Accessorizing Your Business Attire - Part I
By Todd Sample
A wise person once said that the difference is in the details. For men who are trying to establish a personal style that differentiates them from everybody else, paying attention to the little accents in an outfit is key. As the goal is subtle pizzazz, equally important is not letting the details overwhelm the rest of the look.
Starting from the head and going down, coordinating your eyeglass frames to your daily outfit will surely result in people noticing you. After starting to wear contact lenses several years ago, I began shopping for frames in different colors and shapes that went well with some of my suits.
In Korea, inexpensive eyeglass frames that are both colorful and eye-catching are as easy to find as those which are less conspicuous. If you do choose to accentuate your look with non-prescription eyeglass frames, just keep in mind that popping a set of clear plastic lenses into the frames is the way to go as opposed to wearing the frames without any lenses at all, a trend I still have a difficult time understanding.
Moving down from the head toward the jacket, one of the most effective methods of keeping the eyes of others on your outfit is by placing a pocket square in the lapel pocket. The nice thing about this accent is that the same pocket square can add a bit of naughty brashness to your look or reserved subtlety depending entirely on how you fold it.
On those days which call for some reserve, simply folding the pocket square into a rectangular shape and putting it in the pocket, so that just a quarter to a half-inch is seen, will suffice.
For casual office settings in which a jacket is worn sans necktie, fold the pocket square so that three or four of the corners can be seen. When heading out to a club, switch from a cotton pocket square to a silk one and place it in your lapel pocket so that the edges of the pocket square look more like the petals of a flower.
For this writer, wearing jewelry, whether it be a watch or a ring, is a style choice which has never been a priority. One accessory that is incorporated into every single look that I wear, however, is cufflinks.
First appearing in the 17th century, cufflinks today remain a stylish staple for the well dressed man. As with pocket squares, cufflinks can either be gaudy or modest in appearance depending on the style which is worn. For a colorful point, choose a pair of silk knot cufflinks that match the color of your socks, your pocket square, or the pinstripe in your suit. To incorporate a surefire conversation starter into your wardrobe choice, put on a pair of antique hand-painted cufflinks or a set made of mother of pearl. With cufflinks, the choices are endless.
To illustrate the effect that a well-chosen style accent can have, I had a conversation recently with a gentleman who worked in the insurance sector and had to meet clients on a daily basis. New to the industry, he was having a difficult time figuring out how to ease into the sales pitch. I suggested he start wearing cufflinks as a sort of personal trademark, as each time he sat down with a client, the cufflinks would become the conversation starter rather than the insurance policy.
By injecting some subtle flair into your business attire with the aforementioned accessories, making a unique and positive impression should no longer be a challenge.