Mad Men Style: Grey Flannel, the Tie Bar and Braces
The short answer: grey flannel has a surface that absorbs light instead of bouncing it, so the suit reads as cloth rather than as a shine; a tie bar fixes the tie to the shirt so it stops drifting by eleven in the morning; and braces hold the trouser from the shoulder, which leaves one unbroken line from collar to shoe. All three are quiet. All three are the difference between a man wearing a suit and a suit wearing a man.
Matthew Weiner's series, costumed by Janie Bryant from 2007, dresses Jon Hamm's Don Draper for a Madison Avenue office in the early 1960s, and the point of that wardrobe is control. He walks into a room and the room settles. Nothing on him moves independently of him. That is a costume decision before it is a character decision, and it is built out of three things any man can buy today.
Grey flannel reads like money
The cheapest suit in any shop is the shiniest one, and the reason is the cloth. A hard worsted with a high twist and a touch of synthetic reflects light off the surface, so the jacket picks up a sheen across the shoulder and the thigh. At a distance that sheen is the first thing anyone sees, and it reads as cheap even to people who could not tell you why.
Flannel is milled so the fibres lift slightly and the surface goes matte. Light falls into it. The cloth looks dense, the colour looks deep, and the jacket drapes in soft folds instead of creasing in sharp lines. It is also forgiving: flannel hangs over a body rather than clinging to it, which hides more than a sharp worsted ever will.
What to look for:
- Mid grey, 11 to 13 ounce flannel for a year round suit. Charcoal flannel is more formal and reads almost black in low light.
- Wool only. Any polyester in the blend brings the shine straight back.
- A matte finish you can confirm by holding the cloth to a window. If a highlight runs along the fold, put it down.
- Soft shoulder with light canvassing. Flannel wants to drape, and a heavily padded shoulder fights it.
- Have it pressed, not steamed flat. Over pressing crushes the nap and the matte surface is gone for good.
A tie bar pins it down
A tie is the one garment with nothing holding it in place. By late morning it has slid sideways, the blade has swung out over the lapel, and the tail has crept out from behind the front. Nobody notices the tie. They notice that the man looks slightly undone, and they cannot say what changed.
A tie bar solves it mechanically. It clips the tie and the shirt placket together at one point, so the tie stays flat against the chest all day and the back blade cannot escape. It also adds the only piece of metal in a plain outfit, which is why it reads as deliberate rather than corrective.
What to buy:
- Width between half and three quarters of the tie's width. A bar wider than the tie is a clamp and looks like one.
- Plain silver or gold, flat or lightly brushed. Novelty shapes defeat the purpose, which is restraint.
- A clip, not a pin. A pin leaves a permanent hole in silk.
- Worn between the third and fourth shirt button. High up it looks fussy, low down it stops working.
- Slightly tilted is fine and historically correct. Dead level looks like it was measured, which it was not.
Braces keep the line whole
A belt does two things. It holds the trouser up, and it cuts a horizontal line across the middle of the body at exactly the point where you least want one. In a suit that line divides the outfit in half, and the eye stops there instead of running the length of the man. It also pulls the waistband in towards the hips, so the trouser bunches and the front pleats open.
Braces hang the trouser from the shoulders instead. The waistband sits where it was cut to sit, high on the natural waist, and the trouser falls straight from there in one line to the shoe. Nothing is gathered, nothing is cinched, and the jacket closes over a clean front. It is also simply more comfortable, because the weight of the trouser is carried by the shoulders rather than squeezed around the stomach.
What to look for:
- Button on braces with leather tabs, not clip on. Clips crush the waistband and slide off at the wrong moment.
- Trousers with brace buttons inside the waistband. Any tailor will add six for very little, and ready to wear trousers almost never have them.
- Woven box cloth or herringbone, 35 millimetres wide. Thin elastic strips stretch out within a season.
- Worn with no belt and no belt loops. A trouser worn with braces should have a side adjuster or nothing at all.
- A higher rise to put the waistband at the natural waist. Braces on a low rise trouser pull it up into a shape it was not cut for.
Clean, sharp, certain
Put the three together and the outfit becomes one vertical object. The flannel takes the shine out, so there is no highlight for the eye to catch. The tie bar stops the only loose element moving. The braces remove the horizontal cut at the waist, so the line runs from collar to shoe without interruption.
What makes Draper look certain is that nothing on him is adjustable mid sentence. There is no cuff to tug, no tie to straighten, no waistband to hitch. The men who look restless in a suit are almost always managing it in small movements all day, and those movements are what other people read.
If you take one thing from this: have six brace buttons put inside the waistband of your next suit trouser and wear it without a belt for a week. It is the cheapest change in tailoring and the one that most changes how a suit sits on you.
Frequently asked
Is grey flannel too warm for summer?
A 13 ounce flannel is a winter cloth. There are 9 to 11 ounce flannels that work from autumn to spring, and for high summer you want a fresco or a high twist wool, which breathes but does shine a little.
Does a tie bar work with a knitted tie?
Yes, and it is one of the better pairings, because a knit tie has no interlining and wanders more than a silk one. Use a narrow bar, since knit ties are usually slim.
Can I wear braces with a jacket off?
You can, and in an office of the period it was ordinary. Just know that it reads as a strong choice today. If you would rather not, keep the jacket on and nobody sees them at all.
Will a tailor really add brace buttons?
Any alterations tailor will, usually in a day. Ask for six, two at the back and four at the front, and ask them to remove the belt loops at the same time if the trouser has a side adjuster.
What shirt collar goes with this?
A spread or semi spread collar with a medium point. It frames the knot, holds its shape under a jacket, and keeps the tie bar sitting in open space rather than crowded against the collar points.