Perfecting the Canadian Tuxedo

Mid-May is the time to start thinking about Memorial Day, summer weekends, outdoor living, and bolting out of work early on summer Fridays. So what do you wear, what is acceptable in the office? If you’re in the fashion industry, or have a creative position, consider yourself lucky, as you have plenty of choices. If not, I can only direct you to over here or here to get your classic shirts and dresses.

My favorite go-to for summer Fridays? Denim. But not just the ubiquitous acceptance of white jeans, MEH, but denim doing double duty, the beloved Canadian tuxedo. Will I ever get sick of wearing denim? There’s a zero percent chance of that ever happening.

And should you think this is a weekend-only look, think again: sharp tailoring and modern silhouettes can make all over denim a welcome mid-week style. Even beyond prosaic, straight blue jeans — what has become a dual-gender wardrobe “staple” — it occurs to me almost every time I wear denim, like the model co-worker, will never let you down. It will collaborate with you, often hide your blunders, and sometimes even cover your ass.

Some love it and wear it well, others live in constant fear of looking like Brittany when rocking an all-denim look. Today on the Fashion Hunter, I’m all about converting any Canadian tuxedo naysayers into advocates for the look. Here are my tips for wearing layers and layers of chambray.

1. Make sure there’s some color mixing going on. If you’re wearing dark jeans, pair it with a light-wash chambray shirt and vice versa.

2. Comfort. There is nothing worse than denim that is too tight. It looks bad and so do you.

3. Care. I just read in The Week that you are never supposed to launder denim. “You should spot-clean stains, yes but when the jeans need a refreshing, just put them in the freezer.” The freezer? That’s what I thought too. The low-temperatures kill bacteria, remove any stink, and somehow make them feel freshly clean.” This is something to test and try. More on that topic for sure!

In this look I am not just wearing the jacket as an integral part of The Canadian Tuxedo at large. Paired with meme colored denim pants, a striped shirt and a pair of Converse, this is some serious monochrome.