Shirts and sweaters can create a wealth of versatile combinations. If you are careful to choose the right items, you can create elegant or casual outfits or formal or informal styles. And none of these is hard to create – all you need to do is follow a few basic rules to create lots of different looks.
First of all you need to choose the type of men’s sweater starting with the neck. If your face is round or square, then choose a V neck because it will help to create the impression of a longer neck; a crew neck is what you should choose to go with an oval face.
When it comes to necks, it is natural to wonder what to do with the shirt collar. If you have chosen a crew neck, then it is always best to leave the collar tips under the sweater. With a V neck, if you have a traditional collar (with longer tips), then it is best to keep it under the sweater, while collars with shorter tips can be left outside.
When choosing a sweater, you need to consider what it is made of. The best yarn of all is cashmere: it goes with everything - even jeans, since it can give them a more formal touch. Wool sweaters will have a more formal effect, while synthetic fibres can create informal looks. If you’d rather wear something lighter, then cotton is your best choice.
As for colours, you can’t go wrong if you mix neutrals with brighter colours. You can even choose a tone-on-tone solution, where you wear the same colours, but two shades different: the results will be on trend and elegant. Let’s look at a few examples: if you match a white shirt with a dark blue sweater, the result will be elegance in perfect office style; but if you wear the same sweater with a light blue or grey shirt, you have a great combination for the weekend. And lastly, if you put a brown check shirt together with a green sweater, then you have created the perfect casual outfit.
Matching neutral colours is easy but there is no impact; your best bet is to choose prints and patterns to wear with plain shades taken from one of the pattern colours. If you want a bolder result, then you can match two patterns together, such as stripes and stripes – as long as these are in different sizes and therefore, in our case, fine stripes with wider ones.
Another factor not to ignore has to do with the shirt itself. Wear it tucked into your trousers for an elegant look, or outside if you’re looking for a more casual effect.
