The point is not about striped shirts per se, but about using the theory of color perception to manage the relationships among potentially assertive elements of dress. As Etutee shows, light colors appear to come forward while darker ones recede; warm hues come forward while cool ones recede (the landscape analogy applies here because our eye-brain is conditioned to this sequence by the effects of atmosphere in the natural world), and intense high-chroma colors come forward while duller, unsaturated ones recede. The effect of actual colors in combination depends on the balancing of such effects. So if a pattern such as a horizontal stripe might draw disproportionate attention, it can be "pushed toward the background" by using mass (solid tie, limited exposure in the jacket V) and color (lighter or more intense tie and collar than shirt). These effects are basic and apply in many situations; both AA/Esquire and Alden have discussed "neutralizers" and "noise absorbers," which are simply shorthand terms for items that deploy the effects.Scot wrote:In contrast to paintings, human beings are already three-dimensional objects. Quite why the "illusion of depth" is required I am not sure. The shirt looks like something that should be worn on the golf course.couch wrote:^ Also a good illustration of etutee's point about the light/warm color of the tie coming forward while the cooler blue recedes in relation to the tie and collar, so that they don't compete for attention.
(It is a traditional technique of landscape painting to concentrate warm colors in the foreground, neutrals in the middle distance, and hazy cool blues in the background to further the illusion of depth. Works for clothes too.)
Your strong reaction illustrates my original point that wearers of horizontally striped shirts must be prepared for strong reactions. For those, apparently unlike yourself, who still wish to venture, we've been discussing ways of mitigating the risks. While Etutee says one should not think in terms of making a statement, Manself reads Don Jaime's shirt as "too jazzy," which is an implied judgment about the wearer's taste and the assertiveness of the pattern: thus both you ("should be worn on the golf course") and Manself are evaluating Don Jaime's sartorial statement, whether he thought of himself as making one or not. So Etutee's counsel for wearers is wise: know your current limitations (including your comfort with nonconformity).