Reader Question: When Can I Wear an Ascot?

A friendly reader recently shot us a quick inquiry, begging to know when the ascot flies. Well, the simple answer is that it depends. Age, context, and your own personality are always your best barometers of what’s safe to wear. If you’re not an outgoing dresser or if you tend to take yourself particularly seriously, the ascot’s probably not the best move. 

American style icon and master of the ascot, Cary Grant

Before we continue, know that there are actually two types of ascots. There’s a double-knotted tie deal that you wear with a pin, but we’re talking about the other thing: the scarf that you wear with an open collar and a jacket (jacket is necessary, gents). 

The fact of the matter is, the ascot is most often inescapably pretentious. So if you’re the kind of guy that likes to clinch your glass of scotch atop your 72′ Viking Yacht, and you do so with some self-humor — the world is your playground, and the ascot is fair game. Wear it high on the neck for extra snootiness. But laugh about it, please. 

If the ascot isn’t inescapably pretentious, it’s inescapably foppish and flamboyant. The best way to tone that down is to put it low on the neck, so that just a bit of that color peaks out of your shirt collar. This look is safe in the casual workplace, still requires a jacket, and like any time you are wearing the ascot, necessitates a good sense of humor about one’s self. 

J. Press Ascot, $89.00

But our advice is to go for it. Just find what suits you and don’t be a snob. And we’re always digging subtle patterns, like the polka-dotted guys by J. Press.