Plaid Love

I agree with Phat Tony on just about everything hence the reason it is very satisfying to watch Project Runway together. Yes, we think Nick Verreos was robbed in Season 2 too, thank you very much. Not surprisingly, I also despise Madras. However, I do love plaid. Oh the many connotations of this fabric. From "Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plain" innocent country to "Jeremy spoke in class today" grunge rock we've seen this fabric over and over. Plaid may now be coming into its renaissance moment. I have seen brilliant interpretations of the modern preppy especially in new york city. Check out this photo by the Sartorialist

This plaid, especially when worn in the summer, has a lovely, unassuming look about it. It's new and fresh and we really do see a lot of folks working this look quite well. Lest you think we are allowing you to run free however, here are the rules.

- Shirts or dresses only. Don't make us accuse you of wearing pajama pants during the day (that means you Britney Spears). Dresses are ok but consider plaid skirts for catholic school girls only.

- No Madras. We can't stress this enough (see below). It's ugly and don't even be tempted into it. Stick to one base color of plaid

- We like the bigger plaids. While the teeny tiny checks are ok in a short sleeve button down software engineer kind of way, we're finding that the edgier guys are rocking the larger, less busy prints.

- Take advantage of this unexpected summertime look. Find some plaid in a light-weight fabric. Enjoy, we might be sick of it by the time fall rolls around.

Phat Tony Addendum: Agreed, Bets. As far as the teeny-tiny checks, those are also okay in a nicely-tailored long-sleeve dress shirt, or on a tie made in a quality fabric. However, it should be paired with a bolder pattern or an impeccably styled suit to up the class. I also have some related commentary on the impending comeback of flannel, but that's for another posting entirely... Get ready.