Damp, chilly, rainy and windy. The first leaves are falling and blowing across the grass. A few lay flat, gathering water. The bright orange battered by the cold rain falling from above. Gloomy but with motion. Today feels like a truly bonafide autumn day. After months packed away in the closet, today I am wearing one of my favorite vintage sport coats. It is an old, warm brown - almost rust - herringbone. It has a hook vent and it was made long enough ago so that it is the proper length for a sport coat. The fit is perfect, not overly slim below the chest and made of a heavy herringbone which drapes perfectly.
Following suit with a full embrace of the autumnal spirit, I am wearing a red university stripe OCBD from Michael Spencer, a favorite shirt which was also packed away for summer. Next, we have a a vintage green quail (or some other similar bird - I am not an expert on birds) motif tie from J. Press. The bottom half is simple with chinos, loafers and dark brown socks. Any consistent reader of my writing knows I am a devotee of the university stripe and the motif tie and more particularly, I am a fan of pairing them together.
Sometimes it can be difficult to find the right tie to go with a university stripe, particularly if it isn't a blue university stripe. The simplest and clearest answer is a plain knit tie. This will almost always work incredibly well and keeps everything simple with no risk of over crowding. However, if you are a bit more advanced in your style development, want to be a bit bolder, a bit more daring and thread the needle just a bit with some risk, the motif tie is a perfect option to pair with a university stripe.
In this case, this tie is green with a quail (or some other similar bird) motif. The quails are a light brown, maroon and beige. It is a warm motif against a cold back. The cold green stands out against the warm red university stripe and warm herringbone and then the quails meet up with the warmth set in contrast against the green. A warm outfit with 1 cold piece and warm highlights within the one cold piece. Even though it seems complicated and with many factors, it is actually quite simple if you think about it in this sort of broad color-hue understanding. Establishing a sort of base orbit for the outfit can help greatly when departing from the simple the understated and venturing out to thread the needle a bit. A central hue which can function as a sort of grounding force helps things not spin out of control and still retain some sort of simplicity.