Pocket Square question

[Incroyable]

In addition to the handkerchief, a boutonniere was worn in the overcoat lapel.

[edhayes]

I used to have a rule that I would never wear a paisley tie with a paisley square, but now so long as one has a big pattern and the other a small-I do.

The size of the pattern has become part of the equation to me. Also, I try to match at least two colors.

I have a number of plaid suits and now I wear checked or plaid squares of contrasting size with the suits. For instance, I have a brown/pink Prince of Wales suit that I wear with a small brown and pink check.

[Scott]

I agree with edhayes ... and a sufficient contrast in size is, for me, key to making this work. Ultimately a good eye is what is needed when it comes to using two of the same pattern ... paisley with paisley, check with check, etc.

I've even see three checks combined well ... and once or twice as many as four. Personally I have a difficult time making that work. But loving checks the way I do, I continue to try ... but at this point, only in the privacy of my own home.

As for the pocket square in the overcoat pocket ... I tend to opt for other than white ... especially if the overcoat is dark. On a dark field, my eyes zero in on white as if it were a bullseye.

EDIT: addition of a period

[storeynicholas]

There is a chap in Clubland who sports a miniature teddy bear in his breast pocket - with just the head protruding. This fashion is shortly very likely to overtake the handkerchief in the breast pocket but only if the bear is by Steiff.

[JAS]

Maybe I’ve missed this suggestion but when donning my overcoat with pocket, I simply move the square back and forth from the suit coat. Admittedly this is one of my personal jabs at the fast paced day. It forces me to pause and re-enjoy the process. I usually employ some form of reverse puff. If you prefer the more origami type folds; this will not work, and may appear like you’re attempting a magic act at the coat check counter.

[storeynicholas]

In addition to the handkerchief, a boutonniere was worn in the overcoat lapel.

Why do Loungers not use the perfectly good English word 'buttonhole'; using French for this is definitely de trop.

[RWS]

In addition to the handkerchief, a boutonniere was worn in the overcoat lapel.

Why do Loungers not use the perfectly good English word 'buttonhole'; using French for this is definitely de trop.

Well, the Lounger uses a French alias! Seriously, I think he meant "buttonhole flower", rather "buttonhole", in this excerpt. I think it probably more common (take that word as you will) today in the States to say "boutonniere" than to use the good English "buttonhole flower".

[edhayes]

there was a very well dressed artist, richard merkin, who always wore a miniature carnation in his buttonhole. It was really very good.
I am hesitant to wear two pocket squares but I'm old and perhaps losing my resolve. I will see if I can find a carnation for tomorrow.

[couch]

In addition to the handkerchief, a boutonniere was worn in the overcoat lapel.

Why do Loungers not use the perfectly good English word 'buttonhole'; using French for this is definitely de trop.

Well, the Lounger uses a French alias! Seriously, I think he meant "buttonhole flower", rather "buttonhole", in this excerpt. I think it probably more common (take that word as you will) today in the States to say "boutonniere" than to use the good English "buttonhole flower".

In my experience the English say "buttonhole" to mean the flower. It sounds very odd to an American ear, but there you are. There's even an episode in the Jeeves and Wooster series in which one of the Drones is trying to get Bertie to fall for the squirting flower gag by asking him, pathetically and repeatedly, to "smell my buttonhole." But RWS is right--in my 53 years I've never heard anything but boutonniere in the States. Which is odd given that things like "braces" are familiar if acknowledged differences in usage. It must say something about the rarity of the practice of wearing one these days.

[sammywaslow]

In my experience the English say "buttonhole" to mean the flower. It sounds very odd to an American ear, but there you are.

That's how I understand it as well. When Oscar Wilde said, "A really well-made buttonhole is the only link between Art and Nature", I believe he was referring to the flower or bouquet - not the actual button hole.

[edhayes]

Oscar Wilde? Buttonhole? The connection between art(himself)and nature?

Well, lets not got inquire further.

[storeynicholas]

We're only concerned with the useof language and not morality but taking the moral high ground seems to be the main point of the last post. Ernest Hemingway maintained that Oscar Wilde 'betrayed a generation' , I am not quite sure what he meant, although Death In The Afternoon, which contains the reference, is otherwise a master-piece. Wilde certainly betrayed his wife and sons but that is a wholly different matter from whether he was, otherwise, accomplished. We do not hold it against Hemingway that he seems to have gone mad and shot himself.

[storeynicholas]

Why do Loungers not use the perfectly good English word 'buttonhole'; using French for this is definitely de trop.

Well, the Lounger uses a French alias! Seriously, I think he meant "buttonhole flower", rather "buttonhole", in this excerpt. I think it probably more common (take that word as you will) today in the States to say "boutonniere" than to use the good English "buttonhole flower".

In my experience the English say "buttonhole" to mean the flower. It sounds very odd to an American ear, but there you are. There's even an episode in the Jeeves and Wooster series in which one of the Drones is trying to get Bertie to fall for the squirting flower gag by asking him, pathetically and repeatedly, to "smell my buttonhole." But RWS is right--in my 53 years I've never heard anything but boutonniere in the States. Which is odd given that things like "braces" are familiar if acknowledged differences in usage. It must say something about the rarity of the practice of wearing one these days.

In fact, the French say 'porter une fleur a la boutonniere' because the French word is the same as the English, it just means 'buttonhole' and would be used even for an unadorned buttonhole. Obviously the use of the words with 'wearing' or 'portant' denotes the exact meaning. Reverting to Mr Wilde - didn't he say that the English and the Americans are divided only by language?

[RWS]

It was, I think, Winnie who said that the British and the Americans are one people, divided by a common tongue.

[storeynicholas]

You are quite right. I was mixing this up with what Wilde did say, which was: 'We have everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language.' - which isn't actually as well put as Winnie's quip (even though, in quite a different way from Wilde, he had a foot in both camps). This exchange puts me in mind of a story about Winnie and his great friend, Frederick Edwin Smith at a dinner of the Other Club:
Winnie to FE: 'Getting a litttle tubby, aren't we FE?'
FE to Winnie: 'If it is a boy, I shall call it Frederick; if a girl, Frederica - but if, as I suspect, it is merely wind, I shall call it Winnie'.
NJS