A closer look at individual elegance: at first glance, this would appear to be a simple combination of slacks, a dress shirt and a sweater in a simple black, white and grey color pallet, heavily inspired by Bond’s outfit worn in Skyfall. However, upon closer inspection the components of self-expression within the simplistic and familiar mold reveal themselves.

The Shirt:
First, the shirt. Zooming in we can see that this is not your typical white poplin dress shirt. Instead, it is an Oxford cloth, characterized by a more sporty, less formal textural weave. One does not need loud patterns to make a statement, and it is often more impactful to require closer inspection to reveal one’s personal touches rather than screaming them out loud.

The Sweater:
Moving on to the sweater, we have a very light cotton example. While wool would have worked just as well, a cotton sweater also brings down the formality of the ensemble visually via both the texture and the drape of the fabric, as the neck more easily gives way to the stiffness of the collar, creating a unique framing of my face.

The Bag:
Moving down to the carrier in hand, we have a canvas and leather construction. The leather accents tie into the color of the shoes, while the canvas construction brings down the overall formality; to balance out that drop, I removed the strap to bring out its briefcase aesthetics.

The Shoes:
Bottoming out with the shoes, we actually have boots. Chosen in brown instead of black to once again decrease the formality of the outfit, chukkas themselves are a great way to make an outfit less formal, while the sleekness of the leather here keep in tone with the innate dressiness of the overall look.

The Extras:
The remaining pieces of pants and sunglasses are kept simple and classic, with the watch being the only misgiving. A dive watch can certainly work with this outfit, but on a rubber strap, it comes off as just too informal. A metal bracelet is far more versatile and would work much better here, but I don’t have the metal bracelet for this watch…yet 😎

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Thank you for reading!