Howdy! I’ve been swamped with work as the second quarter has taken off. I have been travelling for a bit. It’s almost summer in other parts of the world. I have one of my readers asking what to wear – especially if you are skinny.

First of all, congrats for having this body type. I adore skinny men! All the high fashion clothes alway look better on skinny tall men than bulky ones ! Secondly, since you asked for my opinion, I adore preppie style with quirkiness . I am not a men fashion expert, the clothes I chose below would be what I would wear if I were a man. I will divvy them up into work outfit, into formal work environment and casual outfit including for lounging around or going out.

The key trends for summer will be colour and contrast. I love summer, the fact that you can always wear more brighter colours – lighter colour tailored suits and jackets, different colour jeans and shoes. Different colour belts can be worn all year around, In summer to complement your playfullness with summer outfits while in winter to brightened the monochrome colour. Other than that, contrast (mix match in colour, texture, fashion items, mixing work and play outfit for versality, etc

WORK

Ligther colour suits

In winter, you have been wearing lots of black and charcoal (darker version of grey). In summer, shine with lighter colour suits – think of light grey, light cream (neutral colour, not too light as you are still within formal work environment), or even greyish bluish colour – see picture below.

In my work environment, even though it is 35 C outside, all the men are still required to wear their ties (I’m glad I’m a woman ). Fear not though, all office that requires such outfits always have air conditioners or some sort .

You still can wear your darker coloured suits for summer but put a summer twist by contrasting colour, pattern, and accessories (see the next section below).

Show some personalities – through shirts, ties, accessories (cuff links or belts) and shoes (textures and structures)

If you are skinny and do not want to look too skinny, try to wear patterned shirts – such as checked shirts (the bigger the checked, the better) or simply patterned shirts (with busy prints, preferably with soft colours to streamline with formal work outfits and not to offend any eyes).

Shirts are also a sign of individuality. Everyone in the office will be wearing the same high quality tailored suits with similar silluothes and structured, but you can show your personality with the colour, texture and pattern of your shirts. Go one step further by putting your individual style into your ties by contrasting your shirts and ties. If you contrast them, make sure they compliment each other – for example if your shirt’s really busy, make sure the tie is not too busy thus they are in harmony with each other.

Lets look at our outfit photos example:

• Suit 1 picture – I like the fact that he keeps his look formal by wearing lighter grey suit (perfect for summer) with a neutral shirt and formal black dressed shoes. Although he does not wear a tie, he still looks sleek work ready. This outfit is perfect for formal work environment which allows you to skip the tie during a really hot summer weather. He shows his personality with a very bright coloured patent style blue belt. The patent gives the belt the shiny finish. This is the outfit centre of the attention.

• Suit 2 picture – Again, I like the fact he wears different colour suit for summer. Eventhough the colour is very out-of-the-ordinary to your traditional suits, it still has a high degree of tailoring and colour which sits nicely along a formal work environment. He shows his personality via the shirt and the tie. The shirt is just your ordinary clean blue colour but what makes this an individual shirt is the collars (look closely). It has a little bit of patterned in the rim thus the quirkiness . I personally would lose the tie. The concept is there (to show personality and some contrasting) but I don’t think it is formal work environment friendly due to the thinness of the tie. I am okay with the colour, I’d have preferred it to be the normal tie size for formality. Afterall, this is not a party outfit which lets you wear bow ties or thin style ties .

• Suit 3 picture – You still can wear your winter suit to summer (dark colour not heavy texture one of course). Again, showing personality via the shirt and tie. This is the contrast example I was talking about. The checked shirt are kept in two shades (bright red and white). The tie has some patterns but it’s kept in neutral colours. Thus complement each other although they are contrasting in colours. The checked shirt also flatters skinny men’s body.

CASUAL/GOING OUT

Colours - different colour jeans.

Contrast – mixing a tailored blazer with shorts or jeans.

Colourful Jeans

Depending on how far can you go, I see a lot of colourful jeans. My fashion tip is catered for male age 16-35 (only 30-35 years old man who looks youthful applies). So if you look at bit mature, you still can wear nice belt, but instead of bright patent shiny style blue belt, wear camel with crocodile pattern style (to tone it down but still gives an edge). Back to the jeans, different colour jeans can go as subtly as lighter blue, grey to the more adventurous one like yellow, orange, bright green.

Mixing work outfit with play outfit

If you have a less classic tailored suit jacket or blazer, you can make it more versatile by wearing them when you go out at night. It makes the look very smart casual. You can also invest on a going out blazer. I have seen lots of guys with leather jackets which is indeed very nice. However, summertime, think of invitations to cocktails parties. The clothes should be light, casual but still smart. You can also wear your tailored pants from work with a casual top/shirt. This is making the most out of your wardrobe investment and following the trend of contrasting .

Other key fashion items must have for your Play outfits

I would say boat shoes and cardigan. Boatshoes allow you to wear them while you are on the beach, sailing on the boat through the evening cocktail parties. Cardigan on the other hand, allows you to keep warm during summer breeze but also tone down your outfits to keep it casual but still look smart. Cardigan has been around for last summer and I see this staying this summer.

Make sure you invest in nice sunglasses (VERY IMPORTANT FASHION ITEM). Nice sunglasses can complete your whole summer outfit either work or play !

Lets now talk about these casual outfits pictures :

• Playoutfit 1 - neutral jeans, checked shirt and blazer
  This look can fit more mature looking man. What I like about this outfit is, you still can folow the trend by wearing light blue colour jeans (without having to wear yellow/green jeans), do contrast by mixing your work suit jacket into your playoutfit and wear the checked shirt (to make yourself look less skinny)

• Playoutfit 2 – grey jeans and horizontal stripes t-shirt
  Again, without having to wear yellow/green jeans, you can wear a pair of grey jeans. Notice, this guy wears a horizontal striped t-shirts (not vertical striped t-shirt) to make yourself look less skinny. Also, he’s got lighter colour shoes, perfect for summer

• Playoutfit 3 – bright colour jeans paired with blazer and bright shirt
  For a more adventurous male, you can pair a bright colour jeans (yellow) with a bright colour shirts (thus contrast trend). Make your work suit jacket more versatile by wearing it with your casual outfits and as you can see here works really well.

• Playoutfit 4 - Striped Cardi and lighter colour shorts
  Still following the summer trend, the lighter colour shorts paired up with striped cardi (cardigan being one of the must have summer key fashion items). Again, notice, the horizontal strips for skinny men .

• Playoutfit 5 – Tailored workpants, casual shirt and bright belt
  I love love love this outfit. You are extending your tailored workpants to be worn with your casual shirt which has patterns and colour (great for skinny men) and of course my favourite the bright red belt.

• Playoutfit 6 – the boat shoes
  This outfit follows the many key summer trends and must have fashion items I mentioned above – the work tailored suit jacket, paired up with jeans. What’s unique about this outfit is the boat shoes. See how these boat shoes can be worn during the day till evening smart casual cocktail hours.

• Playoutfit 7 – Cardigan and green jeans
  A nice mix of a must have fashion items (Cardigans) and colourful jeans

• Playoutfit 8 – Casual blazer, striped tshirt and khaki pants
  This outfit is very summerish. I mentioned previously that you can invest on a separate tailored blazer for your play outfit match it up with khaki pants and horizontal striped tshirt (for skinny men ).

Related posts:

1. Lucette Spring/Summer Collection Dress
2. Alex and Alex Shoes
3. I love guys who look and dress like this!
4. Sonia Rykiel Spring/Summer 2009
5. Zoe Wittner Shoes – Ballet Leather Mary Jane Prim Shoes