Arts & Culture

Photo courtesy DJ Scammell

Common Fashion Choices to Watch Out For

By Douglas James Scammell

Published 3:08 PDT, Wed August 26, 2026

Last Updated: 12:02 PDT, Thu August 27, 2026

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No matter who you are, we have all made mistakes when wearing a suit at some point in our lives, and things we have regretted wearing just by looking back at our old pictures of ourselves. And that is all perfectly okay as long as we continue to learn from our mistakes. As they say, Rome was not built in a day. I am trying to share in this article some helpful insight on what fashion choices to avoid.

The most obvious wrong items to wear with a men’s suit include athletic sneakers, mismatched leather accessories, and heavy items in your pockets. Wearing these pieces can ruin the clean and formal look of your tailored clothing.

Here is a breakdown of what not to wear with a suit when it comes to just footwear below:

Sports Shoes: Avoid sneakers or running shoes; stick to dress shoes only. Loafers, Oxfords, and monk strap dress shoes are always going to be correct.

Mismatched Leather: Don’t wear a brown belt with black shoes, or vice versa.

White Athletic Socks: Wear knee-high socks that match the colour of the fabric of your suit. Grey suit means wear grey socks, navy suit means wear navy socks.

Funny Socks with Wild Prints and Colours: This accessory was fun and trendy at the time, but we now look back and realize it will never stand the test of time and is wrong for many reasons. People are drawn to the wild colours and away from your overall look. The funny print and colours will create an awkward visual break between your trousers and shoes. My preference is to stay with solid-colour dress socks that will project a professional look. Traditional workplaces usually have a dress code.

Shoes that look too dated: Stay away from oxford shoes that have a square toe. These shoes, for some reason, were very popular in the 1990’s and today look extremely dated. They had a blocky front, elongated chisel-shaped look with heavy rubber soles. Today and back then, they just look wrong on so many different levels. Play it safe and stick with rounded-toe dress shoes. They are always the right choice and will always make you look more polished, and even more important, they will be more comfortable on your feet.

Here is a breakdown of what not to wear when it comes to coordinating your suit with accessories:

Exact-match Overload: Avoid wearing a shirt, tie, and suit cut from the exact same loud novelty fabric because that will make you look like a walking optical illusion; break it up with a solid neutral shirt.

Novelty ties: Skip cartoon, loud, or flashy ties that distract from your suit. They clash for all of the same reasons I laid out above for the funny socks, and people will simply not take you seriously.

Both Belt and Suspenders: Pick only one to hold up your pants; never wear both. Occasionally you’ll see someone do both and wonder why? Yes, they both do the same job, but it simply looks extremely messy as suspenders pull your pants up from your shoulders, while a belt squeezes your waist inward. This opposition causes the fabric at your waist to bunch up and look uneven.

Overly flashy or bulky jewelry: Skip large chunky rings, multiple heavy bracelets, or oversized neck chains that distract from your outfit. Another jewelry item that is distracting is oversized lapel pins/flowers; again, they distract from your outfit.

Lastly, here is a breakdown of some things not to do when it comes to the fit of your suit:

Leaving the Jacket bottom buttoned: Never fasten the bottom button on your suit jacket or your waistcoat. Fastening the bottom button pulls the fabric tight, creating an awkward ‘X’ shaped crease across your waist. Leaving it open lets the jacket move naturally when you walk or reach for your pockets. Keeping it unbuttoned helps keep the V-shape lines of your chest and torso looking sharp and slim.

Bulging pockets: Do not put a heavy wallet or an oversized cell phone in your trouser pockets, as they ruin the shape of your suit.

Choosing a jacket with arm length that covers your hands: That’s an obvious one. Your jacket will obviously look too big and not the right fit.

Wearing suit pants that are too short: Even buying a suit off the rack, your salesperson will measure your pant length, but it’s your preference. I’m suggesting from my experience that short pant length, although trendy right now, ruins your look by breaking your body line, showing too much sock or bare skin, and looks out of place. Again, giving you the wrong attention that none of us want to have.

Wearing suit pants that are too baggy: Ruins your silhouette, makes you look shorter, and projects a messy, unprofessional image.

My intent was to help you all have a better understanding of some of the most important things to avoid because, unfortunately, many people out there are fast to judge people just based on how they are dressed. My advice to everyone: if you're wearing a suit, try to follow the rules to help you look as sharp as possible so that people are drawn to you instead of drawn away from you.