Now is the time of year for guys to experiment with bolder shirts
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Broadly speaking, there's not a lot of innovation in men's style from season to season. Sure, you can experiment with new materials, but for the most part, men's clothing doesn't follow the same development trend as women's.
Now that the fit in men's clothes has improved drastically over the last 10 years, most guys who want to dress well can do so with relative ease due to the number of new retailers out there doing good work.
The next step after fit is adding in a few statements and more creative elements. One of the trends I'm thinking is going to have a big impact in 2017 is bold patterned shirts.
Patterned shirts are fine for any time of year, and underneath a sweater is a great time to play with a bolder pattern since it doesn't dominate your whole torso. But the point of having a bold shirt is to be a little bold, and when the weather is nicer and people are outside more, it's less out of place to be more out there.
Even traditional retailers like Brooks Brothers have deemed the male consumer ready for this kind of move.
I'm not saying every guy should run out and replace their entire wardrobe with shirts like this, but it is absolutely the time to find one that you like that is maybe outside your comfort zone and go for it.
John Ore, Business Insider's SVP of product, is a known fan of this type of shirt. He likes fun patterns when they can be used to spice things up on occasion: "I don’t tend to go for them for everyday use, like the Hawaiian Shirt Guy at your office, but find that a floral pattern can break up the monotony. As I get older, I have to recognize that a lot of bold patterns might make it look like I’m trying too hard. I favor patterns that aren’t too trendy and that have some shelf life. I like shirts that can transition from casual-with-a-denim-jacket to rehearsal-dinner-with-a-blazer, so you’re getting a lot of versatility out of a shirt that might otherwise get pigeonholed for theme parties. You have to let the shirt do the work, so pair it with solid colored jeans or sweaters."
The easiest way to get started with something like this would be a short-sleeve version, since it's more casual and doesn't fully cover your arms in a pattern. A bunch of companies have some great options for bold short-sleeve button-downs, which thanks to modern fits are now totally acceptable and no longer put you in Dwight Schrute territory.
It is worth noting that these patterns require more work to create, so don't be surprised to find that they're a little more expensive than a plain version of the same shirt. That's the price of being bold, but if you don't feel comfortable with the cost, these shirts don't fall under the "must have" staple category.
The most important thing is finding a pattern that you like or can get behind. Pick something you like — your favorite animal, or just a bold pattern with a few of your favorite colors. It's going to get comments, so you'll need to pick something you don't mind talking about.
We put together a list of a few of our favorites to help you get started:
Club MonacoBuy the Club Monaco Slim Romanian Floral Shirt for $59
Brooks Brothers
Buy the Brooks Brothers Regent Fit Tropical Print Sport Shirt for $120
J.Crew
Buy the J.Crew Short-Sleeve Shirt in Red Floral Print for $59.50
Get 30% off when you use the code "BIGSALE"
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