suit. The two primary cuts are double-breasted, where the jacket overlaps when buttoned, and single-breasted, where both sides of the jacket meet at the front. Six buttons are most common for double-breasted suits, and single-breasted suits can come with as few as one button and up to as many as six buttons for zoot suits that were popular during the 1930s and 1940s. Lapels are either notched (pointed at a downward angle), peak (pointed at an upward angle) or shawl (a continuous curve). There are also less common collars such as the Mandarin, which stands up and rose to fame in the eponymous Nehru suit care of India’s prime minister during the 1950s and 1960s. The last major element of a jacket is the vents. They are the slits on the bottom rear of the jacket, and there may be two at each side, one in the center or none at all. Suit trousers are far less complicated, and should simply be considered for their leg width, pleating and cuffs.

The Lowdown On Overcoats

By definition, an overcoat is a heavy coat worn over ordinary clothing in cold weather. The way I see it, an overcoat is the typical winter jacket worn by men over a suit or casual business wear, for work or special occasions.

Scoring a fine looking overcoat can be a nightmare, especially if you don't know what you're looking for. Should you opt for a single or double-breasted overcoat? And what about the type of fabric?

A good tailor can definitely help you answer these questions and more. That's why, if you can afford it, I advise having your overcoat tailor-made. You're always guaranteed a perfect fit and more often than not, you'll get superior fabric rather than that of a similarly priced, ready-made overcoat.

Rest assured however, because in spite of everything, you can still purchase a fine quality overcoat straight off the rack. You'll just have to know where and what to look for.