Difficult to wear look: The Ascot
In terms of formal wear, it is best to stick with wearing an ascot with a tuxedo as a means of adding a little personal flair to your formal wear. In this case, you should stick with a very traditional tux and a fairly conservative print on the ascot. I would avoid the formal ascot at a wedding or anyplace where you will be in photographs that will become part of your family archives. Black tie parties or charity events are the perfect place to experiment with the look, you are sure to get a lot of attention.
The safer ascot option by far is to tie a thin cashmere winter scarf under your overcoat in the fashion of an ascot. This look is refined and sophisticated without being as theatrical or attention grabbing as a traditional ascot. Give it a shot!
Images from things-and-other-stuff.com, cas.sc.edu, alwaysplayingdressup.blogspot.com, tiewarehouse.co.uk
Hey, hey, hey! I heard you were going to be in USA Today commenting on ascots!
I was
Quoting article:
But, if you do decide that you want to give the ascot a shot, the two best ways to attempt the look are formal like Beckham or as a method for tying your winter scarf.
What? Since when should ascots be used with formal wear? It looks terrible on Beckham precisely because he tried to pair it with formal clothing (you can see the shiny peak lapel of what appears to be a dinner jacket), making it appear out-of-place. Ascots are distinctly informal, and should only be worn with equally informal clothing such as button-down collar shirts and odd sport jackets, like Cary Grant is doing in the pictures above.
Also, you might try distinguishing between fashion,, which changes year to year so that companies might sell more clothing, and style, which lasts much longer. Cary Grant was stylish, while David Beckham is merely fashionable, wearing clothing that will show its age in no time. I’ve never seen David Beckham mentioned as being considered a style icon among well-dressed men, while Luciano Barbera, Willy Brown, David Letterman, and Brian Williams are regularly noted as being a among the best-dressed men in the public eye today.
Technically, ascots are formal, albeit they are meant to be worn as morning dress. In America the term ascot is often used to describe cravats (while ascots are actually a type of cravat). I unfortunately did not distinguish this in my article. I believe that Cary Grant is actually wearing a cravat in both pictures above. Cravats can be either formal or informal, and ascots are formal pale gray patterned silk cravats.
Wearing an ascot (and probably wearing a formal cravat) after 6 pm with a tuxedo is “breaking the rules” and will definitely dress down your look. I advised against wearing an ascot to any formal occasion that would be well documented precisely because your outfit may look dated. That said, life is no fun if you never take risks and from my perspective style doesn’t mean always playing it safe. Fashion, style, and taste would never evolve if we continued to wear the same things the same way.
A quick Google of “David Beckham Style Icon” will show you that I am not alone in this description of Beckham. I whole-heartedly agree that Cary Grant was one of the most stylish men of the last century. I also think you presented a great list of men who have really classic style.
I appreciate your comments and perspective. I think it is really important that anyone that reads this little article has multiple perspectives on how to wear ascots/cravats. The look is kind of risky. I think that many very stylish men I know would take your side over mine.
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