Club Obi Wan

I was just wondering, since my medium grey pleated, cotton chinos arrived today, along with a white dress shirt, what suit or sport coat combinations work best with a brown, Indiana Jones style fedora? I own an Akubra Federation IV, and it's vaguely a cross between the Raider and Kingdom fedoras, although not nearly as accurate for either one as I've seen in some photos here. It's still got the Indy vibe nonetheless, and it is certainly more accurate looking than the Dorfman Pacific products.

Since I have grey pants, what sport coat color would work with it and the brown fedora? Also, if I were to buy a full suit, would a medium to dark grey suit work well with it? Or do you recommend brown? I'd love to get a brown suit (or even a tan one), but I'm not sure it's a very versatile choice, and right now I'd rather invest in something I'd be able to wear at an office, or even a wedding if it comes to not wearing an authentic tuxedo.

I'm sure some question like this has been asked before, but some others at present may be wondering the same thing. I guess I have to ask, if you wear your Indy hat with a suit or sport coat/trousers combination, what colors are frequently paired?

To me, an interestin choice could be a natural color blazer. I own the Boardwalk in linen from Magnoli and it suits so perfectly on my regualr Indy hat better than any other jacket.
Another good choice could be a jacket or suit in silver.

Silver? Didn't that go out with the 1990's? (not that I'm making fun - my prom tux was silver).

Seriously, if you want to work gray in with a brown fedora, your jacket needs to be navy blue or natural (which could be a solid, or a multi-color blend that results in neutral). See the train station / school chase outfit in CS. You might get lucky and find a brownish or tanish gray jacket, but be sure to have hat with you for that kind of matching. Also, I have never tried a green jacket with gray pants and a brown hat, but color rules suggest it could work.

If you go for a new suit - navy or most varieties of green will work well with brown AND gray. A brown suit can be worn anywhere, really. But I hear that job interviewers consider it too old-fashioned. (one could argue, however, that brown suits at interviews are so rare these days, you would stand out.) Those are your sure-fire wins. But gray CAN work with a brown hat. That's what ties are for! They can literally "tie together" elements that might seem unmatched. If you tie has a touch of brown in it, the hat matches.

Now, it's my turn - where did you find the gray chinos????

Chewbacca Jones wrote:Silver? Didn't that go out with the 1990's? (not that I'm making fun - my prom tux was silver).

hehe, you're right! , actually I had in mind this kind of color:

Some good suggestions here so far, but I just wanted to point out:

Chewbacca Jones wrote: Now, it's my turn - where did you find the gray chinos????

I bought them online from Khol's:

http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/mens/pa ... +Pants.jsp

Mine's the "Griffin" grey one. I think they kind of run a bit large, but maybe that was a mistake on my part. Hmm, their "Bark" color could work with an Indy-esque outfit...

Thank you! I need gray chinos big time.

I'd like to see the Bean in person, too. I'll have to drop by Kohl's and see if they're in stock.

Dark Navy...like Chewie mentioned earlier. A brown suit works, even a tan suit, and you should have both as an essential part of a wardrobe, but the most versatile suit for someone with a budget for only one or two, would be the dark navy, it will look almost black in low light. The indy can look decent with a plain ole' black suit, because of the ribbon, it looks black in the sunlight.

I wear my navy solid and pinstripe suits with brown or grey fedoras. My grey and black suits get a dark grey or grey fedora. Tan/brown suits get my taupe Borso or my brown AB, never any of the others.

Now what to wear with that green fedora i want

steerpike wrote:

Chewbacca Jones wrote:Silver? Didn't that go out with the 1990's? (not that I'm making fun - my prom tux was silver).

hehe, you're right! , actually I had in mind this kind of color:

Ok i've heard this argument on other forums, and this picture demonstrates it well...you do not have to have the color of that hat match the color of the suit for it to look good. Often times the hat should be something that stands out, like a tie. I do try to match ties with hats though, if the suits color is the opposite.

This is a convoluted way of saying great suit and the hat looks sweet Steerpike!!!

I think, with Steerpike, his eyes and complexion help a lot. Truth is, any color can be worn well with virtually any other color. But getting it to work is not always easy. But for every rule, there is at least one exception.

steerpike wrote:

Chewbacca Jones wrote:Silver? Didn't that go out with the 1990's? (not that I'm making fun - my prom tux was silver).

hehe, you're right! , actually I had in mind this kind of color:

Steerpike - That is a sharp suit! Is that from Magnoli? I need to start putting together my Indy like dress clothes.

Sean

Indy35: thank you!
Chewbacca: You're absolutely right! Is very difficult to find the right matches, it depends so much by a lot of mixed factor.. just the same reason the same hat look completely different on different persons..

And Sean, yes it's from Magnoli, and is the Barnett College suit. I'm very proud of it and I find to wear it in a lot of different ways and different matches.

I agree with Indy35: browns and blue suits with a brown fed, greys and black suits with a grey or black fed. The thing to be careful of with a grey fed is to have enough contrast against a grey suit or you can come across being too mono-tone and costumey.

Of course, navy looks good with grey feds as well, but I prefer the brown. Unless I'm boarding a plane, then I go with grey. Or sometimes brown.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

But what if you have a at with a grey crown, but a brown brim?

binkmeisterRick wrote:But what if you have a at with a grey crown, but a brown brim?

Then you've got bigger problems than just what suit to buy, you'll also need to find a new hatter!

Not for me, but least it's in the same color family.

binkmeisterRick wrote:Not for me, but least it's in the same color family.

Aaaaaahhhh!!!! MY EYES!!!!!!!

And now I can't un-delete this from my head!

binkmeisterRick wrote:Not for me, but least it's in the same color family.

Looks like tan, not gray, so not as bad. I would say you could wear it with a pink seersucker suit and would look fine, bink.

binkmeisterRick wrote:Not for me, but least it's in the same color family.

Is that the new officially licensed authentic Temple of Doom fedora from Dorfman Pacific?

Yep. Just like the one you ordered!

Chewbacca Jones wrote:Thank you! I need gray chinos big time.

I'd like to see the Bean in person, too. I'll have to drop by Kohl's and see if they're in stock.

I got to Kohl's last night. They did not have "Bean" but they had the others. Except for the Griffon color, all of the colors looked a little darker in person than on the website. The Bark is, indeed, an excellent Indy color. A little light for Raiders, but fine for the others. It does have a slight "taupe like" quality, too, in that it's not exactly tan. Lots of subtle undertones.

Their Croft & Barrow label has a color called Latte that's a light brown, for those who prefer that look.

This is an ensemble that I love with my brown hat: natural jacket plus red tie

steerpike wrote:Indy35: thank you!
Chewbacca: You're absolutely right! Is very difficult to find the right matches, it depends so much by a lot of mixed factor.. just the same reason the same hat look completely different on different persons..

And Sean, yes it's from Magnoli, and is the Barnett College suit. I'm very proud of it and I find to wear it in a lot of different ways and different matches.

Taking it a little off topic, but that suit looks superb! Makes me think they're might be one in my future.

Back on topic, I used to think that you had to go brown suit with brown hat (or at least earth tones). Glad to see that I was wrong and this really opens up a wardrobe.

Corduroy sports coats really lend themselves to the dark brown of an Indy Fedora, be they tan, camel, brown, forest green or moss.

This is more of an autumn/winter garment, but I believe every gentleman should have a couple of real corduroy sports coats, suede elbow patches included.

Spatterdash wrote:Corduroy sports coats really lend themselves to the dark brown of an Indy Fedora, be they tan, camel, brown, forest green or moss.

Yes, cord is a good one. Tweed, too, obviously.


Sweet peaked lapels, steerpike!

I can't believe I'm going to discuss 'accessorizing' but here goes: If you wear anything brown, the hat works, i.e. brown shoes, belt, gloves, tie.