Q. You just wrote about going to "Fashion Week," and the same day I heard a story about the new "Men's Fashion Week" and how they will have it every season. I realize that those aren't clothes that real people buy, but I can't imagine how they can even pretend there is a difference between spring and fall clothes. Beyond just trying to sell new expensive fashion to the wealthy, are there any supposed differences you experts insist on in spring vs. fall -- is it blazers?
A. It's true that the industry does want to sell new clothes. However, there actually is not quite as much effort to "pretend there is a difference" as you suggest. Men are not usually aware of some of the fashion industry's nuances, one of which is that clothes are divided into "seasons" as you mentioned, but unlike the year's actual four seasons, there are only two basic seasons for men's clothing: spring/summer and fall/winter. Well-dressed men divide their wardrobes into these two categories. What are the differences between the two? Primarily, weight, and secondarily, color. Fabric also is a factor.
Spring dressing in sweaters, shirts, blazers and everything else offers a relief from the dark days of fall/winter. Weights are lighter; colors are softer or more vibrant; styles, too, may be lighter and more freewheeling than more serious fall and winter clothes.
Men wear blazers, sports jackets and sweaters in both seasons, but there are some differences. As an example, flannel says fall, not spring. A navy blazer for fall could be wool flannel and it might be fully lined. A navy blazer for spring is likely to be tropical-weight wool with a half-lining. Fall/winter sports coats are dark wool tweeds as opposed to light-colored spring sports coats in wool, blended with silk or linen. Spring sweaters are cotton and linen more often than wool.
Colors: Lights, brights, pastels and whites are emphasized in a spring/summer wardrobe. The overall color palette is darker in colder weather.
Flannel and corduroy are fall trouser choices. Psychologically, they are too heavy for spring when tropical weight wools, micro-fiber and cotton twills make more sense.
While in the midst of the fall/winter "sale season," spring clothes arrive in stores (at full price) well before the weather makes them seem logical. To help explain any confusion, the spring/summer wearing season is from April into September. But the spring/summer shopping season starts a good bit earlier. Stores display their merchandise early for several reasons: to see what will sell well, to allow time to reorder before manufacturers are sold out, and to encourage men to begin shopping early. (At the risk of sounding politically incorrect, I'd say this is never a problem for women; we're always ready to jump the gun and buy what is going to be new.)
Note: Men, while sale shopping, why not check out some of the spring/summer styles?
And don't overlook a type of dressing known as "transitional dressing." In essence this is mixing a bit from column A (winter) with an item or two from column B (spring). In other words, rather than jumping sharply from wearing a dark flannel suit with a white shirt and dark silk tie to the extreme opposite of a tan poplin suit and madras plaid cotton tie, you might introduce an in-between item that helps to span the seasons. A medium-weight suit or blazer works well now when bulky tweeds and flannels seem too heavy. Spring-like pastel silk or cotton ties rather than dark earth-tone wools or textured silks help segue between the seasons. This is especially true on warmer days. In the same way that we tend to choose more staid clothing on dark, rainy days, the opposite is true for bright, sunny days, even if it seems to be slightly ahead of the season.
So the general answer to your question is: Fall clothing is preparing for winter and spring clothing is anticipating summer. Doesn't that make you feel warmer? I'm warming just anticipating that first New York Men's Fashion Week ... I'll keep you posted.
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High Profile on 03/29/2015