One of my favorite bold looks - and in particular bold summer looks - is a broadcloth butcher stripe paired with a rich, eye-catching tie. With this kind of look it is all about leaning into the daring excitement. It is all about the color and contrast, the energy and brightness. I have written about this look-approach before and how when paired with the perfect vintage Polo Ralph Lauren geometric tie you can achieve a 1990s look and feel that is next level.
With this look there is no running or hiding from the energy. You can't make it simpler, you can't bring it down, you can't try to blend in. You can't hide from the bright, daring energy. I think there is a lesson in this, beyond just the outfit. There is a lesson beyond style in this. There can be virtue in staying inconspicuous, there is a purpose to steady understated-ness (I write about this often). Yet, there is a purpose to the stalwart. There is a time for the statement, for the stand-out. After all, even the most simplistic understated outfit in our style-world stands out and appears as very formal amidst the oppressive vulgarity of 22.
There is a reason, purpose, virtue and something worth thinking about in the acceptance and undeniable reality of self that comes over us when backed against a wall and unable to blend in. In that moment, reality faces us with no opportunity to look away. The truth of that which we are stares at us and we have no other choice other than to stare back. There is a message in this. An outfit like this - and the theory of it when explored in this wandering way - reveals a message and question. A question that demands an answer. A question that is always lurking, stalking our every thought, easily pushed away when there is room to run, yet unforgivable and undeniable when out of room to run any longer. Reality, always comes for us in the end.