Poll: Face Mask Fashion

[jesse_the_k]

Thanks to sara, I watched some excellent Baroque chamber music. The performers, as is customary in the U.S., wore formal clothing: a black suit with white shirt and black tie; a black floor-length dress. All performers wore matte black face masks. Which raises a vital question -- how should we coordinate our mask colors with the rest of our outfits?

Poll #25099 Face Mask Fashion

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 30

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Formal Mask Wear: color choices

View Answers

Black
13 (43.3%)

White
1 (3.3%)

Same as shoes
2 (6.7%)

Same as upper body outer layer
9 (30.0%)

I'm commenting with a better idea
5 (16.7%)

Casual Mask Wear: color choices

View Answers

Coordinate with other accessories
21 (70.0%)

Whatever I can find
20 (66.7%)

Pull a new surgical mask from the box
6 (20.0%)

Ticky box
7 (23.3%)

Comments

[sasha_feather]

Formal mask: silver sparkles

[azurelunatic]

The formal mask color is matched to the tie color of the event: black or white.

For formal events that don't specify a tie color, a skin-color mask is usually fine, including masks with your own face printed on them, but only if they're your face in a normal-looking morph; comedy distortions or making-faces masks are strictly for casual use. Own-face masks with or without makeup could be matched to upper face makeup/lack of makeup.

Belovedest's homemade business-casual mask is khaki to match their work pants. An aloha print would also work, but to coordinate with their upper body outer layer rather than clash with it.

Surgical masks go with everything.

[julian]

Formal mask: black with restrained sparkles.

I have a wide variety of interestingly colored masks, and I do *try* and color coordinate. (Sometimes I fail.)

[tei]

Oooh. So, in my orchestra string players are asked to wear black masks, though for the first few shows some didn't have one yet and wore blue surgical or black with a logo; THAT SAID, I checked "same as shoes" because I just realized that an all-black outfit with coloured shoes and mask would be an excellent look.

[melannen]

Obviously they match the pocket square.

For non-suit-based formal wear, it should tastefully coordinate with other accessories, if any.

(Actually earlier this year I was told a friend's fiancee was planning to wear a ratty used surgical mask to their wedding, and she didn't know if he was planning to wear his blue suit or his black one, so I whipped up two reversible masks in navy and black w navy and black based prints for the reverse. She said they were perfect! Hers was sequined It was not a formal wedding though, it was outdoors w five people.

(The correct answer is probably probably that you should not attend formal events during a pandemic. But it will be useful to know for after!)

[grrlpup]

"Same as upper body outer layer" seems like it would usually be right, but if there's a cummerbund involved surely it should match that!

[sara]

I have made a LOT of masks this pandemic (no, more than that). I make them in the most fun prints I can because everything is SO SHITTY that we need all the fun we can get. If they also match someone's socks or something that's great but not obligatory.

Gov. Inslee has been rocking some beautiful sashiko masks that someone is obvs making him and I must say his taste in masks is much better than his taste in neckties (but he should not wear a checked shirt, a sashiko mask, and a patterned tie together, that is too much.

[emceeaich]

I think for formal-wear, a mask can be a statement piece, possibly in lieu of statement jewelry.

[sylvaine]

I'm so here for EVERYONE's ideas in the comments! :D I also think formalwear masks could be fun and coordinated if you get some people wearing white and some wearing black and then make a pattern with the people. Although that's maybe for a slightly more casual/humorous formal event. :D

Formal maskwear

[vass]

I misread your subject header as 'Face Mask Fandom', which is a whole different (and also interesting) post!

Traditionally, it's expected that one's mask should match one's tail (and, optionally, socks or booties.) The exceptions are tortoiseshells, calicos, and torbies, whose mask and tail do not have to match so long as they're in the same overall colour scheme.

For humans, with melannen's last line as an obvious preamble:

I think it depends how formal, and the occasion, but same general rules as accessories (bags, shoes, hats, hair ornaments, pocket squares, ties.) Which, of course, varies by gender, class, ethnicity and region, role at the event, etc etc.

Edit: the other main rule is length and cut: regardless of the level of formality, the mask should cover both mouth and nose, and fit securely with negative ease. For incognito occasions, it should also cover the eye area (except for holes for visibility, in which situation the above-nose area of the mask should have its own lower seam and ties, to avoid venting air from the mouth/nose region.

[agoodwinsmith]

I haven't voted because I can't make up my mind.

However, the times I have seen a woman wear a mask that matches her dress, it looks the like the dress is attempting to hush her up. Black is very common in Canada for both male and female, but I think that is because the first masks were made hastily for some dreadful funerals, and the black kind of stuck for "serious" occasions.

I have a variety of colours and patterns, and it is usually my whim that decides what I wear. I have favourite clothes and favourite masks - and they don't always form an ensemble.

[j00j]

I think any of these are fine, but I’m enjoying exploring more adventurous prints on masks. I’ve usually worn mostly solid colors so masks have been a low stakes way to branch out. I think for formal I’d lean towards a different color than suit or dress, coordinating with shoes or pocket square or whatever. Maybe sparkles, yes.

[peachpai]

I've seen some really good mask fashion around my hospital. There was a doctor that had a mask that masked his extremely fashionable suit. A dad pushing a stroller had an interesting quilted mask in bold colors. I hear mask charms are a thing now too, but I haven't seen any yet. Maybe for formal wear dressing up the ties with some sparkle would be nice!