Go with the flow

There are two ways to beat the heat in July and August: Expose more skin (not recommended) or make your clothes lighter and more flowy. UN Ambassador Susan E. Rice chose the latter:

"Mint green pantsuit" doesn't sound like a great choice. But I'm hard pressed to dislike this outfit. It fits well and the colors work for her. Most of all she looks comfortable. Not "I feel like I'm wearing my pajamas comfortable" but rather comfortable in her own skin, with her own look. Sometimes that's the most important thing: know your style. It sort of reminds me of Rosa DeLauro.

Pattern and piping

We know from many, many examples that patterns can be tricky to wear. Rep. Diana DeGette gave us a great example of how to do it right:

This blue pattern with ribbon piping trim is visually interesting and still works well on camera. This medium blue is a nice color on her, and the white in the pattern creates great contrast, complimenting the contrast between her dark hair and creamy skin. The trim is an unusual detail, making the jacket distinctive and giving it an air of higher quality.

Yes, that man is wearing a bicycle on his lapel

That's Earl Blumenauer, Co-Chair and founder of the Congressional Bicycle Caucus. In this case, a red bicycle.  But Rep. Blumenauer wears the Bike Caucus lapel pin frequently, and it comes in other colors too, like neon yellow, which he wore to present Mandy Moore with her own pin in March.

But the congressman doesn't reserve his pin only for bicycle transportation advocacy occasions. He was wearing it last week during a floor speech on defense spending and the National Guard:

So we have to ask, what does this look mean for Rep. Blumenauer, other than expressing a passion for cause he is best known for?

It expresses quirkiness, for sure, along with his signature bow tie. The gold tie in the video above is a bit too wide for him, actually. The fullness of it starts to dwarf his face (see also another time he wore this tie). But in general, the bow ties seem to work for him. If you're already known as "the bicycle guy" you're not really depleting much from your image with mainstream indicators of quirk like lapel pins and bow ties. What keeps him out of costume territory? A muted color palette. Blue, gray, gold, crimson. No novelty prints or creative tailoring.