Simply wrap the scarf around your neck once and then just let the ends drop where they will.  I think this method is appropriate for indoor wear, as it adds color without overwhelming the wearer or the outfit.  Keep in mind though that it does look pretentious to wear a big cashmere scarf wrapped once or twice around the neck when one is inside.
Best For: Long, narrow scarves.

With a square scarf, you can place one pointed side down in front of your neck, and then take the ends and wrap once around your neck ending with a little tie. 
Best For: Small to medium sized square scarves.

I don’t know what’s happening, but the level of sloppiness in what some guys are wearing is simply getting out of hand.  Loud colors, ill-fitting clothes, sunglasses at night– it’s not stylish, it’s sloppy.

If you want to look as if you don’t care, that’s fine, but please do it with style.

Or more specifically, with sprezzatura, the Italian term for “artful dishevelment” as I call it (it’s not a literal translation).  You may do it already without knowing: sprezzatura is dressing like you don’t care, taking a nonchalant attitude with your appearance—when in fact you do take time and effort to create your look. 

The trick to pulling it off is subtlety, confidence and an otherwise impeccable outfit.  Let’s examine probably the greatest example of sprezzatura, Mr. Gianni Agnelli. Look at this picture of Mr. Agnelli in deep thought.  What is peculiar about his outfit?

Look carefully…do you notice his wrist?  It’s more apparent in this photo because your eye is naturally drawn to that area, but it has to do with his wristwatch.  Mr. Agnelli would often wear his watch outside his shirt cuff but under his jacket. 

The trick to successful artful dishevelment is twofold: subtlety and great sartorial know-how.  Imagine meeting Mr. Agnelli.  Would you even notice the watch?  Only if you looked carefully.  And that’s the point: the fashion quirk is subtle and understated.  If Mr. Agnelli didn’t comb his hair or if he wore an extremely wrinkled dress shirt, the dishevelment would no longer be “artful” but simply sloppy.

But even more important is that Mr. Agnelli’s suit is impeccably well cut.  He has great sartorial knowledge and flawless taste—and it shows.  If he wore an ill-fitting suit and a strange shirt/tie combo, people would consider him sloppily dressed.  But because his suit fits him perfectly, he still looks sharp.  That’s the fine line between artful dishevelement and simple sloppiness.

First of all, notice the loosened tie.  Many men do this out of comfort, but they don’t consider how sloppy it can look.  But when Mr. Bastian does it, it looks stylish. Also, notice his jacket cuff.  See the two buttons unbuttoned?  Finally, look his unbuttoned jacket.  There’s a style “rule” that suit buttons should always be fastened whenever you’re not sitting.  Mr. Bastian looks like he’s giving that rule the proverbial middle finger.  You know he knows that rule, but he doesn’t care.  Sprezzatura is as much about confidence and attitude as anything.

I’ll share one more sprezzatura example: Stefano Tonchi.

Take a look at two things: (1) the single button fastened on the jacket, and (2) the part of the collar outside the jacket lapel, but not in a Tony Montana kind of way.  That’s his subtle quirk; what’s yours?

Notice in all three cases the lack of obnoxious wear: well cut suits with no loud colors, and confidence without cockiness.  That’s what separates these three from the average guy at a club on a Friday night.

It’s hard to look like you don’t care when you do.  When it’s done wrong, you have stereotypical “Los Angeles fashion”; when it’s done right, you have Mr. Agnelli, Mr. Bastian, and Mr. Tonchi.  It’s the difference between sloppily bad and eternally cool. 

Style tip? Steven Alan produces a great line of shirts that come wrinkled (if you’ve never seen a display of his clothes, they even hang on the rack at stores wrinkled and creased).  These shirts are a great place to start if you’re trying to get a feel for this sprezzatura.  But the bottom line is that true sprezzatura can’t be done for you and no one can tell you how to pull it off; it’s about feel.  And it varies from outfit to outfit; a wrinkled shirt in one outfit won’t necessarily look good in a different outfit. 

A: Yes, tweed does seem to be back, but take care in how you wear it.  The tweed jacket can be refreshing and cool, but it needs to be done right.

I think tweed gets a bad rap from old school professors who wear it with patches on the elbows.  It can be worn with style, but I’m a bit more classic than the folks at GQ and Esquire, who seem to be pushing tweed as a trend for Fall.  I tend to think of tweed as “country” wear, where sophisticates sip on cognac and smoke pipe tobacco while wearing a fine tweed jacket.  Maybe that’s just me.

If you want to do tweed in the city at night, you may be able to pull it off with the right fit and complementary clothes.  If I had to make one outfit with a tweed jacket, I would start with a medium to charcoal gray tweed jacket (with a slim silhouette, lapels and no patches, of course).  Under that tweed jacket, wear a sweater or button-down.  And finish the outfit off with a pair of dark denim jeans (navy or black, if you like this Fall’s black jeans trend) or even pinwale cords. 

Whatever you do, keep your outfit simple; you’ll already be attracting attention for wearing tweed.  Let people admire the cut of your jacket—don’t distract them with a complicated pattern.  Oh and contrary to the pictured J Crew example, skip the t-shirt under the tweed blazer look. The wool and the rich tweed texture make this jacket more dressy, and the t-shirt tends to make the look immature, not young. The J Crew guys saved the look by layering the cardigan over the t-shirt.

Choose the Right Shade of Pink. It’s hard to make pink work with red–but it can work with the right shade of pink.  We love a deep, rich pink like the one shown on the top, especially when this pink is paired with a chic fire engine red.

I don’t know about you, but I’m a spiller.  Sauces, drinks, errant food items.  To keep my clothes clean, I have to be vigilant about stain removal.  For tough stains, I use a stain stick (which fits conveniently in a small handbag).

Especially useful if you want to revive a sweater that’s been sitting in your oversized handbag–or a blouse that’s gotten crumpled.  A steamer is easier on your clothes than an iron is, and it’s even simpler to use.  If you’re sans-steamer (e.g. on vacation), try hanging your clothes in the bathroom and run the shower on the highest heat.  It’s not as effective as a real steamer, but it works in a pinch.

Have a small rip?  A button that falls off?  You don’t need a mini sewing kit (though props to you if you have one).  Simply use a safety pin or two to pin your clothes back together.  I keep safety ins in different colors (black, matte silver, and white) so I can choose the pin that best blends with my clothes.

Did your hem fall down?  You don’t have to bother with pinning it.  Double stick tape will do in a bind.  Just remember to splurge on extra sticky tape–and to get your hem sewn back up afterwards.

What’s your best fashion emergency tip?  Share it with us in the comments!

To find the right sunglasses for you, start with the shape of your face.  Everyone’s face is unique, but there are a few general shapes into which faces can be categorized.  The basic idea is to get a pair of sunglasses that balances out your face shape; that is, a pair that exemplifies the opposite of your face shape.  Moreover, the edges of the glasses should “frame” your face exactly.  If the outer edge of the lens’ frame is wider or narrower than your face, the glasses don’t fit.  Oh, and always make sure you try on the pair in person before buying them.

(2) Often, like with the classic Wayfarer (probably the most timeless pair out there), you can put in regular lenses and wear your sunglasses as a stylish pair of regular glasses.  Go to your optometrist for more information.

by Colleen Geary, fashion stylist and image consultant

A: Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly and Katharine Hepburn all embody timeless American style.  Audrey is famous for her elegant black sheath dress, capri pants, ballet flats, and large dark sunglasses. Her style is perfectly suited to her body type and personality - thin, graceful and gamine.  (She was also fortunate to have Hubert Givenchy to dress her.) Grace Kelly is famous for her cinched waists, full skirts, fitted tops, pearls, and her classic Kelly bag.  And Katharine Hepburn, exuding professional style, made menswear her signature look. 

What do Audrey, Grace, and Katharine have in common?  Each was an icon of their own personal style.  So to modernize this looks, do as these style icons did:

Wear clothing that suits your figure.  Not your style icon’s figure, not your best friend’s figure–your figure.  Be honest with yourself about what works and what doesn’t–and choose your silhouettes accordingly.

Create, don’t Copy. Instead of copying Audrey, Katharine, or Grace’s style directly, create your own signature style.  Sure, it can be based on that of your style icon, but make it your own.  Katharine Hepburn made trousers her signature piece.  What will your signature piece be?

Create your signature style around classic, clean lines.  Your clothes won’t overwhelm you, and maintaining a clean silhouette allows you to play with accessories, hairstyles, and makeup. 

A: One time I was at a fancy restaurant in San Francisco.  It was the kind of place where you have to wear a jacket to get in, and if you show up without one, they give you one from their closet.  I sat down and looked at the menu, which was pretty much completely inaccessible to anyone who’s not a Michelin-rated chef.  Rather than try to decipher it, I asked the waiter as casually as I could, “So how is the steak?”

“Oh, it’s terrible,” he replied.

Now, he was being sarcastic, but I got the point: whatever I ordered, it was going to be great.

If you pick the right restaurant, you don’t have to know anything about food and can rest assured that you’ll get a good meal.  Likewise, if you pick the right tailor, you don’t need to know anything about clothes, and you can rest assured that you’ll get a great suit.

Sure, I could give you a long laundry list of things to look out for.  But if you’re going to the right place, I’m certain that the tailor will be doing these things anyways. My one piece of advice would be to know exactly what you want in terms of color, fabric, and style going in.  The best tailors don’t give their input; rather, they simply do what you want them to do.  Besides, the whole point of bespoke is to make a suit for exactly for you.

If you haven’t gone down the bespoke path before, you likely don’t have a good bespoke tailor you can trust.  So do your homework.  Search online for user reviews of tailors in your city.  The bigger the city you live in, the pickier you can be, of course.  When you find a tailor that gets consistently favorable reviews, go visit the tailor and ask to see his/her work.  See if the tailor will let you talk to some of his/her customers and ask them about their experience.

Also, a “huge premium” can actually be really huge when talking about bespoke.  The Kiton “K50,” aptly named because it takes approximately 50 hours to create, costs $30,000 to $50,000, and is made exclusively by Kiton’s chief tailor who personally measures and fits the client.  If you already knew this and still are willing to pay this kind of premium, try Wilkes Bashford in San Francisco, which measures bespoke Kiton, or Kiton in New York.  If you’re in London, check out Kilgour or any other fine tailor on Saville Row. 

Finally, keep in mind that a true bespoke suit isn’t created overnight.  A bespoke suit will take you a few visits to create.  And a good bespoke tailor will allow you to wear the suit, get it cleaned a few times, and then go back for more tailoring for a perfect fit.

Style Tip 1: For more information on the bespoke process, and what you should expect to do (roughly) with each visit, be sure to read this discussion from Ask Andy About Clothes.

A: Sounds like you’re already on the right track.  Since you’re curvy and have a full bust, you want to keep your neckline very open by wearing single breasted jackets in semi-fitted shapes.  Like you already know, jackets with a single or double button closure are going to be your best bets.  (Bonus points for jackets that button right under your bustline.)

And cheers for you for embracing the White Jacket.  White jackets and blazers look fresh for summer, especially given this season’s focus on white.  But how do you wear these white jackets without looking like an extra on Grey’s Anatomy?  Here’s three ways to avoid the doctor look with a white jacket: