Q. There is a light tan corduroy blazer with narrow ribbing in a store window near me. I like the look, but I’m not sure if it really is a current style and when I would wear it.
A. Corduroy sport jackets are classics that never really go out of style, so you don’t have to wonder whether they are in. But they do have some restrictions and limitations that you should keep in mind.
First and foremost, they are seasonal, which means that even though they’re made of cotton fabric, they are not to be worn in the summer. Wearing them in hot weather is as wrong as wearing seersucker in the winter.
Second, because corduroy is a bulky fabric, it often adds pounds visually to a man’s girth, making him look heavier than he is. It is not the best choice for men who are overweight.
As to when and how to wear them, they are part of casual, relaxed dressing and don’t look right when worn with dressy items such as smooth silk ties, French-cuff shirts, double-breasted cuts, and/or dark wingtip dress shoes. You can wear corduroy to any occasion that calls for conservative casual dressing, where the other men in attendance will not be wearing dressy, dark matched suits.
The pants to pair with a corduroy sport jacket include the full range, from jeans and khakis to wool flannels and gabardines. Perhaps the best choice for pants to go with a corduroy jacket is something in cotton – a cotton chino either in khaki or some darker shade.
As long as the pants’ fabric does not come close to matching the jacket, you are fine. Do not pair any corduroy jacket with corduroy pants, unless you are actually wearing a two-piece exactly- matched corduroy suit. Trying to match up a pair of corduroy pants with a corduroy jacket is too matched and yet not matched enough to look like a correct suit. In other words, unless your combination is a suit, you should wear only one piece of corduroy at a time.
Almost any kind of shirt will work (tattersalls and oxford cloths are great). You have lots of options. And, of course, a cord jacket can go with or without a tie. A knit or wool tie would be perfect. Or, for a less expected look, try to find a subtle paisley patterned tie in a non-shiny silk fabric.
While corduroy jackets come in all colors, I think they look best in light tan shades such as the one you saw. Don’t forget that corduroy is casual and you don’t want to confuse its image by choosing a dark corduroy fabric that could be overly dressy. In keeping with its casual style, a corduroy jacket may have (but does not always have) suede elbow patches with a bit of a traditional Ivy League air. A note of caution: although corduroy is cotton and the label on the garment may say it is washable, if it’s a blazer, it should be left to a professional to dry clean (to keep the jacket’s lining from misbehaving).
Incidentally, the “ribbing” you refer to in corduroy fabric is called the “wale,” and comes in both narrow and wide wale, known as pin-wale and wide-wale corduroy, (pin-wale is a bit dressier). Of course, corduroy is not limited to sport jackets; it also comes in unmatched separate pants and in quite casual two-piece matched suits. As it is Oscar’s week, for those interested in seeing examples of a corduroy suit you need only reference a number of Oscar winning characters: Robert Redford in “All the President’s Men,” and Ryan O’Neal in “Love Story,” and most recently Paul Giamatti in “The Holdovers.”
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