HOF: What Are You Wearing Right Now - Part III

[AJL]



Honestly, I think this might be the best thing you can do with this tie. A simple white shirt. 
Yo C.D., I think too much suppression at the hip is making the jacket balloon at your hip. I don't know much but it appears the jacket needs a bit of tailoring. I could be totally wrong on this. I'll defer to others. 

I think it's too much suppression at the waist, and it's making the jacket appear skirt-like. It appears your hips may be wider than your chest, which may be accentuated by this fit.

 

[Rudals]

*correction made*

 

[SeaJen]

Hm, don't see it anywhere. Picked this up at T.J.Maxx. It's a Polo.

I saw this at a local TJ Maxx and didnt buy it - regretting that decision now.

 

[sugarbutch]

Btw, whatever happened to the "spoiler images in quotes" policy that was so rigorously enforced a while ago?

Butchy and I stopped being dicks about it.

Butch, you on board?

Unfortunately, the powers don't agree that all pics should be auto-spoilered in quotes, so we must live with the fallout of that decision. Personally, I don't understand it, though. It's not like you couldn't un-spoiler the pics if you wanted to illustrate something. Oh well...

 

[sugarbutch]

 

[mossrockss]



Oops. I actually don't know any better. I get that wool and cashmere ties are for winter but I am not quite sure why. It's not like they warm you up. If it is to go with what you're likely to wear in the winter (wool) then I guess I understand. 

Yeah, think about all the stylish Italian dudes who you've seen wearing shantung ties. Were they ever wearing them with flannel/in winter, or always with linen/in spring/summer? It's perhaps an anachronistic association but one that ultimately makes sense, I think. It's a more loosely woven tie, with the imperfections/slubs lending themselves well to the casual, rumpled look of a linen jacket.

 

[TC (Houston)]



Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Leaving aside the seasonal issues as noted above, I don't see anything wrong with this at all. Looks great. Would look marginally better if your tie were a little shorter.

 

[GMMcL]



gthat's a bit like wearing a linen tie in winter—or a wool one in summer).

I despise the no wool ties in summer rule. Not that I think you got it wrong, I just much prefer wool's texture, and find the rule frustrating. -- Today

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

PRL Corneliani Drakes tie Trafalgar suspenders Panthy Florsheim Royal Imperial Square and shirt are unremarkable.

 

[mktitsworth]

@Rudals When you are putting things together, what is your thought process? Some of the best advice I think I ever got was from HF who told about having a concept in mind while working out an ensemble. If I'm correct, you probably work in an environment with less flexibility than mine, but the same thing can be done. Having a thing in mind that you're shooting for - which is not "Well, I wanted to work this item in today" or "I wanted to put together something SF approved" - can be very helpful in nailing down the things you want. You have to know what you want to say before you figure out how you want to say it. Otherwise, you're speaking phonetically in another language. Sure, you are saying words, but you may not be quite sure what they mean or how you may have phrased things better.

Additionally, as HF said, nobody long term really cares about what you wear except you. This is good because you can then treat things existentially and imagine the critiques and other things you get as thoughts running through your own head. Learn what those voices like and don't like and decide which ones to listen to and which ones not. Figure out which preferences you're going to incorporate and which ones you're going to ignore, then imagine what the ones you're going to use will say when you put something together. Feel free to modify them because it seems like the part of the process you're in is figuring out how you want to think about the way you dress, and the responses you get here provide new things along that line. Once you've put them in your head though, you're free to bring them along to your likes and dislikes because they're what you think. Use them to develop your own voice that you can express through how you dress.

 

[sugarbutch]

I think you can wear shantung in winter, but you need more rustic fabrics to go with it. The smooth worsted that Noodles is wearing doesn't work well with it. You can also rock wool in the summer if the color is summery and the weave isn't too chunky. GMMcL's tie would work with a fresco suit.

Of course, the real question is why anyone would want to wear shantung at all...

 

[mktitsworth]

Butchy - I like the tie pairing with the Pink shirt. I take this back because of your heathenous remark about Shantung.

GMMcL - I have an irrational love of purple pinstripes.

 

[imatlas]

I think you can wear shantung in winter, but you need more rustic fabrics to go with it. The smooth worsted that Noodles is wearing doesn't work well with it. You can also rock wool in the summer if the color is summery and the weave isn't too chunky. GMMcL's tie would work with a fresco suit.

Of course, the real question is why anyone would want to wear shantung at all...

Agreed (to the first paragraph, anyway).

What's your opinion on flannel trousers worn with a smooth worsted blazer?

 

[TweedyProf]

Yeah, think about all the stylish Italian dudes who you've seen wearing shantung ties. Were they ever wearing them with flannel/in winter, or always with linen/in spring/summer? It's perhaps an anachronistic association but one that ultimately makes sense, I think. It's a more loosely woven tie, with the imperfections/slubs lending themselves well to the casual, rumpled look of a linen jacket.

I go back and forth on this. WOn't claim any authority about this matter, but while I understand there is a tradition, what strikes me more about the slubbiness of Shantung is the casualness of it rather than the summeryness of it. Some nice Shantung's are available from Conrad Wu (pretty slubby, so a matter of preference...some might think too slubby). They are substantial ties in a sense, not heavy, but dry and stiff. I'm probably going to wear them more in the spring/summer (they do feel more appropriate for that season), but the olive one I would happily wear now when I'm in a more casual mood.

The tie in my pic a few pages back is a denim/linen. I like the texture in it, and it's a substantial tie: heavy and thick fabric. Feels late summer/early fall, but again, wore it today (late January). Just wanted a navy tie with some texture.

So, seasonal appropriateness is a factor I play with, a strong constraint, but not a deal breaker. In the context of a set of fits, a heavy linen mixed with some wool ties over the course of a week seems, in that context, ok.

Defensive enough?

Edit: Shucks Butch, really?

 

[Rudals]

@mktitsworth
Currently, I wake up and have like 5 minutes to figure out what the heck I am going to wear.
I think what you were trying to say indirectly is that I am unconfident. I think I am. But this is because I do not know what I want. What I wanted was a navy on navy look, which was a not working out for me. So I started listening to others and I am now trying to figure out what I want. I try different things and try to get the vibe. You probably haven't noticed but sometimes I play it safe and post something that is SF compliant but then I try to do something that is challenging for me. That's when $hit hits the fan....usually. I need to gain confidence but I do not yet know what I want. That's where it stands now.

I think shatungs are just fine in the winter and wool ties can be worn all season long!

Actually, I try to stay away from buying wool ties and just stick with silk.

 

[GMMcL]



GMMcL - I have an irrational love of purple pinstripes.

Iknowright? The purple stripe in this suit is really only visible up close and I didn't have time to mess about with capturing it any better than I did. Good news is it's subtle enough that one doesn't need to wear purple with it. But I usually use it as an excuse to do so anyway.

Your comment to Rudals intrigues me. Usually I set out to combine pieces I like in a way that pleases me -- which includes color and textural mix, and of course fit. I would never have thought of describing that as trying to "achieve" something. Do you (or HF) care to elaborate on what's meant?