Monday Night Football Style Watch – Week 1

 

Your Inside Scoop to the Suits and Styles of the ESPN Monday Night Football Analyst Team

Monday Night Football, September 9th was one heck of a regular-season opening game.  The Houston Texans, in the SuperDome against the New Orleans Saints, brought their “A” game to the field and the last few minutes of the game were proof!  We (and I imagine, every football fan) were on the edge of our seats as the Saints, then the Texans scored in the waning moments of the game – and a penalty gave the Texans a second try at a missed field goal for an almost certain win.  Saints QB Drew Brees took the seconds left on the clock and masterfully worked his way down the field to within a 58-yard field goal range and kicker Wil Lutz stepped in to nail a career-setting goal in the literal last second for the Saints win!  Absolutely riveting.

Just as riveting and masterful were the new ESPN MNF Analyst and Announcing team – consisting of Joe Tessitore, Booger McFarland and John Parry – in their custom Britches Bespoke suits.  Our Mark Rykken, in close consultation with ESPN stylist Cynthia Gardner, designed 16 individual outfits for each announcer, keeping in mind the greatest challenge – to insure that all of their outfits harmonized together to produce a singular sartorial canvas when all three of them are on screen side-by-side.  Mark oversaw the entire process, from design to measurements to subsequent fittings, with the results on display for the first time last night.

Joe Tessitore – Play-by-Play Announcer

Joe wore a blue/grey glen plaid suit with a light blue window pane over check. His shirt was a white ground with alternating navy and light blue antique stripes with the stripes being about 3/8” apart. The tie was navy and had a generously-spaced geometric design in off-white and light blue, and the pocket square is navy with a white border. Joe has very dark brown hair with a medium complexion so he has a fair amount of contrast between his hair color and skin tone and therefore will look best in strong colors in outfits that produce medium to high contrast. Joe wore three patterns, but because of the scale differences in the patterns between the suit, shirt, and tie, they all work together.

 

Booger McFarland – Analyst 

Booger wore a navy suit that has a subtle 1” bead stripe. His shirt was a high contrast navy and white stripe, with the stripes ¼ “ apart. His tie was deep burgundy with a navy and off white paisley pattern, and his pocket square was white with a navy border. Being African American, Booger will always look his best in strong colors with combinations that produce high contrast. Like Joe, although he wore three patterns and they all harmonized together. The reason is scale – which is the secret of understanding how to put patterns together. The example here is the stripe in Boogers suit is 1” apart, whereas the stripe in his shirt is ¼ “ apart – therefore scale wise they don’t conflict with one another. The scale of the paisley pattern in the tie is larger than both stripes so again there is no clashing of patterns. 

John Parry – Officiating/Rules Analyst

John wore a warm navy blue tic-weave suit, with a medium blue check shirt, and a rust ground tie with generously spaced navy and light blue dots, and his pocket square was blue with a white border. John’s coloring is very different than Booger’s and Joe’s, as John is fair-complected with blue eyes, and has closely cropped light brownish blond hair. Therefore he has very little contrast between his hair color and skin tone and will always look his best in medium tonal colors with combinations that produce medium to low contrast. Mark Rykken purposely selected clothing combinations for John that would help flatter his eye, skin, and hair color, all of which helps to better frame his face and keep the attention on him and not his clothing. You may have noted that the blue shirt that John wore and the light blue dots in his tie complimented his eyes. This was Mark’s approach with Booger and Joe as well, but Booger and Joe have much more latitude in what they can wear because of their individual hair, eye, and skin tone. 

Be sure to check back each week for the latest description of the outfits worn in the MNF booth and for further insight into the process that goes into creating the bespoke look of Joe, Booger and John.