Holiday Concert Outfit

First, a quick heads up: what with the holidays coming up on top of an already-busy schedule, we're toning down Wide Eyes, Tight Wallets back to two posts a week for just a week or two. That means look for your weekend Deals and Steals a day early on Thursday!

Anyway, this weekend my girlfriend and I had tickets to see Dawes (one of our favorites) play the WXRT holiday show at the gorgeous Chicago Theater (along with The Head and the Heart). I of course took the opportunity to dress up a little bit, and since it's been so long since I've done a proper outfit post, well, here you go.

I wasn't sure of venue rules regarding cameras, so I left the camera at home and everything here was shot with my trusty iPhone. That in mind, I apologize if any pictures came out sub-par, but I'm sure you'll get over it.

Since this was the holiday concert, I wanted to dress at least a little festively, so I planned my outfit around incorporating some green and red. This turned out to be a perfect opportunity, because I just got this dark green wool blazer from Tailor4Less for an upcoming review (more details to come, but I'll say now I was actually pretty impressed). 

With the green element underway, I had to add a touch of red as well, which came via my go-to dark red/burgundy knit tie by The Tie Bar. With the blazer and tie together, I had my green and red without being too garish or bold. The darker, muted tones, chosen over brighter alternatives, invoke images of a cozy fire-side drink rather than say, drunken TBOX revelry, which suited my tastes and the occasion just fine.

Framed.

The rest of the outfit came together easily. The specs I picked for the blazer nicely blend dressy and casual, with a definitely laid-back fabric, but sleek silhouette with the jetted pockets and peak lapels. I continued this through the rest of the look, holding down the dressier end of things with a white dress shirt and a silver tie clip, as well as my oxblood brogues.

Shined these bad boys up for the night.

However, I maintained the weekend-casual vibe by wearing jeans instead of dress pants, and picking an OCBD over a dressier cavalry twill option.

Of course, being in Chicago, in December, it was a chilly night, and I bundled up with my new awesome Gloverall duffle coat and a wool scarf from Frank & Oak. This coat is freakin' incredible, and goes just as well over a blazer as it does a crew-neck sweatshirt. And it's warm. Boom.

Cheesin' in the cold.

We had an incredible night, the show was awesome, and hey, I made a blog post out of it! Not too shabby for a Sunday night!

The show was our Hanukkah present to each other, well spent.

Dawes, rockin' out.

Outfit Details:

Blazer: MTM via Tailor4Less

Shirt: Uniqlo Slim OCBD

Tie: Burgundy Silk Knit by The Tie Bar

Tie Clip: Brushed Silver by The Tie Bar

Pocket Square (that you can barely see, shit): Stepped Wool by The Tie Bar

Jeans: Levi's 513 Slim Straight

Socks: Mossimo Supply Co. Boot Sock from Target

Shoes: Bostonian Oxblood Wingtips via eBay

Coat: Gloverall Duffle via Gilt.com

Scarf: Wool Scarf by Frank and Oak

Easy Transitions

I've written before that my personal style, when I have full freedom to express it, rides the line between casual and formal. My lifestyle doesn't call for a whole lot of formal attire, but I like to dress up the casual pieces I wear in order to stand out and put my best foot forwards. This usually means something like jeans with a shirt and tie, patterned dress shirts instead of plain white or blue, or desert boots and chinos matched with a sport coat and tie.

Another reason I love to wear this kind of style, is that when you are balancing that line, it's easy to tip it in one direction or the other with just a few small changes. For example, yesterday I had a full day of work at the law firm, followed by the quickest of trips home before heading to a Deer Tick concert back downtown.

A few things to note: For those of you who don't know (but I'm sure most of you can imagine), the dress code at the law firm is definitely not casual. The specific firm I work for is much less strict than most, but jeans are not an option, collared shirts are required, and I personally wear a tie every day. Now, also for those of you who don't know, Deer Tick concerts can get just a wee bit rowdy. And I fucking love Deer Tick, so I'm not going to sit on the sidelines and quietly nod my head while John McCauley and co rock out onstage.

Therefore, yesterday's progression of events required some quick wardrobe changes. Here, the KEY word is 'quick.' Check out the before and after pictures, to see just how quick I was able to move from office to rock concert:

Here is the original office attire:

The transition really only took a few changes. First, I ditched the blazer, especially as I anticipated it to get a little warm in the crowded venue.

Before (Work Attire)

After (Concert Attire)

I did decide to stick with the tie. The concert was at a weirdly nice venue, considering how rough-edged Deer Tick can be, so I wanted to keep a little bit of class. I did lose the tie clip though, and unbuttoned my top button for a little looser of a look.

Next, I switched out the shiny black Allen Edmonds for my Clark's, which are much more durable and not quite as stiff (even though I think my AE's are pretty damn comfortable themselves). Most importantly, I won't care if (I mean WHEN) someone steps on my shoes.

Before (Work Attire)

After (Concert Attire)

Along with this, I also swapped the black dress belt for a more casual brown one that I've had for forever.

Before (Work Attire)

After (Concert Attire)

The final product was rock-ready, but still sharp (even if I look a bit dweebish in this picture...):

The great thing is, I could have taken this even farther without having to do much more. Swap out the grey chinos for a pair of jeans; rock a slim tee instead of the button-up; go tie-less, but keep the jacket. It really lets me judge the occasion and dress accordingly without having to stress out about having another entire outfit laundered, ironed, and ready to throw on in the 15 minutes I have at home. The changes are all minor, it's in no way a new outfit, but it's specifically adapted to the situation at hand.