Tonal layering with black jeans: Comfy, drapey, easy

This outfit I wore last week really tickled me - I think primarily for its combination of T-shirt and tailoring.

Working the two together in some way (as in this, perhaps Summer equivalent) is often an effective way to achieve the ‘casual chic’ style we’ve talked about a bit.

It’s also a style I think a lot of guys can explore that want to dress up in an office where no one wears tailoring; and it’s one of three styles that I find now define how I dress: tailoring for smarter occasions, casual chic for the middle, jeans/Ivy for the weekend.

The last context is our idea of a ‘cold colour’ or muted, tonal wardrobe. This outfit adds two suggestions there: the idea that black jeans can work well - in much the way as white jeans - and the effectiveness of taupe alongside black.

OK, let’s try and put that casual-chic idea a different way - a more emotional one.

The outfit just feels great. It feels relaxed, but elegant. It looks dressed up, but incredibly easy to wear, to live and work in.

You’re basically just wearing a T-shirt and jeans, with easy loafers. There’s a cardigan around the shoulders that’s as comfortable as a dressing gown (well, maybe one of those short smoking-jacket ones), and then an outer layer draped over the top. It’s all soft and flowy.

You could wrap yourself up simply if it gets cold, by buttoning the coat and popping the collar. Or you could fasten the cardigan and flip its collar too, to coddle the neck. There are no scarves, gloves or other accessories. It’s so clean.

Of course, much of the pleasure of menswear is in accessories. I’m not dissing accessories. But there is something very lovely about carrying the bare minimum - particularly when I have, perhaps, humped two bags of clothes into town the previous day.

Ok, let’s get back to some details. How is it executed?

A reader writing in our recent Awards recommended a video series by womenswear stylist Alyssa Beltempo. I’ve been watching a few and love how much women analyse clothes. Men often admire how women look effortlessly stylish, but there’s usually a lot of effort going on below the surface. Like a swan.

Let’s try and break down these details using some of her keywords.

Colour
- Our cold, tonal wardrobe hinges on using muted colours alongside the greyscale (black, grey, white). So the white tee and black jeans need the colour of the taupe coat and the cordovan loafers.
- The shade of those colours is crucial; a warmer, yellower taupe or a stronger, richer burgundy would kill it.
Proportion, silhouette
- The fact the T-shirt is tucked in is key: if it was tucked out, the style would be much more slouchy. It also slices the outfit in two - a top and a bottom - and emphasises the waist.
- The belt accentuates that, creating a focal point and some visual interest.
- The proportions are well balanced. The jeans are not skinny, but neither are they vintage big-boy chinos. It matches the coat, which is roomy but not oversized.
Mood
- Those womenswear stylists use terms like ‘playful’ and ‘sexy’. Men are often more comfortable with plainer language: subtle, smart. They’re often trying to describe the same thing: how the outfit feels to the person wearing it and to people seeing it.
- To me, this feels relaxed because the clothes are relaxed, draped. Even when the coat is buttoned, there's volume in the chest and the back.
- They feel relaxed because they feel comfortable: they’re largely soft, textured fabrics.
- And the textures and the colours are subdued; nothing is hard or bright or shiny.

That was nice. I felt relaxed just writing it.

Other noteworthy things are the collar being down - this is something we’ve touched in recent articles. Great as a popped collar is, with a scarf or shawl running underneath I also love the clean look of it down.

We all know how flattering shawl-collar cardigans can be, and how much they enhance a T-shirt. Their usual downside is they’re bulky under outerwear - a relatively fine one like this is a nice way to wear it more widely.

And then there are the black jeans: from Bryceland’s, reviewed last week. Although not the dark grey of most washed black denim, I’m finding them surprisingly versatile. Specifically:

They work with black shoes, brown-suede ones and color-8 cordovan. That’s as versatile as most trousers. Other blacks, such as cord or linen, can struggle with brown suede
On top they’re great with tonal colours (white, cream, grey), with muted/dark ones (taupe, beige, dark olive, dark brown), with pale pinks and yellows, and OK with navy. Again a wide range
Despite the popularity of black jeans among women, they remain relatively unusual on men. So they're a nice alternative to indigo or mid-blue, and not as stark as white.

Below is a (very similar) outfit from the jeans review. With both of them, I find it enormously satisfying that they’re so simple yet look (to me) elegant and distinctive.

With this non-coat outfit my attention goes to the balance between the fit of the jeans - slim but comfortable, a flattering rise - the fit of the Rubato knit - shorter, bigger, tapered - and the little touches of colour that stop it all being monochrome - the colour 8 loafer, rather than black, the navy bandana.

Here’s hoping my feelings have come across clearly and accurately. I’ve certainly taken enough different swings at it.