2014 Clothing Insights and 2015 Clothing Plans

[Coburn]



Install English toe plates by myself.
Make my own shoe trees.
Make my own last.

I'm intrigued by this. I've been on a DIY kick the last few years -- Built audio equipment, learned to sew, etc.

What will you do with the last?

 

[Mr. Six]

2014
Decided on a plan to rebuild my suit wardrobe and stuck to it.

Circled back and built a more solid foundation for my sport coat wardrobe. Started expanding more thoughtfully.

Solidified tie and PS collection.

Realized my odd trouser game is solid but can upgrade as desired. Also spent time thinking about how I want trousers to fit so that upgrades are more pleasing.

Reviewed shoe collection and started filling holes.

Started thinking about the strategy/tactics approach to clothes. Build strategically for the long term but be prepared for tactical opportunities. Example of the latter: Carmina cognac cordovan u-wing boots from SkoAB. Didn't need them but holy **** they're awesome and I'm glad I grabbed a pair.

Spent a lot of time thinking about good taste.

2015
Implement 2014 insights and plans.

 

[in stitches]

You done gud, Six. Rill guuud.

 

[Mr Engineer]

2014

- Bought a lot of summer sportscoats (linen,linen blends). I tend to go out more in the spring/summer..wedding,vacations,etc.
- I started to restart my whole winter casual wardrobe.I got rid of a lot of of hoodies,sweater,boots and jeans. Purchased two pair of Red Wing Boots,a few pairs of 513 jeans/corduroys and some sweaters.
- I purchased a dress up coat which was needed in my wardrobe
- I am overall satisfied with my shoe and tie collection
- I needed more wool trousers.
- 8.25" is my magic number for trouser taper
- I pay more attention to how I iron my trousers. A crease is mandatory
- Saphir is the best shoe polish i've used.
- I love plaid!
- Natural shoulder is a better look on me.
- White cotton pocket square is a staple item.
- Linen trousers no socks is an unwritten rule for me
- Near mastered bargain shopping

2015

- I need to purchase new white dress shirts.My CT shirts i purchased last year a wearing out. Right now I have CT slim fit. Extra slim is to slim and slim is a lil loose on me. I need to look into another brand of dress shirts that is under $50. I am considering trying out saks black label shirts.
- I do not own a suit. The reason is because I am never in situations where i have to. My job doesn't require it and for weddings I wear a sportscoat and odd trousers. I plan on purchasing a staple suit(navy or gray SB) this year to have on reserve just in case something comes up
- I sometimes tend to overdress for the occasion (nightclubs..which i hate but go just because a friend decides to have a celebration of some sort there). I have to dumb down my dressing for occasions of that sort.
- 1 light grey linen trousers purchase
- 2 SC purchase(1 spring/summer and 1 fall/winter)
- Chucka casual boots purchase
- I need to restart my spring/summer casual clothing as I did with my fall/winter
- I need a light washed cotton fall/spring jacket
- Scarf purchase. I bought several in 2014 but returned due to either weight or length
- 1 tie purchase (I buy myself a tie on my birthday every year)
- 1 wool trouser purchase
- I am going to try to the sportscoat no tie look this year at least once.
- Need more pattern pocket squares.

 

[Big A]

I went in a completely different direction then most of you - gained a ton of weight. If you've been here a while you might recall I had lymphoma a few years back, the resulting treatment made me shed some weight. I used the weight loss as an excuse to commission a bespoke wardrobe.

This year I once again had health issues - thankfully much less serious, but I still required a couple of courses of steroids for treatment, and I gained a lot of weight. When I was recovering back in 2011 I took up weightlifting and was pleased with the results, though I wasn't prone to gain much mass. I started the same thing this year and let's just say my body reacted differently. I've lost much of the bloat, but I'm now built even more like a barrel, and after putting on nearly 15 lbs of muscle (while somehow managing to maintain my gut) nothing fits in the chest, shoulders or waist.

I had been a loyal customer to a certain bespoke tailor, but I'm not sure their silhouette is suited to my new reality (there are some other reasones I'm thinking of changing as well). Thus, my plan is:

Find a tailor that can make me look halfway decent and start replacing my wardrobe

Sell off my old stuff

Not contract anything that will radically alter my physique for a third time

 

[Ianiceman]



2014 insights:

I realized I can actually make clothes myself.
I'm going more and more casual.
I don't know anything about shoes and spend very little money on them in comparison to the rest of my wardrobe.
I find myself venturing further away from the general SF approved taste in several ways.
I've read every book on the history of menswear and tailoring that I've come across, which has only deepened my love for CM.

2015 goals:

Get rid of 60% of my current wardrobe. If I haven't worn something in a year it's not worth keeping.
Design some new jackets for E-F-V. We really need to offer some navy stuff.
Get more educated on quality shoes, but not get carried away with kopping. Maybe take a step up the shoe quality ladder though.

Eric you have an absolutely hideous three button sharkskin suit that looks awful on you and doesn't fit well at all, and I'm sure you haven't worn it in at least a year. I would be more than happy to take it off your hands, such is the level of my magnanimous humanitarianism. Purely as a favour to you of course. PM for further details if you agree!

 

[1969]

2014- realized that clothing hangars are serious bizzness!
2015- Buy a couple more belts, another pair of sunglasses, a cashmere sweater and get a mto pair or two of Vass.

 

[EFV]



Eric you have an absolutely hideous three button sharkskin suit that looks awful on you and doesn't fit well at all, and I'm sure you haven't worn it in at least a year. I would be more than happy to take it off your hands, such is the level of my magnanimous humanitarianism. Purely as a favour to you of course. PM for further details if you agree!

Hahaha, I'm curious as to which suit you are referring though. Do you have a link to a post with it? If I actually haven't worn it in a year (and haven't already sold it) I could probably part ways with it.

 

[heldentenor]

2014:

My first year of spending time (and money) on developing a menswear wardrobe. I learned quite a few things.

The pleasant discoveries:

--A good tailor can make fits that are close to fitting off the rack work beautifully.
--Not all jackets need to conform to a particular style to have a place in my wardrobe. I like structured, natural, and soft shoulders; same with patch vs. flap pockets.
--I like tweeds and flannels in browns and greens far too much.
--Grey trousers not only offer versatility, but the range of shades and textures available means that one really can differentiate them. Slate grey super 100s look very little like taupe or dove grey flannels.
--Pocket squares are not as daunting as I thought if one thinks about complementary colors.
--I'm very happy with relatively entry-level shoes (Allen Edmonds, especially when MTO). This might be the only part of my wardrobe that will not be a constant temptation to splurge.
--SF is more accepting than I thought for newbies expanding and personalizing their wardrobes. I'm glad to have taken the forum's collective advice on trousers (fit and colors) and to have given myself a solid, predictable foundation there, but the range of patterns, textures, and colors that one can add to a staple shirt/trouser combination is vast.
--Wool ties are awesome.
--Not all navy is created equal. One really can justify having four-five navy sportcoats.

The cautionary tales:

--No tailor can make clothes (especially trousers) that are radically bad fits work, for me or for most people. This cost me several hundred dollars to learn.
--Bargains are not bargains if they will not work for your body type/silhouette/style of dress.
--Outside of conservative business dress (which I never wear), ties are far more difficult and idiosyncratic than they first seemed. I more or less replaced my entire tie collection this year.
--Trouser fit is a good barometer for OCD. I'm happy to stay at 90-95% of ideal; I have literally one pair that fit perfectly, and I consider that a combination of alchemy and luck.

The results:

--Lots of money spent relative to my age/income.
--A 15 sportcoat wardrobe that makes me very happy.
--Many, many superfluous jackets, trousers, ties, and shoes. Anyone know a 38-39 jacket/size 7.5-8 shoe/31 trouser that needs some donations?
--A sense of happiness, almost equilibrium, with my clothing. I feel that to get better, I need to do some combination of two things: spend radically more money on quality, and think more deeply about coherent combinations. I don't want or need to do the first, so I'm intending to focus on the second.

2015 goals:
--Buy one thing: a Blazersuit. Buy nothing else unless it's a clear upgrade or replacement for something else; I'm done expanding.
--Enjoy what I have.
--Try to get away from brands and labels and to judge quality for what it is based on my own standards.

Thanks, SF; it's been a fun year and a good learning experience.

 

[in stitches]

Excellent post, held!

1. Good point about ties. I thought my ties were awesome when I found this place. Then I realized they sucked. My first few replacement batches were not all that much better. Took a while to really learn how to buy and implement good ties.

2. I am not a huge fran of the Blazersuit but good luck!

3. I could not justify having 4-5 navy SCs. Hence I only have 1.

4. Brands and labels are awesome, and I see no reason to avoid them personally, but they still should be judged by their quality not simply their name.

5. Enjoying what you have is a must. If you cant do that, then this whole thing is rather fruitless.

 

[archibaldleach]



3. I could not justify having 4-5 navy SCs. Hence I only have 1.

Is it bad that I read this post and thought, "I only have 2 navy sport coats. The other 3 are blue but technically not navy."

 

[heldentenor]

Is it bad that I read this post and thought, "I only have 2 navy sport coats. The other 3 are blue but technically not navy."

3. I could not justify having 4-5 navy SCs. Hence I only have 1.

 

[in stitches]



Is it bad that I read this post and thought, "I only have 2 navy sport coats. The other 3 are blue but technically not navy."

Lol, no not bad at all. I think as far as this topic goes on SF, I am the minority. Might even just be me and Re-ev.

Stitchy, I admire the hell out of your wardrobe minimalism. I don't wear suits more than 4-5 times a year, so I feel the need for a couple of navy SC options. Realistically, two are outstanding and I could part with the other three if I absolutely needed to. All of your other points are quite well taken. I think that navy Isaia SC you have would make an excellent Blazersuit, but your standards for ideal suits vs. ideal SCs are likely much more exacting than mine.

Thanks, man.

This is my line of thinking. I wear suit + tie and SC/pants + tie with about the same frequency. But even if I didnt. In my relatively slim SC collection I have, 1 navy (soon to be 2), 1 brown, 1 grayish-purpleish, 2 check. Thats a total of 6 SCs, all pretty versatile. Meaning, even if discarded 1 of the navy SCs and I wore a SC and tie every day, I would have equal parts SCs to work days, and would not have to wear the same SC twice in a week, and I could rotate the checks so they are only worn twice a month if I kept the 2 navy SCs.

That being said, for me, in that scenario, why would I need more than one or two navy SC's? If the idea is that its so versatile and you can switch the accompanying items so no one is like, "Hey thats the same jacket he wears every Wednesday!", doesn't having 4 and wearing each one once a month defeat the purpose?

Coupled with wearing suits, and SWD, and MC casual, and adult onesies, I cant possibly find a need for me to have more than 1, maybe 2, navy SCs. I like to wear everything I have with some modicum of frequency, so why put myself in a position where I have things that sit for months and months? I mean, I would love to have more, there are no shortage of navy SC variations that I would love to have. But there are no shortage of variations of everything that I would not love to have. I have to draw a line somewhere or it never ends.

Anyways, thats just one mans opinion, I am sure there are many other reasonable view points to this.

I think you are right, my SC would make a great Blazersuit and Id love it if it had matching trousers. Not so exacting as you suspected!!

 

[archibaldleach]

All fair points, @in stitches. I guess my reasoning is a bit different. I happen to really like blue jackets, not as much as Claghorn but still a fair amount. I just did a wardrobe inventory (7 suits, 13 odd jackets, 1 dinner jacket and trousers) to help evaluate plans for 2015 (things to possibly replace). Of the 13 odd jackets, 5 are blue. For me it comes down to wanting at least 2 options for wearing a blue jacket in any given seasonal environment (RAF linen blazer and blue check tropical wool jacket in summer; 13 ounce navy blazer and 18 ounce Donegal for winter; plus a 10 ounce or so DB navy blazer that was one of my first commissions that I wear from time to time). I think I'd probably want 3 blue jackets in a 6 sport coat rotation but that's me.

I probably wear a suit 1 day a week, odd jacket with tie 1 day a week and odd jacket sans tie 1-2x per week these days. If I don't wear something 1x a month during its season, I start to seriously consider replacing it. Other than a dinner jacket, something for which there is no real substitute, I don't want to take up closet space for something that gets worn only 3-4x per year.

 

[in stitches]

Perfectly sensible.