CM combinations and silhouettes constructive improvement thread

[ValidusLA]

@Jmr928 I'm curious what you mean by overpowering the tie? I just genuinely don't know what I'm looking for here

Won't speak for him, but I'll speak to the point (and maybe this is what he means?)

Your shirt has very large and long points.
Your tie knot is very small.
On top of this, your tie is very smooth and a plain color.

All of this means that those big collar points are dominating the tie for presence (in my opinion).

You could:
Wear a textured (grenadine?) tie.
Wear a patterned (pindot?) tie.
Tie a larger knot (Prince Albert / DFIH?)
All or 2 of the above!

 

[schraiber]

Great thread! @breakaway01

For your outfit, I think it looks good. The knit tie makes the button down collar work. I agree with the others that pleated trousers would be better and would give the outfit a little more flair without going overboard.

@schraiber Your suit looks nice. In your case, I think black shoes would look better. Burgundy is another good option with gray. Seeing yours makes me want to get this cut! I remember which one it is from your first post./

I'll throw a photo of mine into the fray. For myself, I am trying learn more about silhouettes. Seeing the photos people post on SF has given me some inspiration and I am trying to learn what works best for me. I have reasonably broad shoulders, short legs, a View attachment 1782633 nd the hips of a hockey player. This results in most of my jackets being too long and makes it difficult not to have flaring pockets .Any comments are welcome. Thank you, everyone.

It's hard to see here because of the pose and the lighting, but I think a longer jacket might help here---that way it'd go over the hips, instead of stopping at the widest part of the hips and drawing the eye to there.

 

[schraiber]

Won't speak for him, but I'll speak to the point (and maybe this is what he means?)

Your shirt has very large and long points.
Your tie knot is very small.
On top of this, your tie is very smooth and a plain color.

All of this means that those big collar points are dominating the tie for presence (in my opinion).

You could:
Wear a textured (grenadine?) tie.
Wear a patterned (pindot?) tie.
Tie a larger knot (Prince Albert / DFIH?)
All or 2 of the above!

Ah yeah that makes sense. Thanks! I hadn't even considered that kind of thing. This thread is proving useful.

 

[JohnMRobie]

Won't speak for him, but I'll speak to the point (and maybe this is what he means?)

Your shirt has very large and long points.
Your tie knot is very small.
On top of this, your tie is very smooth and a plain color.

All of this means that those big collar points are dominating the tie for presence (in my opinion).

You could:
Wear a textured (grenadine?) tie.
Wear a patterned (pindot?) tie.
Tie a larger knot (Prince Albert / DFIH?)
All or 2 of the above!

Exactly what he said. Another option is a collar that is maybe a little more spread collar could balance out the knot both with regard to the length and mass of the knot. I ended up not loving how a thicker knot worked with my skinny neck so I mainly leave the longer pointed spread collars to wear without a tie and opted for a more spread collar.

Here’s an attempt at trying to visualize what I meant using a more extreme example than yours

 

[breakaway01]

I'll throw a photo of mine into the fray. For myself, I am trying learn more about silhouettes. Seeing the photos people post on SF has given me some inspiration and I am trying to learn what works best for me. I have reasonably broad shoulders, short legs, and the hips of a hockey player. This results in most of my jackets being too long and makes it difficult not to have flaring pockets .Any comments are welcome. Thank you, everyone.

I'd agree with others that it's a little hard to assess the outfit in that photo. But from your description I think the trick is to draw attention away from the hips by straightening out your silhouette. Depending on your upper body, you may need some shoulder extension and/or a swelled chest, then less waist suppression, and a relatively long jacket. Trousers will need to be fuller with less taper. It will be a bit of a balancing act to get this to work well, I admit. I think this look would be hard to find OTR.

There is a longtime member @in stitches who used to post here a lot, who I think has a similar figure to yours and wears suits very well. Not sure if he'd want to comment.

 

[bicycleradical]

Thanks for the comments, all. I'll work on taking a better photo so we can have a better perspective.

 

[emptym]

wow thanks. Great thoughts.

Yes I totally agree on the belt. Was not thinking about that all.
Re: black shoes, I only have black captoe oxfords. Those don't feel right with this outfit either. Might finally be time to think about black loafers? Not personally a fan of single or double monks.

I have a hard time tying a longer knot on knit ties. The section where the knot ties is really skinny.

I have a love-hate relationship with the Apple Watch. I use it for 2FA at work all the time so I wear it to work. But I also wear it running so I like the rubber strap. I guess changing straps out is not hard. I like the look of the strap you posted.

Will PM you directly about the jacket.

@UrbanComposition and I share a love for the black LHS. Super versatile. I rarely wear black, but those would be all one would need imo (for jeans through a suit). I don't love tassel loafers, but others do.
You could make a knit tie knot longer by pulling the knot tight and then simultaneously pulling the top of the front up and bottom down -- basically stretching it out.

I'll throw myself into the mix. Got this suit recently, got some feedback in the style advice forum and decided to keep it and take it to the tailor. I realize charcoal suits are increasingly not useful in today's day and age but I needed one for a specific purpose coming up.

There are minor issues: sleeves need to be shortened slightly more, my pocket square is accidentally over my lapel, probably a few others.

I think a big problem is that the shoes are too light here. I'm not opposed to brown shoes with charcoal like some people might be, but I do feel like they have to be pretty dark to work. These are the Allen Edmonds dark chili color and they read a little darker when not in full sun, but I'm thinking I need to finally bite the bullet and get some black oxfords.

Would love any other critique or comments!

View attachment 1782588

I agree that the main thing to change would be the shoes. That shade of orangish red/brown would go well with a really light colored, summery suit: blue and white seersucker, khaki, tan, or light olive cotton. But that's about it imo. I agree with others that a dark burgundy or oxblood would be good, like Alden's #8. If you didn't think you'd wear light colored suits much, you could dye those pretty easily with Angelus or Fiebing's darkest brown, then experiment with black, navy, or burgundy cream.

Imo the tie knot looks fine with that collar. I wouldn't go wider. But I agree with ValidusLA's rec for a pindot or other pattern. Three smooth solids is a bit stark.

Great thread! @breakaway01

For your outfit, I think it looks good. The knit tie makes the button down collar work. I agree with the others that pleated trousers would be better and would give the outfit a little more flair without going overboard.

@schraiber Your suit looks nice. In your case, I think black shoes would look better. Burgundy is another good option with gray. Seeing yours makes me want to get this cut! I remember which one it is from your first post./

I'll throw a photo of mine into the fray. For myself, I am trying learn more about silhouettes. Seeing the photos people post on SF has given me some inspiration and I am trying to learn what works best for me. I have reasonably broad shoulders, short legs, a View attachment 1782633 nd the hips of a hockey player. This results in most of my jackets being too long and makes it difficult not to have flaring pockets. Any comments are welcome. Thank you, everyone.

This collar, imo, is a little wide compared to the tie. Maybe a Pratt knot would be good. Personally, I'd keep the FIH knot and change the collar to a more moderate semi-spread. I agree with what others have said about the jacket being a bit short, perhaps. I'd add that maybe the pant rise is a bit low, but it's hard to tell. They kind of look like they need to be pulled up. Keeping things out of your pant pocket would help with the silhouette.

 

[JohnMRobie]

Lest I offer feedback without throwing my own out there.

I’ve noticed I tend to wear some fairly bland combinations and fall into a comfort zone where I wear the same handful of ties, shirts are 90% white twill or ice blue poplin and my shoes are pretty much dark brown or black with an odd oxblood pair or two mixed in.

Branching out, matching patterns and colors just turns into a deal where I doubt the combinations and end up changing into something “safe”

The other piece I struggle with (at least mentally) is my torso and arms are a bit longer proportionally than my legs and have forward hips so trying to balance jacket length with the rules without further feeling like I’m shrinking my legs is a challenge I try to navigate.

I’m not sure I’ve found a solution for what type of tailoring works best for me and those mental hurdles but have settled into feeling very comfortable in Neapolitan stuff and think it looks ok on me but also probably don’t know enough to be sure.

Other issues I see - While the gorge here essentially sits on my collar bone and roughly bisects my shirt points, I think I’ll try a lower gorge in the future. Maybe a couple cm or so. May also lower the button stance slightly.

Looking forward to any takes on livening up combinations in an approachable way or if there are other tweaks to the silhouette I may have overlooked but may work better for my body.

 

[ValidusLA]

Lest I offer feedback without throwing my own out there.

I’ve noticed I tend to wear some fairly bland combinations and fall into a comfort zone where I wear the same handful of ties, shirts are 90% white twill or ice blue poplin and my shoes are pretty much dark brown or black with an odd oxblood pair or two mixed in.

Branching out, matching patterns and colors just turns into a deal where I doubt the combinations and end up changing into something “safe”

The other piece I struggle with (at least mentally) is my torso and arms are a bit longer proportionally than my legs and have forward hips so trying to balance jacket length with the rules without further feeling like I’m shrinking my legs is a challenge I try to navigate.

I’m not sure I’ve found a solution for what type of tailoring works best for me and those mental hurdles but have settled into feeling very comfortable in Neapolitan stuff and think it looks ok on me but also probably don’t know enough to be sure.

View attachment 1782771
Other issues I see - While the gorge here essentially sits on my collar bone and roughly bisects my shirt points, I think I’ll try a lower gorge in the future. Maybe a couple cm or so. May also lower the button stance slightly.

Looking forward to any takes on livening up combinations in an approachable way or if there are other tweaks to the silhouette I may have overlooked but may work better for my body.

I mean...to me this looks outstanding. We aren't supposed to pick nits on this thread - if I had to search around for a criticism I'd say theres a tiny bit too much cuff showing, but like....that moves around.

1 - Love the pattern on this suit.
2 - The width on this tie is outstanding. This width tie is a very good complement to your frame.

Re: Length. I have some issues in this realm as well. I am 6'0" and have a 30" inseam (crazy short legs for my height). This means a jacket at the "right" length can really shrink my legs even more.

Luckily I have large shoulders, so I never come off lanky, but I recently looked at a photo where I'm wearing SuSu vs one of my bespoke jackets. SuSu is obviously way way shorter - and I still think the balance looks better on my longer bespoke jackets (even with my longer torso.

High rise trousers are a must.

I deeply regret the suits I had made in my 20's with mid or even mid-low rise trousers!

 

[JohnMRobie]

I mean...to me this looks outstanding. We aren't supposed to pick nits on this thread - if I had to search around for a criticism I'd say theres a tiny bit too much cuff showing, but like....that moves around.

1 - Love the pattern on this suit.
2 - The width on this tie is outstanding. This width tie is a very good complement to your frame.

Re: Length. I have some issues in this realm as well. I am 6'0" and have a 30" inseam (crazy short legs for my height). This means a jacket at the "right" length can really shrink my legs even more.

Luckily I have large shoulders, so I never come off lanky, but I recently looked at a photo where I'm wearing SuSu vs one of my bespoke jackets. SuSu is obviously way way shorter - and I still think the balance looks better on my longer bespoke jackets (even with my longer torso.

High rise trousers are a must.

I deeply regret the suits I had made in my 20's with mid or even mid-low rise trousers!

Thanks man. Yes 6’, 29-30ish inseam, 36” shirt sleeve length makes things an adventure.

With regard to my post and the combinations, it’s generally just a feeling of stuck with regard to branching out. Different combinations, etc. I see things that look good on other guys but then it becomes a mental block of it not feeling like me.

If anything I suppose mainly posting out of curiosity since as I think about it my decisions really were mainly made around this “fits” so then it became a process of “this is from X region, X detail matches that region, X detail matches my intended use, X detail is coherent with this fabric” instead of contemplating how things like adjusting the shoulders or another detail would change the look on me if that makes any sense.

 

[too_poor_for_this]

I mean...to me this looks outstanding. We aren't supposed to pick nits on this thread - if I had to search around for a criticism I'd say theres a tiny bit too much cuff showing, but like....that moves around.

1 - Love the pattern on this suit.
2 - The width on this tie is outstanding. This width tie is a very good complement to your frame.

Re: Length. I have some issues in this realm as well. I am 6'0" and have a 30" inseam (crazy short legs for my height). This means a jacket at the "right" length can really shrink my legs even more.

Luckily I have large shoulders, so I never come off lanky, but I recently looked at a photo where I'm wearing SuSu vs one of my bespoke jackets. SuSu is obviously way way shorter - and I still think the balance looks better on my longer bespoke jackets (even with my longer torso.

High rise trousers are a must.

I deeply regret the suits I had made in my 20's with mid or even mid-low rise trousers!

Do you usually end up with a jacket that comfortably covers your seat or tend to one that "barely" covers it given your measurements? 178cm/5'10" and ~28in inseam checking in... straight up corgi legs, but at least my squat numbers skyrocket when i regularly program them in

 

[ValidusLA]

Do you usually end up with a jacket that comfortably covers your seat or tend to one that "barely" covers it given your measurements? 178cm/5'10" and ~28in inseam checking in... straight up corgi legs, but at least my squat numbers skyrocket when i regularly program them in

It depends. OTR is usually very short. Bespoke usually feels right.

Thanks man. Yes 6’, 29-30ish inseam, 36” shirt sleeve length makes things an adventure.

With regard to my post and the combinations, it’s generally just a feeling of stuck with regard to branching out. Different combinations, etc. I see things that look good on other guys but then it becomes a mental block of it not feeling like me.

If anything I suppose mainly posting out of curiosity since as I think about it my decisions really were mainly made around this “fits” so then it became a process of “this is from X region, X detail matches that region, X detail matches my intended use, X detail is coherent with this fabric” instead of contemplating how things like adjusting the shoulders or another detail would change the look on me if that makes any sense.

Do you feel stuck in that you feel too conservative? From previous posts I've gotten the impression you wear a suit for work. Is this a necessity?

My problem is that I wear too much wild ****. I could probably do with some conservatism.

 

[emptym]

I can't find anything I'd change, @Jmr928, except maybe ditch the candles. Are they purely decorative, or do you keep them in case of a blackout?

If you want to branch out, I think the next move would be to try light blue or light gray checks or stripes, although, they may be part of that last 10% you have.

Here's one from today:

My main gripe is the gorge could be lower, maybe an .5-1 inch?
I almost never button my top shirt button, and here that shows a bit poorly.
(It's a light blue graph check, which I find very versatile.)
Don't remember the tie being that long, but it looks at least an inch too long.

 

[JohnMRobie]

It depends. OTR is usually very short. Bespoke usually feels right.



Do you feel stuck in that you feel too conservative? From previous posts I've gotten the impression you wear a suit for work. Is this a necessity?

My problem is that I wear too much wild ****. I could probably do with some conservatism.

It’s not a total necessity - Long story short - I’ve always felt good in tailoring and find it super comfortable. I enjoy the romance of the craftsmanship and tend to think it’s flattering.

I had/have a lot of leeway with what I wore after the first few years in my career. I got lucky and made principal early on so I was often the youngest one in the room and felt I got treated as such so I leaned hard into the start-up “me against the world” vibe and went all in on cashmere hoodies, leather jackets, raw denim and t-shirts for a couple years which I’ve largely moved past (at least at the office.) Maybe it’s me rebelling against my younger, dumber self.

These days it’s pretty much either a suit or jeans and a t-shirt but struggle to fill out the middle ground. I’ll wear a sport coat without a tie to happy hour or dinner but that’s about it.

I suppose too conservative/risk averse would be a fair description, maybe lazy. I’ve got a couple orders pending for suits in more casual fabrics to try and branch out some.

 

[ValidusLA]

It’s not a total necessity - Long story short - I’ve always felt good in tailoring and find it super comfortable. I enjoy the romance of the craftsmanship and tend to think it’s flattering.

I had/have a lot of leeway with what I wore after the first few years in my career. I got lucky and made principal early on so I was often the youngest one in the room and felt I got treated as such so I leaned hard into the start-up “me against the world” vibe and went all in on cashmere hoodies, leather jackets, raw denim and t-shirts for a couple years which I’ve largely moved past (at least at the office.) Maybe it’s me rebelling against my younger, dumber self.

These days it’s pretty much either a suit or jeans and a t-shirt but struggle to fill out the middle ground. I’ll wear a sport coat without a tie to happy hour or dinner but that’s about it.

I suppose too conservative/risk averse would be a fair description, maybe lazy. I’ve got a couple orders pending for suits in more casual fabrics to try and branch out some.

Ya, all of my tailoring was almost exclusively suits. I don't think I had a sportcoat made until .... gosh maybe year 6-7 of my interest in tailoring. Now I almost exclusively make sportcoats. They seem easier to wear in my general life circumstances.

I also kind of hate all but 2 of my suits.... its a big problem.