I’m currently in Scotland attending the Edinburgh festivals. For the last three weeks of August, there are eight festivals happening concurrently in the city, covering everything from art and dance to books and science. One of the ones I attended had this phenomenal show by The Holy Body Tattoo and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, which fell somewhere between contemporary ballet and a post-rock concert. As such, dress required something between formal and casual.
I went with a pair of light-washed blue jeans from Levi’s (a recent pick-up). These are really popular at the moment in Japan and the UK, although a little harder to wear than your usual dark denim. I thought the jeans worked well with a simple, white OCBD and tan sport coat. The jacket is in a more contemporary cut (slightly trimmer, slightly shorter), which makes it easier to wear with denim. More traditional sport coats sometimes only look right with dressier trousers.
While at the show, I saw this man in a similar combo – light-blue jeans with a white button-down – except he had on a brown vest instead of sport coat. Sleeves were rolled up to give a more casual vibe. For shoes, he had on a pair of dark grey oxfords, which I’d normally think look jarring against light-blue jeans, but in this case, it matched the dark grey back of his vest.